Educational Media Reviews Online

Valentine Road centers around the 2008 Oxnard, California school shooting of gender non-conforming student Larry King by his eighth-grade classmate Brandon McInerney and the ensuing murder trial. According to accounts, the shooting resulted from King’s invitation to McInerney to be his valentine. McInerney was reportedly so distressed by the incident that he was driven to shoot King twice in the back of the head. Weaving together interviews with educators, students, family members of the victim and perpetrator, defense and prosecuting attorneys, plus video footage, as well as photographs, the documentary creates a narrative of the tragedy and its aftermath.

More than simply re-telling events, the film highlights perplexing issues pertaining to the U.S. justice and education systems and raises a number of thought provoking questions. For example, were King and McInerney both victims? Should McInerney not have been tried as an adult? Despite evidence that McInerney had adopted neo-Nazi ideology, how come none of the jurors believed that his actions constituted a hate crime? Given expressed concerns for King’s safety, why was no one able to effectively intervene to prevent him from being harmed? How do educators foster healthy development of a youth’s gender and sexuality identity in an environment where expressions of such may put them at risk from their peers? How harmful are the culture wars to youth caught in the cross-fire? These thought provoking questions, in addition to the overall content, make Valentine Road potentially useful as an educational tool for multiple disciplines.

While recommended as an educational aid for social sciences and studies of gender and sexuality, Valentine Road is highly recommended as a tool for educator development and/or in-service trainings.