Review of Hello Herman (2012) by Ashley T — 05 Jun 2013

The social implications of the daring film "Hello Herman" cannot be ignored. Michelle Danner, the film's director, gave her audience questions to ponder such as what can and should be done to make schools safer, why do some children commit such atrocious acts, and who are these children?

The story unfolds with two parallel stories taking place. Both main characters have issues in their past, but they both deal with them differently. Through flashing back and forth through time, we see each individual unfold completely. Both Lax (Reedus), the blogger, and Herman (Backstrom), the shooter, are realistically complex individuals. The film captures this in a harsh and sometimes brutal way that was at times, difficult to watch.

Delving more deeply into the rationale of a shooter, Herman reminisces about many forms of bullying; physical, verbal, emotional, and cyber. They all take a toll. Parental involvement, or lack thereof, and many other stressors are given for the viewer to consider.

While this is a disturbing film, it is still a film that opens the doors of communication to discuss how we can address this alarming situation. "Hello Herman" takes us on that difficult journey of beginning to try to understand why this violence is happening to our children.