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Here is an important point. Over the years, cinema has had a central place in dealing with historically traumatic events, enabling human beings to cohere the disassociated and overwhelming content of suffering or violence. It is, for instance, through film that the dramatization of the phenomenon of Newtown gained global notoriety. Snyder moves to accessible narratives and infographics while simultaneously maintaining a chaotic mix of subtle statistics and contextual information. For example, Snyder mentions when talking about guns that something over two hundred million of them are owned in the US alone. In the opening scenes, Snyder shows the serene atmosphere of America as a horror movie, shocking the viewer.
“Newtown” is referred to as apolitical, as the only focus of the documentary is Newtown before, during and after the shootings. While that is partially correct, a more in-depth analysis reveals certain shortcomings. It is not possible to view this film and remain indifferent to the murders. Equally, while some viewers can approach the film from the viewpoint of, “This is like a hurricane or a flood, it’s just something that happened and nothing could have stopped it,” I find this stance untenable as well.
As a father, looking at the images of young students massacred while attending school is quite troubling. And, he says, “This was Sunday, Dec. 9 2012. We were at [Christmas] tree farm getting the tree. This was the beginning of the end of life as we knew it.” Then goes on to describe the ritual of bidding his older son farewell at the school bus stop, how his younger son would dash to meet the bus, and then shifts the discussion to his struggle to open a drawer entangled with his murdered son’s clothing.
“I was deeply intertwined with everything he did on a daily basis, and yet, I am still in desperate need to understand what happened during the closing moments of his life, which was the only thing I did know. I can only attempt to comprehend the baffling task of trying to piece together how a seven-year-old boy is left to process being shot in his first-grade classroom and realizing that the challenge I have just presented to myself is simply put, daunting.”
The remaining parents of Newtown were left with a heavy heart after the killing. As the parents of Newtown attest, the trauma was so severe that the bonds developed among them simply dissolved. “Newtown” addresses this through the arrangement of day-to-day interviews, where parents detail videos, school plays, and other mundane occurrences to one another. Everything about the case is so delicate that parents have even created a funeral spreadsheet to manage the details of the 26 funerals they have to attend.
“The foundation cracked,” says a priest, “and there is no certainty how wide that crack will get, but the consequences are dire.” As grieving parents evolve into gun-control advocates, they struggle to make a change in legislation that severely regulates the sale and distribution of guns and ammunition, leading them to Washington with little success. Like many things in America, success seems bleak considering the necessary lack of order with the preservation of the spirit and letter of the Second Amendment which encourages thousands of gun deaths a year.
A teacher recalls children struggling with comprehending the gruesome reality during the days after their school reopening. One of those children saying, “I miss Miss Soto,” a teacher recalls one of the younger children, including a shot through the head. But what do you say to that? “I would simply hug them tighter,” is her answer.
“Do I still think about it?” asks one of the custodians at Sandy Hook Elementary. “That is a haunting question.” The custodian answers, “I don’t think there is or will ever be a single day, a single hour that goes by that I don’t think about it.”
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