A documentary by definition is according to the Academy Rule 12 of the rules for the Academy Award: a non-fictional movie. Documentaries are films made for the sole purpose of persuasion, designed chiefly to get the viewer to see the makers point of view or the point of view they are presenting. Documentaries often have a narrator who helps the story or is the driving force for the whole film, but this is not always so.
            
             Documentaries can occupy one or more of four broad categories, these are, Journalistic which involves information and analysis. Social Comment, documentaries which reveal problems within society. Educational, which concern themselves with entertainment but main objective is to teach. And finally Magazine which according to 'Film Study Collection: Genres' is a variety of short documentaries and newsreel essays included in a single program with a studio host. The two documentaries being concentrated on in this essay are both social comment.
            
             Bowling for Columbine is a fast paced, in your face documentary that uses very fast and often questionable editing to provide a visual bombardment of images to get its point across. Critically acclaimed director Michael Moore shocks the viewer into his point of view. He uses mini-interviews with people associated with the topic of gun violence, and school shootings, to give the viewer a persuasive taste of what Michael Moore is presenting. The documentary provides a virtual smorgasbord of short news clips, interviews, cartoons, and background music all narrated by Michael Moore. The movie makes strong use of juxtaposition as is evident in a scene where the viewer is shocked with scenes of violence, death and killing all set to the Louis Armstrong song 'It's a Wonderful World.'
            
             Michael Moore makes strong use of hyperbole, and hard to follow conclusions to exploit and expose the many problems of the United States of America, a society that the documen...