Performative Documentary

As we read in the Nichols reading "Introduction to Documentary," there are six different modes of documentaries.  The one I'm providing an example for is the performative mode.  This mode uses a sort of autobiographical tone that follows the documentarist around and shows his or her personal experiences in the film.  For example, in this clip from Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore is shown going to a bank to open an account and getting a gun.  This is all to further his larger point for the entire documentary about how easy it is to get guns and how fascinated our country is with guns.  Clearly, this scene shows Moore's subjective point of view of the issue, as does the entire film.  That is exactly what performative documentaries do: they show a subjective view as a way to comment on a widespread issue.  Moore also wants his viewer to become enraged, as he is, about this issue and, in this scene, he wants to poke fun at how ridiculous it is to be able to get a gun at a bank.  This is yet another aspect of performative documentaries.  At the end of this scene, the viewer is almost definitely left agreeing with Moore's point of view because of his clever use of the elements of the performative mode of documentaries.