Today I would like to analyse two documentaries on the subject of American Tragedies. The first of these is the Chanel 4 Documentary, "The Hunt for the Boston Bombers" which I feel is a very relevant documentary as it reviews the catastrophic event and the days leading up to the capture of the two terrorists involved. It offers a unique insiders view of the situation both the police and the FBI were faced with, and the difficult decisions that had to be made.
Naturally, the documentary begins with the Boston Marathon bombing and the horrendous impact it had on the Boston community, including victims, police officers, residents and the President. Vivid reconstructions of one of the victims shows how the FBI came to the conclusion backpacks were used to harbor the explosive devices and led them to identifying two suspects which needed to be found as soon as possible as more attacks were believed to have been possible.
As the documentary progresses, a lone policeman on watch at a US university is shot without seemingly any cause and there is a car-jacking turned police shootout in which one of the suspects is killed whilst the other escapes. Again, reconstruction is the key to this documentary, cut between eyewitness accounts and FBI narration and feelings at the time, to give a sense of the urgency, danger and pure terror experienced by all involved.
There is then a slowing down of progression, with a full lock down of Boston to do house searches with a S.W.A.T. team in which the FBI is not present and merely listening to radio feedback of all clear. When this is lifted, the focus falls to a resident who has featured earlier in the story as an eyewitness, who tells of the amazing yet bizarre events that followed. It is revealed he decided to go out into his garden and do some routine maintenance on his boat now that the house lock down had been lifted. He tells of the shock when he discovered a man's body in the boat and rushed to phone the police.
The man was identified as the second suspect and the focus now turned to the F.B.I's procedures and decision to get him out alive. With the use of flash bangs, S.W.A.T. team and overhead helicopters this was finally achieved and the suspect surrendered. I feel the use of eyewitness interviews, reconstruction and archive footage give the viewer an effective insight into events and empathy for all involved, however I do feel the conclusion of the documentary lacks an explanation. After a year, surely someone must have been able to get to the bottom of why the two men carried out the attacks other than being simply labelled "terrorists". On the whole I would highly recommend this documentary as a realistic insight into the terror experienced at the hands of these two men and the massively draining impact it had on the F.B.I. because, as humans, the whole experience is described as "exhausting".
The second documentary I have chosen for my analysis in comparison to "The Hunt for the Boston Bombers" is on a subject a little older but very much still relevant to American Tragedies today. This documentary is "The Massacre at Columbine" by Zero Hour.
In contrast to the first documentary, this one is very focused on why two teenagers went out on the biggest school shooting mass murder in America of all time. Diary extracts and actual quotes from home videos show these two seemingly quiet teenagers to be narcissistic, egotistical psychopaths, intent on "speeding up the process of natural selection" and getting revenge for what they believe was mistreatment as children. The documentary also tells how the two boys had watched "Natural Born Killers" and the influence of this film had made them feel they wanted to replicate the actions of the two main characters, Mickey and Mallory.
Eric, one of the killers, claims he is a social outcast because of other people and not because of himself; he believes him and his accomplice are "above humans" and merely "have the bodies of humans". He also admits to self-awareness of what he is about to do to the innocent people at his school. This gives the viewer both and insight and a deep hatred for the seemingly evil mentality of this teenager and gives them a feeling of dread about what is about to follow due to this boys actions.
This documentary begins by revealing most of the story in terms of outcome. I believe this directorial choice was made because of how infamous the event is in America, as most people already know the events that happened and because the aim of the documentary is to give more of an insight of why instead of what happened in the Columbine Massacre of 1999. Interviews with fellow classmates describe how it just seemed like a normal day at school and how it was weird for Eric to not show up for a test, let alone skip two classes in a row.
It makes for tense viewing as the decisions of both Eric and his two fellow classmates, both of which are known to be disliked by Eric, place themselves unknowingly in or out of the murderous rampage that follows. Dylan expresses his anticipation of the attack in a home video and another home video is shown in which Eric and Dylan show off their arsenal of weapons and how easily they have hidden and lied to their parents about them.
As the killing spree progresses, violent reenactments cut with archive 911 calls build tension and fear for the viewer. With constant reminders of timings, it is amazing to see how much can happen in the space of a few minutes. Half way through the documentary it is announced that the killing spree is horrifyingly only just about to really begin despite numerous killings and injuries already sustained by many. The story goes on to the horrific rampage on the library, murdering and injuring over 50 students at point blank range. The reenactment realistically portrays the horror the victims faced, and this makes the audience empathise further with them.
At this point the focus of this documentary seems to be point the blame at police and security failure. Eric had made threats against one of his classmates to kill him which the police hadn't done anything about the previous year. He had also been charged with a felony for breaking into a car and stealing electrical equipment but instead of jail had attended an anger management class in which in the report he handed in he claimed to want to control his anger but in his journal had expressed extreme hate and anger towards the owner of the vehicle claiming "he should be shot" for being so stupid. On top of this, apparently the school security guard had never heard of him before and had no knowledge of his past. It also points out that at any point the parents of the boys could have searched their rooms knowing particularly that Eric was on anti-depressants known to have side effects including rage and irrational thinking.
This all does seem relevant as if this failure of security and more communication had existed, the massacre could have possibly been prevented. However, I think it is unfair to blame this solely, as Eric and Dylan seemed completely messed up by their previous years experience and influence of the film, Natural Born Killers, which they incidentally named their attack in their journals and home videos. I think the influence of the film on the young boys is very important as, in terms of certificate, they were below the age rating and should not have even seen it. I do not think Natural Born Killers would influence someone to go out and commit a glory mass murder like the two characters it portrays if they were of the correct age, however I do feel many children are allowed to view a lot of content that is too old for them and at this very influential stage of their life it can lead to fatal attacks on innocent people like the Columbine Massacre. I feel it is very important for only the intended audience to view films of this nature, both from a safety and creative point of view and, despite the film achieving critical acclaim from many, for a mislead child this could help them to set their views on what is right and wrong.
The documentary ends with Eric and Dylan killing themselves following their now lack of ammunition and direction in their killing spree. The voice over states that the attack led to police reviewing their tactics in case of similar attacks in an aim to save more people. Even though this may be true I think the underlying problem, as with the Sandy Hook massacre, is the easy access to ammunition by many young people in America. Many parents keep weapons in their house with a permit and in the wrong hands these weapons do not provide protection, but quite the opposite. I feel guns should be completely limited to those who need them, not be viewed as a right of possession.
These two documentaries are of very different directorial and editorial style in which American Tragedies are presented. This is because the Boston Bombings documentary is for informational purpose whereas the Columbine Massacre documentary is mainly for an examination of cause and prevention with hindsight. Both are majorly important and relevant today as these are not just one-off events. The public needs to be informed and taught how to look out for the signs of a potential threat to both the public and themselves and new laws need to be put in place against suspicious individuals to prevent future attacks for whatever reason based on the facts unearthed by these documentaries.
Links:
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-hunt-for-the-boston-bombers/4od
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwxoDRYJ7_M&oref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DuwxoDRYJ7_M&has_verified=1
