American Tragedy is a documentary covering the topics of mental health, and that in regards to the Columbine massacre. Unfortunately, the film is rather biased and doesn't cover much ground.
The first half of the film is nice in that was get to interview Sue Klebold, mother of Columbine shooter Dylan Klebold. It's heartbreaking to hear her story and how this whole thing affected her. However, it's rather biased and the documentary doesn't go much into Columbine itself. If viewers are not familiar with Columbine, all they might know is there was a school shooting. Much of what, unfortunately, wasn't discussed were the questions people had about the shooting and the misconception about it.
Was the shooting because of bullying; violent video game; mental health; or Nazism? The film doesn't cover any of these questions regarding the shooting, but inserts a single interview with one of Dylan's classmates referring to him as a shy, nice guy. That positive statement was taken out of a dozen negative ones in which students expressed they felt something was up/wrong with Dylan but didn't know what to do.
Throughout this first half, Sue tries to paint Dylan as a misunderstood Angel, rather than the Hitler worshipping psychopath he was. Dylan didn't shoot up the school because of bullying, or a poor upbringing, or because of video games. Heck, he didn't want to SHOOT up the school, he wanted to BOMB it! He boasted on video he wanted to inflict "the most deaths in U.S. history" in his Columbine massacre.
This brings us to our discussion on mental health, an area Dylan really struggled in. The film says that we have the resources and understanding of mental health, but just not the funding or widespread education. That's about it. It then show Sue Klebold watching a group of kindergartners learn about mental health-a kindergarten lesson they will surely have forgotten by middle school and high school when they'll need it most.
The film does not promote many solutions of widespread mental health, or share what could have been done differently regarding Columbine. Should the students have been more friendly to Dylan? What if everyone was more educated? What would that even look like? Was there also a correlation between Dylan and Incel culture (take a look at his Journal, it's online)? And again, were video games a part of it? What about people of other social upbringings?
Mental health is a major problem in America today. It is a topic which needs to be talked about. Although this film doesn't have the greatest execution, it hopefully will further open the door to discussion on this sensitive subject.
The first half of the film is nice in that was get to interview Sue Klebold, mother of Columbine shooter Dylan Klebold. It's heartbreaking to hear her story and how this whole thing affected her. However, it's rather biased and the documentary doesn't go much into Columbine itself. If viewers are not familiar with Columbine, all they might know is there was a school shooting. Much of what, unfortunately, wasn't discussed were the questions people had about the shooting and the misconception about it.
Was the shooting because of bullying; violent video game; mental health; or Nazism? The film doesn't cover any of these questions regarding the shooting, but inserts a single interview with one of Dylan's classmates referring to him as a shy, nice guy. That positive statement was taken out of a dozen negative ones in which students expressed they felt something was up/wrong with Dylan but didn't know what to do.
Throughout this first half, Sue tries to paint Dylan as a misunderstood Angel, rather than the Hitler worshipping psychopath he was. Dylan didn't shoot up the school because of bullying, or a poor upbringing, or because of video games. Heck, he didn't want to SHOOT up the school, he wanted to BOMB it! He boasted on video he wanted to inflict "the most deaths in U.S. history" in his Columbine massacre.
This brings us to our discussion on mental health, an area Dylan really struggled in. The film says that we have the resources and understanding of mental health, but just not the funding or widespread education. That's about it. It then show Sue Klebold watching a group of kindergartners learn about mental health-a kindergarten lesson they will surely have forgotten by middle school and high school when they'll need it most.
The film does not promote many solutions of widespread mental health, or share what could have been done differently regarding Columbine. Should the students have been more friendly to Dylan? What if everyone was more educated? What would that even look like? Was there also a correlation between Dylan and Incel culture (take a look at his Journal, it's online)? And again, were video games a part of it? What about people of other social upbringings?
Mental health is a major problem in America today. It is a topic which needs to be talked about. Although this film doesn't have the greatest execution, it hopefully will further open the door to discussion on this sensitive subject.