Educational Media Reviews Online

Josh Sabey's film American Tragedy is a documentary that examines the importance of mental health and preventive teaching for children.

The documentary first centers around Sue Klebold, the mother of Dylan Klebold, and how she became a mental health advocate. It addresses the accusations and blame that she experienced in the aftermath of the Columbine tragedy. The documentary asks the question of how to stop something like this from happening when you don’t see the signs.

It is discovered from reading Dylan’s journal entries that he was depressed and suicidal. It should be noted that they don’t discuss his journal entries in detail. They bring up his journal entries to segue into Sue realizing there was a connection between suicide and homicide.

The focus then shifts into mental health and what we can do to prevent tragedies from happening. It gave a closer look about how America is treating problems rather than trying to prevent them. It pushes the idea that preventative maintenance is a part of every aspect of our lives and should be a part of our mental health. The great strength of the film is when it begins to promote preventive teachings for children and guiding them towards mindfulness and emotion regulation.

American Tragedy incorporates images of newspapers and word cut-outs meant to look like a diary and uses reenactments and interviews with experts from the National Institute of Mental Health. Considering the topic and focus of this documentary it is not so much a gun control film as one would expect. It does address it but does not focus heavily on it.

This film is recommended. It would enhance courses in education, psychology, social science and government courses.

Awards:

Best Documentary-Boston Film Festival