Valentine Road Movie Review – Human Rights Watch Film Festival Toronto 2014

“Say goodbye to your friend Larry, because you’re not going to see him after tomorrow.” — Brandon David McInerney

February 14th, 2014.   February 12^th, 2008 started out just like any other day at E.O. Green Junior High School nestled in the sleep bedroom community of Oxnard, California. Teacher, Dawn Boldrin’s eighth-grade class were busily working on an essay writing assignment about Anne Frank and tolerance in the computer lab.  The sound of the first “pop” that echoed like a balloon barely registered a response from the class.  The second “pop” hit Lawrence “Larry” King in the back of his head and he fell.  Fourteen year old Brandon David McInerney dropped the gun and ran as Larry lay fighting for his life.

On the surface, this event had all the trappings of just another grim US school shooting, à la Columbine.  Nothing could be further from the truth. This tragedy was born out of an amalgam of unbridled love and emasculating fear. Valentine Road offers a myriad of teachable moments as two victim’s journey down very different paths leading to the fateful consequences before us.  No, this wasn’t a turf war involving gang banger, or a petty school crush over the same girl, or even the classic jock versus nerd paradigm.  No this was a hate most evil.  A hate of one’s self. As Valentine’s Day quickly approached, an innocent game where students says the first name of the one they want to be their Valentine then go up and ask them.  Larry greeting Brandon in front of his peers by saying; “I Love You Baby” set in motion the seeds hate that led to his death.

So who was Larry King?  Growing up at the Casa Pacifica Shelter for Abused and Neglected Children was never easy yet Larry felt freer to be his true self here than anywhere else. At such a tender age and with strong effeminate sensibilities, Larry owned his sexuality which fuelled a strong and potent faction of haters at school.  Compounding this hate was the biracial and transgendered issues surrounding Larry.   But, the recent passing of SB-777, (which doesn’t allow discrimination on the grounds of gender identity or sexual orientation in educational institutions) served to empower Larry even more.   As a result, his foster parents couldn’t save him, his school couldn’t protect him and the diminutive Larry didn’t possess the requisite skills to defend himself.  Likewise, the debilitating patchwork of drug abuse, violence and bad parenting that enveloped the McInerney household left the dour Brandon void of the coping mechanisms required to handle social situation let along the self-affirming qualities of Larry.

Early media coverage fueled by talk titans Ellen, AC360, Dr. Phil and Larry King Live propelled Larry death into a cause célèbre and raised the national conscious on youth violence as Brandon’s defense attorney’s fought hard for rehabilitation over punishment.  But, Proposition 21 ended the coddling nature of juvenile violence in California by cutting out the rehabilitative component dealing with young offenders and addressed the dramatic uptick in youth violence by advocating a more aggressive adult punishment agenda.

Maeve Fox, the prosecuting attorney on this case stated, “Because of the viciousness nature of this crime, this is not a crime that the juvenile system is capable of handling.”

Director, Marta Cunningham delicately juggled multiple plot points dealing with gun violence, gender identity, parental neglect, new legislation and court proceedings into a coherent thought-provoking narrative. Spirited animation from Duck Studios dealing with Larry’s junior high school escapades added much needed levity to this heady material.

Valentine Road successfully navigates through the interconnected community of characters in order to set the context for the trail of human wreckage to follow.  To achieve this level of detail, Cunningham does all the heavy lifting in constructing the sturdiest of foundations from which to project the message.  Never wavering, we dive deep into the roots of hate through Brandon’s parent’s (Kendra and Billy) drug laden environment fueled by episodes of violence and homelessness.   Most telling is the turn Brandon takes as his doodling’s reveal a deep-seeded fixation to Nazis and the white supremacist movement.  Larry’s early years were also a baptism by fire at the hands of his foster parents.  Not even bulky sweaters could hide the bruises and shame.  With 22 complaints of abuse to the county going unfounded, probation was finally able to extricate Larry on bogus charges of vandalism, theft and stealing food from his own refrigerator?!  While watching this documentary, I always got the sense that the love both boys continually gave to the world was never returned by those most inclined to give back– their parents.  Longing to belong is a critical rite of passage for all people regardless of age.