Review of Elephant (2003) by Arianam. — 18 Jan 2007

I think a lot of people want to point to this movie and say it's another case of "The Emperor has no clothes". But wow, I got this movie. Apart from how amazingly well it was done, I was actually looking for myself in those hallways.

I graduated nearly ten years ago, but apart from it being much larger and much more beautiful, that WAS my highschool. I didn't see a single stereotype. I saw real people. Their personalities were barely glimpsed and yet they were never without personality.

You knew it was there. But this movie was not a deep exploration of all the different people who inhabit a highschool, it was more like walking down the halls (which actually was the majority of the movie).

In this case, the fact that this movie was difficult to watch is why everyone should see it. Perhaps it will incite some understanding and empathy-- not for killers, but for the people who have been suffering in isolation for one reason or another-- whether it's the blonde boy who seems so cool and struggles with an alcoholic father, to the 'nerdy' girl who loves looking at the sky and suffers ridicule every time she has to change out of her clothes after gym.

I don't want to minimize the crime or the guilt of the killers, but I want to point out another villain in this movie and in our lives-- lack of empathy.