Search - Columbine - Understanding Why (A&E Investigative Reports) on DVD

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Jeffery Mingo | Homewood, IL USA | 05/11/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The show begins with saying, "Many shows have looked at the facts of the Columbine tragedy, but we are trying to look into the heads of the killers." Court TV has a profiler show and it's very viewer-friendly as it nicely glues together all the pieces. After watching this disc, I didn't feel at all that we know all that was happening with these teen boys and how we can prevent it from happening again. In fact, I think we've had school killings that were bigger than this one now.

Bill Curtis narrated, "Both students were fascinated by German culture." Then nothing more is said. The killers both embraced a nefarious leader and took their actions on his birthday. The work never explains why they embraced him. Also, the work emphasizes that the two were bullied. However, reports say they purposely killed students from oppressed backgrounds. Instead of identifying with underdogs, they wanted to join the societal forces that hurt underdogs. This documentary never touches that, and it's offensive that they didn't.

Bill Curtis repeatedly suggested, "Here we are trying to make an awesome psychological study and the darned law and legal system keep putting blocks up!" Well, get over it! Maybe if court cases are still pending, then your TV show isn't the be-all-to-end-all. In no way, do I ever want to encourage any person in this planet to go to law school or think of that arena as being godlike. However, Curtis' whining bothered me. The experts here later use the court system to obtain information, so they are hypocritical in criticizing the tool that they also do and want to access."

Avoid

Jeffrey Roser | 03/15/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This was clearly nothing but filler programming by A&E in a sorry attempt to exploit what happened at Columbine for every penny they can get out of it. It's said you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover; the same should be said about this DVD so that others don't make the mistake I did and waste $14.

The show starts out with claiming that since Columbine has happened, people have only asked "how?", but nobody has been asking "why?" Funny thing is, I remember people asking "Why?" on the day it happened. In fact, that question seemed to be asked way, way more than any other. Then the narrator claims that a group calling themselves the Threat Assessment Group, or "T.A.G.", will perform a "psychological autopsy" to see 4/20/99 as Dylan and Eric did, promising to reach a conclusion, even though that conclusion will be very complicated. One of the members of T.A.G. asks the intriguing question of "Did Dylan ever shoot when Eric wasn't around?" (despite the fact that this doesn't even really have much to do with what they're out to discover, this question is never answered or referenced anywhere later in the show). What follows is about thirty minutes of pseudo-science ramble, a look at the violent video games and movies Dylan and Eric enjoyed, and interviews with some kids who probably just heard the gunshots down the hall (because all the good people to interview, such as those who were close to Dylan and Eric, already did better interviews for better reports; that's what happens when you wait until three years after the event has occured). Oh yeah, there's about 2 minutes filler of the narrator shooting guns as well, despite it being completely irrelevant to anything going on.

T.A.G.'s conclusion? Dyland and Eric were bullied and angry. Gee, thanks for answering the question guys, and going as in-depth as you promised.

Save yourself the money. There are only two good things about this DVD:

1. The cover (which is the most famous picture of the pair, so you can find it just about anywhere else as well).
2. The footage of Dylan and Eric (which can also be found elsewhere for free).

There's better information and footage available on Youtube. I know this is a long rant, but I'm irked I wasted my money. Avoid."