PTC Movie Review: I'm Not Ashamed

The new film discusses the tragic school shooting in Columbine. Last fall, a sold-out theater of students got to hear the story of Rachel Scott, the first student killed in the Columbine high school shootings, directly from the makers of the new biographical film I'm Not Ashamed At this premiere screening, the filmmakers described the making of the movie. Ninety percent of the film’s contents came directly out of Rachel Scott's own journals, which she wrote in the fifteen minutes before she was murdered. The filmmakers also told about the student outside the school lunchroom with Rachel who was shot multiple times and was presumed dead by the shooters. This student was in a coma for months. Rachel's story would have died with him if he hadn't survived. It has taken sixteen years, but a story of faith has emerged from one of the greatest tragedies in our country. Many of the students in the audience were not even born on April 20, 1999, and have never known a world in which school shootings were not commonplace. How did this theater full of students respond? The film also sends powerful messages on the importance of accepting others as they are. One scene in the halls of Columbine depicted a crowd of students, including a popular football player, who earlier in the movie was asked by Rachel to watch out for her friend, a special-needs student. The special-needs student is seen coming down the hall and being ridiculed, until the football player steps in and puts his arm around the student, stopping the bullying. The theater erupted in spontaneous cheers and applause, making for one of the most powerful moments of the showing. I'm Not Ashamed speaks to the everyday life and struggles of young people, the culture of student bullying, and the violence and loss it has led to. It is an autopsy of a problem that has grown even worse since that fateful day at Columbine, but one that has now been recast through a testimony of faith. In honor of those who lost their lives at Columbine, and all those who have been lost since, gather your family to see I'm Not Ashamed.