In today's society we are constantly surrounded by many different art forms. The music that plays in your headphones, the advertisements we encounter, and even the buildings that peer up at the New York skyline can all be considered art. One of the most popular artistic mediums today is cinema. The film uses moving photographs to tell a story, express emotion and convey ideas. The unique aspect of cinematic art is that it allows the viewer to become its subject or characters and experience their situations as they occur. Gus Van Sant uses this to his advantage in the 2003 film “Elephant.” Elephant attempts to capture the real and unseen events of the tragic Columbine massacre in an attempt to make sense of a senseless act, while at the same time remaining true to its senselessness . On April 20, 1999, two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, launched a deadly assault at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Armed with rifles, shotguns and numerous explosives, they devastated their school. In the end twenty-four people were injured and fifteen, including the assassins, died. It was a tragedy that reverberated across the country and will be remembered as the worst school shooting in American history. Gus Van Sant took this incident and decided to interpret it into his own artistic vision. “Elephant” is not a drama; it's not a documentary. It's just a floating meditation on tragedy. The film throws you into the moment, in real time, with the victims and killers, as it loops back on itself, makes chronological leaps, and repeats its narrative from different perspectives. It's purposely made to be vague so as to leave the viewer perplexed but, at the same time, a real... middle of paper... an excellent school student who is friends with everyone, even the shooters. The next character we meet is a photographer, Elias, who spends much of his time taking photos of his students and examining his photos in a darkroom; Elias can be described as the “artistic” guy. Then it's the turn of the attractive couple, Nathan and Carrie and then a trio of cute, materialistic girls, Brittany, Jordan and Nicole, who gossip, complain about their parents and make their ritual pleasure trip to the girls' room to throw up. their lunch. Michelle is next introduced, a simple, slightly overweight girl who doesn't wear shorts to gym class and is sadly alienated from her peers. Last, but not least, Alex and Eric appear on the screen. They are the outcasts who are victims of bullying and then show up at school with gigantic bags full of automatic weapons, ammunition and explosives.