"That's why the humour is there in the film. It acts as a release from the despair. Because I don't want you to leave the theatre paralysed. I want you to leave angry, I want you to leave thinking, I don't want you to leave going 'Wooah! Let's go and have a drink.'" He shrugs. "I think it's enough of a social contribution if I just make a good movie; that's more than you get out of Hollywood these days."
One important strand of Bowling For Columbine unravels the story of Kayla Rolland, a six-year-old who - in February 2000 - was shot and killed by a six-year-old boy in her class at school, which is in Moore's home town of Flint, Michigan. This would probably not have happened, he suggests, if the American welfare system hadn't forced the boy's mother to travel by bus 80 miles each day to work two jobs. If she had been at home, he may not have been able to get the gun.
"I still can't watch that section of the movie," he says, almost shaking with anger. "I see an act of state-sponsored violence, state-sponsored terrorism against the poor. It's almost like our national pastime now: how can we beat up on our poor?"
One important strand of Bowling For Columbine unravels the story of Kayla Rolland, a six-year-old who - in February 2000 - was shot and killed by a six-year-old boy in her class at school, which is in Moore's home town of Flint, Michigan. This would probably not have happened, he suggests, if the American welfare system hadn't forced the boy's mother to travel by bus 80 miles each day to work two jobs. If she had been at home, he may not have been able to get the gun.
"I still can't watch that section of the movie," he says, almost shaking with anger. "I see an act of state-sponsored violence, state-sponsored terrorism against the poor. It's almost like our national pastime now: how can we beat up on our poor?"