American Morning [Video]

By Omeleto

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Connor Mathis was an elementary school music teacher in a small town. But two years ago, a lone gunman forced his way into his school and killed 27 children with an assault rifle.

Since then, Connor quit teaching and now lives with his father. Dealing with guilt and depression, he’s haunted by the memories of what happened that day — and increasingly enraged by the inaction of the world around him. Determined to change something, even at great cost to himself, and desperate to relieve his guilt, Connor resolves to take matters into his own hands.

Directed by Robbie Bryan from a script written by lead actor Stephen Dexter, this thought-provoking short film takes full advantage of its 25-minute runtime, taking on the issue of mass shootings and gun violence with emotional depth. Toggling between Connor’s past and present and making connections between the two, it takes the unusual approach of examining the aftermath of such traumatic violent events and has a willingness to be honest about the helplessness, anger and rage they provoke.

We see Connor in the present as a broken man, grieving, isolated and alone. His present is rendered in a drab black-and-white: a world rendered joyless and depressing. But we also see the day that changed his life and his very self, shot in bright color and an active, mobile camera. As a teacher, Connor is engaged, warm and caring; he’s profoundly alive, and as an actor, Dexter is compellingly connected to the young performers who play his students.

But all that changes when the first gunshots are heard. The school shooting itself is portrayed with a distressing immediacy that’s all the more potent for its focus on the children’s fear of the gunman and physical violence itself, neither of which we see. Instead, we see the looks of terror on the faces of Connor’s students, reminding us who the innocent targets are. It’s those innocent faces that Connor has in mind in the following years when he embarks on a course of action that is drastic and desperate — and as shocking as the violence that changed his own life. But in a series of warm-hearted encounters leading up to the end, he’s reminded of the fundamental love and innocence around him — which may or may not soften his resolve for revenge.

Powerful and compelling, “American Morning” ends on a cliffhanger, with a blank that can perhaps is filled in by the viewer’s feelings about innate human nature and redemption. There have been a spate of short and feature films about school shootings, especially as their prevalence rises, but this narrative takes considerable time and effort to tackle one survivor’s aftermath. We may or may not agree with Connor’s ideas and opinions, but we can’t deny the way that trauma, guns and rage become intertwined, in a possibly deadly combination. There are no easy answers or emotions at the end of the story, but there is an invitation to reflect and act.

Transcript provided by YouTube:

0:13
hey
0:18
come check out these lyrics
0:23
bailey
0:26
gerald
0:29
emily
0:32
emily
1:07
[Music]
1:28
batman
1:34
[Music]
1:52
uh
2:08
wow
2:48
uh
3:02
of the sweetest children i ever met
3:15
do not
3:16
remain nothing sweeter than a touching
3:20
scene such as
3:21
such as a father feeling goodbye to his
3:23
child
3:24
yeah goodbye for the last time
3:27
what could be more touching than that
3:29
i’m really expect to sing for me you’re
3:31
gonna be disappointed
3:33
you shall see
3:35
why do you look at me like that
3:52
so
4:11
hey come here
4:21
oh that reminds me
4:53
[Music]
5:08
she likes purple and i really like
5:10
manatees so i did this july project oh
5:13
she’s gonna love it i love minis too i
5:15
wish they really were purple maybe
5:17
someday i hope so
5:22
emily and you are really getting good
5:23
over there is that an original song yeah
5:26
it’s called a song for bobo and who’s
5:28
bobo my gecko
5:30
he’s not feeling very good oh it’s very
5:33
nice of you to write a song for him
5:37
okey doke everyone mr meredith is going
5:39
to be starting our day very soon so what
5:40
does that mean
5:43
[Music]
5:45
fantastic music to my ears
5:50
[Music]
5:54
i really have to go use the bathroom
5:56
hello why didn’t you go before i was
5:59
practicing bobo’s song i was showing
6:01
jordan my new tattoo
6:03
it’s a great tattoo
6:05
meadow
6:06
the announcements are going to start any
6:08
minute now you can’t both go
6:10
i’ll be super duper fast i promise
6:14
you guys
6:14
[Music]
6:15
okay emmeline super duper
6:18
duper duper
6:19
right there all right go very quickly
6:21
and then when she gets back you can go
6:23
that’s not fair she asked first barely i
6:26
know
6:27
emmeline no running
6:30
thank you
6:38
good morning cyclones today is thursday
6:41
april 15th
6:43
and the current temperature in downtown
6:44
beaconville is 67 degrees this is
6:47
gobsteen
6:48
will everyone please stand and place
6:50
your hand on your heart for our pledge
6:52
of allegiance
6:56
to the flag of the united states of
6:59
america and to
7:17
okay kids just it’s okay it’s okay just
7:19
be um can you get those shades laura and
7:20
mesa please pull the shades xavier
7:22
you’re right there get that one
7:23
everybody else go to the safe place
7:24
please where we practice
7:26
everybody over there when you guys are
7:27
done go over there please
7:29
thank you
7:31
i’ll be right
7:40
there i’m coming i’m coming
7:44
it’s okay it’s okay
7:48
it’s okay
7:49
it’s okay
7:53
[Music]
8:07
[Music]
8:23
you just have to be very very quiet keep
8:25
your head down to keep your pets
8:27
there’s bad guys
8:52
do you think miss gobsteen is okay mr
8:55
mathis yeah yeah yeah i think she’s fine
8:57
buddy
8:58
and my friends in mrs stanco’s class
9:00
yeah
9:28
[Music]
9:33
to see if he could swim he drank up all
9:37
the water he ate up all the soap
9:41
he tried to eat the bathtub
9:44
let him go down
9:51
[Music]
10:05
hmm
10:36
my name is connor benjamin mathis
10:40
by the time you see this
10:42
i will be dead
10:45
on this day
10:46
two years ago i was a music teacher at
10:49
prospect avenue elementary school
10:52
when 27 children were mercilessly
10:54
slaughtered by a man with a high-powered
10:57
firearm
11:00
this morning
11:05
this morning i shot and killed the wife
11:08
and children of alan frenier president
11:11
of the american gun coalition outside
11:14
their hotel
11:16
i acted alone
11:22
i used this m4 carbine assault rifle
11:26
i purchased this 60-round high-capacity
11:29
magazine online and the weapon from a
11:32
gun show in kansas city kansas
11:35
no background check no proof of permit
11:38
no waiting period
11:40
i got the ammo as easily as if i were
11:43
buying batteries on amazon and i was in
11:46
and out of that gun show with this
11:49
in 30 minutes flat
11:57
this system
11:59
is broken
12:00
plain and simple
12:02
i know it and you know it
12:05
i have seen it and you have seen it i
12:07
have been through it just like so many
12:10
before me and since again and again and
12:13
again
12:15
i decided to try something different
12:18
to take this fight directly and brutally
12:21
to those who stand in the way
12:23
to bring the carnage off of their tv and
12:26
computer screens and into their homes
12:30
i am a registered republican
12:33
i am a card carrying lifetime member of
12:35
the agc i love my country and i believe
12:39
in the second amendment
12:42
but this
12:44
this is not about our freedoms
12:47
this is not about our rights
12:49
this is about greed and this is about
12:51
fear
12:52
and i say no more this act was my duty
12:58
my choice
12:59
my sacrifice
13:03
for them
13:04
for your children
13:06
and for future generations of americans
13:24
[Music]
13:33
[Music]
13:50
[Music]
13:56
i’m sorry
13:57
please please let me in don’t mr mathis
14:00
please don’t open it he has to it’s
14:02
emily get back to the corner now
14:09
[Music]
14:23
[Music]
14:30
yeah dad yep just a sec
14:35
coming up okay uh-huh
14:45
hey
14:46
hey
14:48
what are you doing up so late
14:50
i just you know various rabbit holes
14:52
online
14:56
huh i come in
14:59
yeah sure
15:04
hey what’s this
15:06
um
15:07
americans it’s just a
15:09
story that i’m writing
15:12
can i read it
15:13
uh no no not yet it’s not finished
15:16
oh
15:20
wow you
15:21
came in
15:22
late tonight huh um
15:24
i think like one wow yeah you were out
15:28
good night
15:30
yeah yeah it was fine
15:31
what’d you do
15:33
just walked around for a while rode the
15:36
subway
15:37
i’ve been doing that a lot lately
15:41
mm-hmm
15:44
well i guess it was a nice night for it
15:46
i guess
15:48
hey you want some food there’s some ziti
15:50
from aldo’s i can uh eat it up it’s in
15:52
the fridge no i’m all right thanks
15:56
how about a couple of beers
16:00
home brew yeah
16:02
no i i think i think i’m i’m probably
16:04
gonna go to sleep
16:05
soon or maybe do a little round i
16:07
assumed you were gonna say yes so i
16:09
brought up a couple of bottles
16:12
i’m all right
16:13
are you sure we didn’t get a chance to
16:15
try them when
16:16
when uncle ronnie was still here yep
16:18
you’re gonna make your old man drink
16:20
alone oh
16:22
i’m i’m sorry i gotta get up early
16:24
tomorrow yeah
16:25
you got an interview
16:27
no just just for a run
16:32
well you just do a better tomorrow huh
16:41
[Music]
16:43
[Laughter]
16:44
bad beer
16:45
this is really bad uncle ronnie better
16:48
stick to his day job well with a name
16:50
like flaming discharge i think it’s a
16:51
warning you better hope it’s not a side
16:53
effect oh my god i’m gonna end up
16:55
screaming at you at three o’clock in the
16:56
morning from the bathroom for help i’m
16:58
not going down there
17:02
well
17:10
can i sit
17:12
yeah yeah sure
17:20
so how are things
17:22
things are fine you know
17:24
could be better it could be worse it’s
17:26
been two years now
17:27
yep
17:30
i’m there for you
17:31
i know
17:33
and man it’s been so good having you
17:35
back
17:36
i really enjoyed that
17:39
life happens you know and
17:42
things you gotta figure it out yeah no i
17:44
i know dad i i it’s you know you i
17:48
i’m sorry i
17:49
i appreciate this i just you know it’s
17:54
i’m getting better
17:56
i am
17:57
day by
17:58
day you’re not alone i just want you to
18:01
know that you’ve never been alone
18:04
there’s a lot of people out there sorry
18:06
i i i got to go to sleep cause cause i
18:08
got to be up early and and um
18:11
and it’s it it’s it’s like you said it
18:13
it happens and and uh
18:16
and this happened and it uh happens all
18:19
the time and this one was just mine
18:22
so i know it needs that i know what i
18:25
need to do
18:30
well that’s good
18:34
just don’t forget you’re all man
18:45
well have a good run tomorrow
18:48
thanks
18:49
night
18:50
good idea
18:53
hey saturday night we’re gonna hit the
18:56
beatles trippy that’s gonna be some fun
18:58
huh yeah yeah that’ll be a good time i
19:00
mean if they can sing let’s pray that
19:01
they can sing yeah yeah that’s always
19:04
nice hello
19:06
paul and
19:07
john
19:15
um
19:17
i have a good room tomorrow and i’ll i’m
19:18
gonna probably sleep in and we’ll uh
19:21
hang out later have a good day
19:24
it sounds nice
19:39
i love you
19:43
i love you too
20:00
uh
20:08
[Music]
20:34
okay
20:48
[Music]
20:59
[Music]
21:07
hmm
21:36
here
21:46
it’s okay
21:48
it’s okay sweetheart look he’s just
21:49
opening the door for you
21:51
oh why
21:53
because he’s a nice man
21:58
i found this
22:01
what do you say to the nice man thank
22:03
you nick smith
22:05
thanks but sorry
22:07
okay commander
22:09
let’s go
22:13
you want to put that bag in the trunk
22:22
no
22:29
so
22:31
where are we going
22:37
sir where are we going now
22:42
sir
22:44
where are we going
22:50
[Music]
23:01
[Music]
25:15
[Music]
25:21
[Music]
25:31
you

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This post was previously published on YouTube.

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