Relaxing with what little spare time I’ve have of recent, I sat down to watch a movie. Captivated by the previews (yes, a rarity in this day and age), I couldn’t help but feel the powerful emotions from Denis Villeneuve’s short preview of his movie, Polytechnique. While the silence of the actors in complement with the black and white film was emotionally captivating, I cannot help but feel that Canada’s most horrific massacre does not deserve Hollywood treatment.

I am strongly against the glorification of violence in this case, in an all too familiar setting: school. The massacre, which cost 14 women their lives at the hands of gunman Marc Lepine in 1989, was a senseless act of violence specifically against women in a forbidden school setting. The resurrection of this event is inappropriate and disrespectful because of its disregard for the victims and the nature of the crime. This movie is clearly going for shock value and is being billed as one of Canada’s most controversial films yet. However, shock value does nothing to help the state of school related violence or even violence in general, rather this movie looks to feed the masses a form of entertainment based on the sacrifice of innocent individuals. This is a movie designed to profit off of controversy and because it hits so close to home, I cannot support it.

Here is a preview of the movie:

Polytechnique Trailer