Save us, Lord. On April 20, 1999, two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, attacked Columbine High School, killing 13 people. Rachel Joy Scott was the first person to be shot. She kept several diaries, where she described her attitude to Christianity, and it was based on these diaries that the film “I am not ashamed” was filmed.
In general, it is difficult to evaluate a film whose main character has already died, especially when the death was so tragic. How can one say anything bad or unflattering about the creators’ attempt to show the life of an ordinary girl who ended so suddenly and unfairly? Yeah, nothing comes to mind except words of approval. Maybe you should. The dead are either good or not.
After Rachel's death, her father and stepmother formed an organization to fight school violence among teenagers, and began actively promoting the girl's story by publishing her diaries. No one would argue that Rachel really was a good person, but it is worth noting that she did not stand out. Many people say that “I am not ashamed” is a promotion of faith in the masses, and in the film itself, believers are like some aliens. More on that later.
So, this is the last year of Rachel’s life; the beginning tells us about an ordinary schoolgirl who runs away with her friends to parties at night, not listening to the strict prohibitions of her parents and as a punishment she is sent to relatives. Resenting the whole world and realizing that she seems to be confused in life, she talks to her cousin, and she says that she once behaved like Rachel, but everything changed when she turned to God. Without thinking twice, Rachel does the same – when she returns home, she begins to attend a group in which she gives support to everyone through Christianity. Rachael begins to write down all her emotions and experiences in a diary - appeals to God and hopes for the best. And so, faith bears fruit: she gets the lead role in the play in which she so badly wanted to play; she comes closer to the classmate she loves; she helps a homeless guy, completely changing his life. But as is usually the case in all stories with a similar plot, if at first everything was good, then everything will be bad. Simple truth.
The first thing that catches the eye when watching “I am not ashamed” is that all people who believe in God are presented as some kind of lunatics who should be silent about the faith if they do not want to be outcasts in society. So with Rachel the same - as soon as she opened up, as friends consider her crazy and even cease to communicate, and the guy with whom she seems to have a love carrot, cheats! At the same time, Rachel is not a faith-obsessed girl: she does not observe fasts, does not wear a headscarf on her head and does not read prayers every day, but her faith does not allow her to go beyond kissing with a guy (which, of course, does not suit the guy) and in general is reduced to helping others. That is, as such, Rachel was not a Christian (at least such conclusions can be drawn from the film), but for some reason it is because of her devout nature that she has problems.
It is known that Rachel and Klebold were well acquainted, and even attended a theater club, so Dylan knew perfectly well that Rachel was engaged in Christianity and, perhaps, on this basis, the rumor spread that Rachel was killed by criminals because of her faith. Despite the fact that no evidence of this has been found, the film stubbornly plays the death of the girl as revenge Klebold and Harris to God and everything related to him, so the attack on Rachel seems not to be an accident (to recall the episode when classmates attacked Rachel after showing their film in class after the girl asked to turn it off, as the video was too cruel). I doubt the two psychopaths didn't care who to kill - it was just Rachel Joy Scott in the yard the moment they started shooting, not anyone else.
The imposition of a simple plot “you can die for faith” (and it can be interpreted in different ways) can be traced throughout the film. The episodes with Harris and Klebold are so brief that you do not notice them, and the viewer will not see any clear motive in them - why and why did the two students do this? That's not the point of the tape. The goal was to show two scumbags, in principle devoid of any motive, and the death at their hands of an innocent girl trying to help everyone. Did the filmmakers succeed in this, who omitted absolutely everything that could prompt the viewer to think about this catastrophe? I think so. Anyone who watches this movie will be left with the thought that Rachel died for what she believed in, and nothing else. Was that really the case? It may be that she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and God has nothing to do with it.
But the film is right about one thing: whether Rachel believed in God or not, whether she helped anyone or not, what matters is that she was killed by two people who had no right to control the lives of others.
5 out of 10
A great film as a tribute to the memory of the deceased Rachel Joy Scott, but nothing more.
