I’ve kind of had an attitude about Gus Van Sant ever since younger me watched the remake of Psycho. However, I watched Freaky on Prime sometime last year, and I was like ok, I’ll give him another chance. Vince Vaughn was so intimidating and SCARY in that movie. SO, I was like, ok, maybe the problem with the Psycho remake wasn’t particularly anyone’s fault. Maybe, it was just a dumb choice to do a shot for shot remake. Suspiria is probably one of my favorite modern remakes, but it’s not really a remake. It’s more of a vibe. Similar to Freaky, it’s not exactly a remake of Freaky Friday, it’s more of a vibe.

Gus Van Sant’s death trilogy is also more of a vibe. They are not biopics, but you know who it’s supposed to be.

Gerry (2002) was based on the death of David Coughlin. However, instead of the characters being named David and Raffi, the men are both named Gerry. Gerry is also slang for messing up in the movie. The movie frames what happened to Gerry 1 (Casey Afleck) as a mercy killing. IRL, the was a trial. The prosecution tried to frame it as a vengeance over a girl. Literally everyone in the men’s lives said that was literally not true, and it was a mercy killing. From what I’ve read, I agree it was a mercy killing. I know some people are going to try and say that because Raffii (Gerry 2/Matt Damon in the movie) wasn’t all that dehydrated because he was able to conceal David’s (Gerry 1’s) body, they could have gotten help. The autopsy showed David (Gerry1) wasn’t fatally dehydrated either. But, I really don’t think that matters. For me, being lost in Carlsbad Cavern would have driven me insane in two hours tops. Have you ever been lost, like really lost? I have, ironically IN New Mexico. Luckily, I am a desert shawty, so my situation was a little bit different, These boyos were from Boston. SO, they didn’t have the same inkling of familiarity I did. 100 degree dry heat is just another Tuesday. Also, I was a young pretty girl and people knew the general area I was in. I wasn’t too worried, just uncomfortable. People would be looking for ME. Being lost is such an unexplainable empty feeling that I wouldn’t be surprised if both young men gave into despair, and fully expected to die. Mix that with the altitude changes, fear of literal rattlesnakes/coyotes/black widow spiders/pumas/scorpions/ticks, it is so easy to think that after splitting less that two pints of liquid, you knew it was so over. That’s why I do feel like it was a mercy killing. If my best friend was throwing up, delirious and begging for death, why would I let him suffer? I would muster the strength I had in my to make sure my bff was buried in a way that was safe from scavengers, and easily accessible. At least one of us would be able to be found.

Also, in a dumb method acting exercise, these bozos walked four miles in Death Valley

Anyway, after the fact, it was found that neither of them were as dehydrated as they felt they were. IRL they ate cactus fruit that made them sick. Gerry 2/Raffi was sentenced to 2 years in prison. Which idk, I think that’s really stupid. David’s family said they don’t think the killing was malicious.

I don’t think this movie is “for” everyone. There isn’t a lot of dialogue, so you have to watch the movie. Some people may find that hard to follow. I know this would have been difficult to do in 2002, but I would have preferred Gerry to be played by Ben Affleck instead of Casey. It would have felt so much more….I don’t want to say personal because I obviously don’t know these folks, but like, we all know Ben and Matt are besties. Like, you see the vision, you know what I mean. Casey has known Matt since he was five, but this movie would have hit different with a Ben/Matt collab. Anyway, Gerry is streaming on Youtube

The next movie in the trilogy is Elephant, based on the Columbine Massacre that happened in Colorado. Elephant isn’t like Gerry. The cast is larger, and consists of mostly non actors. Like Gerry, there are two best friends with homoerotic tension. One kills the other. However in Elephant, they also kill other people.

What I liked about this movie was that even though we knew that obviously Alex and Eric were going through something…Every charachter was gong throuight something. That’s litterally what it means to be a teenager. It reminded me of when I was in high school. I was going through stuff at home, and no one seemed to care. As an adult, it made me realize that all of my peers were going through something somewhere. For example, someone I was aquainted with had a visible issue. And, I never saw this person mistreated because of it. I considered them a nice person and they seemed very smart. But, I was watching television one day, and I saw the person. on a very popular talk show saying that they were bullied relentlessly for their visible issue. Obviously, this person wasn’t lying, even though I am not either. I was so wrapped up in my BS that I didn’t notice this person was going through so much. I feel really guilty about not seeing that, even to this day. Especially because the person is no longer here due to their visible issue. I do miss them, even though we weren’t very close. And, the funny thing is, I feel like a lot of people would also say the same thing about me.

There was an elephant in the room with this person. Just like in the movie, there is an obvious elephant in the room with those boys, and everyone just had their own stuff to worry about so the shooting caught them by surprise.

Elephant is not a shot for shot remake of what happened at Columbine High School. The story in Elephant feels much more universal even though I hope none of you ever went through a school shooting. People have said the fictional Oregon school was just like their high school. And, I asked people that lived in different parts of America. The School in Elephant could be any American high school. Sadly, like the IRL shooting, there was no resolution. The movie ended and we (the audience) just had to sit and mediate on the violence. I felt like I was at an aquarium watching some sharks eat all of the smaller fish. I’m on the the other side of the glass. There’s nothing I could have done.

The final movie is called Last Days, and references the death of Kurt Cobain. Instead of being named Kurt, the grunge rock star is named Blake. This is the movie I felt was handled with the most care. Maybe it’s because, like most alt girlies, I have a soft spot for Kurt Cobain. Gus Van Sant does as well, because they were friends. In fact, Kurt was going to be in a movie by Gus Van Sant called Binky. Courtney Love, Cobain’s widow is also Gus Van Sant’s friend. Also, known degenerate Asia Argento has been critical of how some people treat Cobain’s IRL widow. Which, she is totally right about btw, some people take conspiracy wayyyy too far. So, obviously they weren’t going to be exploitative or sensationalized. Like the other films, it is a mediation on death. Yet, there is a different tone. I think because of the real friendships involved.

Something that I noticed in the death trilogy, is that each story gets closer to home. Like, I obviously didn’t know about the Gerrys. I never heard about those people until I saw the movie. Like pretty much everyone on the planet, I’d heard of the school shooting. School shootings are just a part of life now. But, everyone knows Kurt Cobain. I have never met a person that didn’t like at least one Nirvana song.

Blake, the stand in for Kurt, was a part of a band that wasn’t as big as Nirvana. Also, his band members kind of suck as people. Courtney was not in the house when Kurt died, or even in the general area. But Asia (the movie character) is in the movie. Actually, I think this is the closest thing I would ever want to see in regards to a biopic of Kurt Cobain. It was made by someone that knew him, and took the feelings of people that loved him in account. There’s no big death scene. Also, I watched the Amy Winehouse movie and have been in a bad mood ever since. I don’t want that for Kurt Cobain. So even though there are a lot of creative liberties, I still liked the movie. I do wish that Cobain’s actual artistic side was a bigger part of the movie. But this is a death trilogy, not an artist trilogy. Instead of the feeling on who Cobain was, it’s more about what Blake was going through in his last days. One day, I think it would be interesting to see a “27 trilogy” about the vibe if artist that passed at 27. I think maybe then I would watch another Kurt Cobain biopic.