An Australian movie named ‘Nitram’ hit the big screen and I went to watch it with some psychological struggles when I knew it was about a mass shooting claiming three dozen innocent precious lives and wounding many in Australia in 1996. Nevertheless, my curiosity to attempt to pry into the cause of the tragedy surmounted the struggle my psychology bore, ushering me into the cinema to find answers.

Caleb Landry Jones plays the title character Nitram and, without doubt, he has done him ever the best in his career here. Nitram is a young man who deliberately projects himself an image of untidiness and unruliness, his daily life is to play with fireworks, and he does so in a way of ignoring the annoyance his neighborhood finds he has made. The result is he has got more people loathing him than liking him. He doesn’t have a promising job, so he feels self-abased. He cannot swim but dreams of surfing and going to do so despite constant failure in the sea. He believes in violence trusting it works and doing so without mercy. He drives and sometimes drives crazily without a driving license. He is physically normal having a good frame in terms of body; however, he has got the kind of mental illness needing constant medication. His father, played by Anthony LaPaglia, exceedingly dotes on his only son rendering him increasingly unrestrained, his mother, played by Judy Davis, loves her child also only she prefers to adopt a rather disciplined approach trying to teach her son to act like a normal person.

Helen, played by Essie Davis, a forgotten once famous film star, staying alone and lonely in a crumbled estate despite big with nearly a dozen dogs she raises as her company, meets with Nitram and finds him her immediate delight and comfort. Nitram likes her too when he knows there is no one in the world who can understand and like him as much as she does. The two swiftly become one sharing a lot of laughter, singing, and love with each other regardless of any mundane vision. Tragically, Helen dies in a car accident caused by the arbitrariness of Nitram who sits next to her when she is driving. Nitram acquires a great fortune with the death of Helen rendering him increasingly unrestrained and having a lot of money to buy guns despite not getting a license.

The answer I was desperate to find out from the tragedy is one word ‘shameful’. I adamantly insist that if Nitram could learn how to be a good and kind person, there would not have been the tragedy that happened in 1996 in Australia with so many precious innocent lives claimed by just a person’s unrestrained character. Nitram feels he is loathed by the people thinking he is discriminated against and being outcast by the world; however, the truth is he has not acted properly with his behavior appearing weird, unrestrained, ruthless, arbitrary, and violent making the people around him feel their lives are threatened. Whether we are mentally healthy or not, we have to learn to be kind and good to people to gain meaning in our lives on the one hand, and the other hand earns others’ liking and respect. Bear in mind that liking and respect are earned but not granted.

Learning to be a good and kind person is our life’s duty, it is devastating to the world when one is bad, uncaring, undisciplined, uninhibited, or egocentric not to do so with the excuse of any reasons that one may claim or shift to. It is shameful!