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September 12, 2013 | Theatre,
Check out these films, books and music related to COLUMBINUS
FILMS
Bully (2011)
The first feature-length documentary to be made in America about the subject, Bully follows a group of students and their families through an entire school year beginning on the first day. This character-driven, cinematic chronicling of the bullying crisis that effects more than 13 million schoolchildren in the US includes stories from parents whose children have committed suicide, a mother who is waiting on her daughter’s court sentencing for bringing a gun to school, and intimate stories from the students themselves. The topic of cyber-bullying and the implications of technology on the new generation are also examined as the film encourages audiences to once and for all take a stand against bullying.
The Life Before Her Eyes (2007)
Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood portray older and younger versions of a young woman who experienced a school shooting in high school. As a teenager, Diana had been the rebel compared to her conservative friend Maureen. Their relationship had been experiencing tension that broke on the day of the shooting. Fifteen years later, Diana is taking her daughter to that same school and sees a sign for a memorial in honor of those who died. What follows is an examination of the traumatic effects of a severely violent event like this as Diana spirals out of control, eventually wondering if she has gone mad or if she is even still alive.
Bowling for Columbine (2002)
The Oscar-winning documentary that put Michael Moore on the map was launched in large part by the Columbine shootings. Frustrated with the incredibly high rate of shootings in the US, the comedian and political provocateur scours the country in search of a reason behind all of the useless violence. Moore conducts interviews with the head of K-Mart where the Columbine shooters bought their ammo and Charles Heston, head of the NRA, in his attempt to delve into the history and politics of gun control in the land of the free that has become out of control. And somehow, he allows his signature brand of dark humor to permeate the project– partially motivated from hilarity, but mostly from sheer disbelief.
BOOKS
The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb (2008)
Caelum and Maureen move to Littleton, Colorado and are both quickly employed as teachers at Columbine High School. While Caelum is away taking care of an ill family member, Maureen finds herself huddled in a cabinet of the school library expecting to be killed by the students on their shooting spree. Miraculously, she survives and they couple moves back to Caelum’s hometown in Connecticut. They both find that though the can run from the tragedy, the effects of the trauma, grief and sadness will follow. Bestselling author Wally Lamb writes one of his most emotionally deep and harrowing works yet, following his book-club favorite She’s Come Undone.
Carrie by Stephen King (1974)
Stephen King’s classic horror story of a bullied young woman with telekinetic powers has shocking relevancy in light of the Columbine shootings. As Carrie learns how to control her powers and use them on her peers, she becomes violent in unforeseen ways towards those who bullied her, culminating in the iconic bloodbath scene at prom. Beneath the cultural cache built around the novel and its subsequent film and stage adaptations, King has written a controversial critique of high school bullying long before Columbine became infamous.
Columbine by Dave Cullen (2009)
Driven by the questions “Why did Eric and Dylan kill?” and “What became of the survivors ofColumbine?” Dave Cullen literally wrote the book on Columbine. The book breaks down what we know of Dylan and Eric, acknowledging them as two separate, different teenage boys whose personalities were poles apart but were tied together by the monstrous deed. The book also delves into the lives of the survivors and the process of healing individually side by side in a community that was seen by the rest of the world as a single entity. Columbine has won an Edgar Allen Poe Award and is a New York Times Bestseller.
MUSIC
Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) by Marilyn Manson (2000)
Marilyn Manson was heavily blamed for the shootings at Columbine, seen as an instigator that egged on a culture of rock & roll and violence. Concerned parents and communities members antagonized his violent lyrics and dark image, but Marilyn maintains that he was and is not responsible for anybody else’s actions. He and his band released Holy Wood in the wake of Columbine; with tracks like ones titled “Disposable Teens,” “In the Shadow of the Valley of Death” and “The Death Song,” the album was a rebuttal against the criticism. Mansen described it as “a declaration of war.”
Love Endures by Lullaby for Columbine (1999)
Featuring performances by local artists, Columbine students, and others, Lullaby for Columbine is a commemorative album organized by a compilation of national artists to bring solace to the shaken community in Littleton in 1999. The album was intended to bring unity and emotional and spiritual healing through music to the families and the hurting Littleton community and beyond.
KMFDM, a German industrial band, formed in 1984 and was found, in the wake of the Columbine massacre, to be a favorite of Dylan and Eric. The two had posted lyrics from KMFDM songs (“Son of a Gun,” “Stray Bullet,” “Waste”) on Eric’s website. Furthermore, the date of the massacre coincided with the release of the band’s latest album Adios and Adolf Hitler’s birthday. As many started to link the band with Nazism, the lead of the band, Sascha Konietzko, released a statement offering his condolences to the victims and assuring the world his band had no connections to Naziism.
Nice movies!