Exactly
how did the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Littleton,
Colorado, occur, leaving 13 dead and 23 wounded? The film Elephant,
directed by openly gay Gus Van Sant, attempts to recreate
something similar to that unhappy day by depicting the
various victims at a suburban high school, who just happened
to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and then the
shootout by two teenage boys (played by Alex Frost and
Eric Deulen). Rather than a dialog, the camera follows
the various victims as well as nonvictims entering and
leaving the school, walking through the school's hallways,
attending the school's gay-straight alliance meeting, and
elsewhere. Some of the victims of the massacre are introduced
with subtitles, and their personalities are developed just
enough so that their deaths seem all the more tragic. The
film also shows the two boys ordering mail-order weapons
and watching a documentary on Hitler. After the two boys
jump in the shower, kiss, load up with guns and ammunition,
and one reminds the other to "have fun," they
go to the school and open fire in various locations, including
the cafeteria, library, hallways, and even a girl's restroom.
Using hunting rifles, they stalk their prey and discharge
their weapons without emotion as if shooting animals in
a hunt. Most film critics claim that the film merely asks
why two teenagers would do something so outrageous without
providing answers. But three clues about reasons for the
massacre appear to point to their isolation as gay boys
on campus and to the other side of the coin--homophobia. (1)
The discussion in the gay-straight alliance meeting, for example,
deals with superficial issues rather than the very
real issue of homophobia on campus. (2) A homophobic classmate
throws a white substance of some sort onto Alex Frost's jacket.
(3) The kiss between the boys while taking a shower together.
A possible fourth clue is that Eric Deulen tells the school
principal not to "fuck with him" any more, suggesting
a conflict that the principal could not handle. Rather than
being exposed to Michael Moore's sermon in Bowling
for Columbine (2002), filmviewers are astonished
witnesses in Elephant to action without much dialog or explanation.
Straight film critics, in other words are admitting that they
unable to understand what might have driven two gay teenagers
over the precipice. Anyone who is gay, however, will know that
the terrorism inflicted by heterosexual bigots, which is rarely
forgotten or forgiven, has triggered a dramatic response. Where
does the title come from? From An Elephant Never
Forgets, a 1935 cartoon involving animals attending
a school in which an elephant takes revenge at a disruptive
student? From a 1989 documentary, entitled Elephant,
which describes the conflict in Northern Ireland involving
two communities that refuse to deal with their common fate?
The analogies to the homophobic disruption of the lives of
gays and lesbians fit, and elephants indeed crush anything
in their paths while running amok. But if Elephant goes
overboard in depicting the rage of gays marginalized and vilified
by straight society, what indeed is the appropriate response
to homophobia and homophobia mongering? For decades, mature
gays and Lesbians have been boycotting homophobic businesses
and spending their money in gay- and lesbian-friendly establishments.
But such options are not apparent to isolated teenagers who
have little spending power and few support groups. Elephant suggests
that those who discriminate against anyone, gays and lesbians
or others, should think twice before pushing them to the edge.
MH
I
want to comment on this film
