6. Elephant - Homo-Eroticism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HN9FNcWc2g&t=3m38s Gus Van Sant crafted a divisive, open-minded investigation of a high school shooting that was obviously intended to mirror the events of the Columbine High School shooting a few years earlier. While it's admirable that he never settled on an explanation for the kids' rampage, he did posit a number of suggestions; we see them playing violent video games, watching Nazi documentaries and so on, while not conclusively saying that they were influential. The film is more interested in making of them human curiosities than monstrous tabloid fodder, but this is somewhat undone by one peculiar scene in which the two boys get into the shower together, placing a definite stamp on an otherwise indefinite film, and giving the film its most exploitative, manipulative moment. The two talk briefly about their sexual inexperience as they begin to kiss in the shower, but really, is this not Van Sant making an errant, totally unfounded assumption about people clearly modelled on the Columbine killers?
Shaun Munro
Contributor
Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.
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