Fear

Tomas Shermer

2 June, 2013

Mr. Hertz

Fear

       Are you frightened by the media? Michael Moore discussed the concept of fear in his documentary, Bowling For Columbine. Bowling For Columbine is a movie about the 1999 school shooting that occurred at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. In this school shooting two kids, Erik Harris and Dylan Klebold, began randomly shooting and killing kids in their class. Michael Moore stated that Americans live in a culture of fear fueled by media broadcasts and the government. I personally agree and believe that we Americans live in a culture of fear.

      Fear is happening all around us. Over 11,000  people a year are killed by guns in the U.S.A. Since all of this violence is happening, the media has shocking news they can regularly show, which they love. They specifically love news of crimes because that is what attracts people the most on television.

       There are still many other examples of things people fear the most in the U.S. Another common fear in the U.S. is candy on Halloween being poisoned. Over the past ten years only two kids were poisoned by candy and it was done on purpose by their relatives. My opinion is that people should not be too afraid of poisoned candy because of how often it has happened.

      I have experienced fears, like the ones I discussed, in the past. A couple of weeks ago my mom’s friends were ran over by a drunk driver and one of them was killed. I ended up finding an article on this in the newspaper and I could tell they only focused on the fear from the accident.

       I have also experienced a lot of caution around Halloween candy. My mom, in the past has checked every piece of candy I have eaten on Halloween for any signs of poison or drugs. Even though the odds of it being poisoned are are low, I am grateful my mom did this because I could have been killed.

       The movie, “Bowling For Columbine” shows how the media and government run by fear and they love it. I now understand how the U.S. lives in a culture of fear. Do you think we live by fear?

Bibliography

Bowling For Columbine. Director Michael Moore. Perfs. Michael Moore. Produced by United Artists, 2002. DVD.