On August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman went to the observation deck of the tower at the University of Texas at Austin and began shooting random people on and around the campus. In the 96 minutes that he rained bullets down on the university, 18 people were killed and 31 were injured.
Tower, a 2016 film directed by Keith Maitland, is not about Charles Whitman. The film documents the stories of several survivors of the shooting, including the men responsible for stopping it. It mentions Whitman’s name only once.
Using a unique combination of rotoscopic animation and archived television coverage of the shooting as it happened, Maitland transports his audience back to the that terrible day. The film is based on an article called “96 Minutes” by Pamela Colloff. In that article, as in the film, the survivors recount their stories and how the shooting affected them.
What struck me most about the film were the stories of selflessness in the face of danger. In particular, I was impressed with the accounts of John “Artly Snuff” Fox and Rita Starpattern, both of whom aided Claire Wilson, who was the first person shot that day. Wilson, who was eight months pregnant, lay in the open on the hot pavement for over an hour next to her dead boyfriend, Thomas Eckman. Eckman was shot in the neck as he attempted to attend to Wilson. Starpattern ran out and lay down next to Wilson, speaking to her and preventing her from slipping into unconsciousness. Fox, along with several other students, ran out to carry Wilson out of the gunman’s range. Had it not been for their actions, Wilson may not have lived.
Perhaps the most poignant moment in the film is Walter Cronkite’s commentary on the shooting which plays over footage of modern-day shootings, like Columbine and the 2012 massacre in Aurora, Colorado. Cronkite laments that the shooting was caused by “the horror of our hyper civilization, a strange pandering to violence, a disrespect for life, fostered in part by governments, which, in the pursuit of the doctrine of self-defense, teach their youth to kill.” His words ring true today but nothing has changed.
Some may criticize Tower for not discussing Charles Whitman or what led him to commit such a heinous act. I applaud Keith Maitland for keeping the film focused on the people who had to deal with the violence and the aftermath. While I feel bad that Whitman’s mother and wife — both killed by Whitman before the shooting started — are merely given a cursory mention, I think widening the focus of the film would dilute its impact.
As it stands, Tower is a reminder that, even in the face of tragedy, ordinary people can do extraordinary things and, sadly, these types of tragedies continue to occur.
4.5 out of 5.0 stars
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