By Sarah V. Dailey

Every once in a while there is a movie that hits you where it hurts. It knocks you down to the point where it’s not the ground that is so cold, but the message. A message that is so powerful, so frightening that you have no choice but to open your eyes and discover what’s really out there.

O, the High School version of Shakespear’s Othello, stars Josh Hartnett, Julia Stiles and Mekhi Phifer. These are actors who are now popping up all over Hollywood, but this movie was made long before Pearl Harbor or Save The Last Dance. This is a movie that has seen it’s way around the court system for three years and knew, after production had ceased, that it was going to stir up some trouble.

High School shootings happen more often that anyone would like. During a morning prayer meeting the shots of a gun from the hands of a “misunderstood” Micheal Carneal started, what appeared to be a trend. It wasn’t until after the Columbine shootings did anyone stop and think, “hey maybe something is wrong?” This movie gets you inside the minds of the Michael Carneal’s in this world. No it is not their story, but it is a story that very easily could be something that one would see on the front page of the newspaper.

The plot: jealousy takes over a teen who is lost in the mist of popularity and family importance. It’s the jealousy that sparks the evil which results in death and destruction. Hugo (Hartnett) amazed me. He appeared to have everything and at the same time have nothing at all. He was able to get inside the heads of all his friends and twist their thoughts and develop false scenarios to further his stance in the eyes of classmates and his father.

This realistic depiction is about high school students, kids who are suppose to be concerned with their first kiss and algebra. Hugo is a 17-year-old mastermind, isn’t that a scary thought? I sat in the theater amongst my friends who made comments like, “ooh I hate him (Hugo) because he is causing all this trouble.” I had another opinion. I was thinking how interesting it is that someone has the power to tell people what to think, how to act and even go as far as to convince them to that murder is the solution to all the pain.

I believe that there are people out there with the mind of Hugo. It scares me. It should scare you too.

Sarah V. Dailey is a senior communications major and Editor-in-Chief of The Louisville Cardinal.