Parents' Guide to

I'm Not Ashamed

By Renee Longstreet, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Factual story of one Columbine victim, a devout Christian.

Movie PG-13 2016 113 minutes
I'm Not Ashamed Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 12+

Based on 8 parent reviews

Darrell Cody
Darrell Cody Adult
August 28, 2021
age 13+

Christian and Anti-Bullying Message

Despite what some reviews have said, it portrays a refreshing perspective on the Christian walk in a sinful world. The historical accuracy has been deservedly challenged, and Dave Cullen did well to address those issues, but the central message remains. Rachel was born again and still struggled with and against sin, as Christians always do. She exemplified her faith by not faltering in her evangelism, engaging with other sinners, and confessing her own sins. Those who have said she didn’t walk with God until she was shot need to remember she was not Jesus, she was a sinner who found Jesus. There is violence, hints at sex, drug and alcohol abuse, and implied suicide contemplation. It glorifies none of these but is honest about the realities of it. Definitely recommend for anyone going into middle or high school with parental guidance.

This title has:

Great messages
1 person found this helpful.
wishfullycontent
wishfullycontent Parent
August 4, 2021
age 12+

Great movie to start discussions

I watched this with my 13 year old son and we both enjoyed it a lot. It led to a great discussion about faith, bullies, temptations, and general struggles he may face in life. The movie about Rachel Joy Scott, one of the first victims of the columbine school shooting. The movie focuses on her struggle to live the Christian faith in school and around her friends. A subject I think any young (or old) Christian can relate to. For those considering watching it with their children…The focus is NOT the shooting. It shows some of the news reels from the actual news coverage. There is one scene near the end of the shooters shooting her and the friend she was with, showing the boy with gunshot wounds and then the shooters asking Rachel if she “still believed in her God” and killing her. It doesn’t show the actual killing but they do have a gun to her head so it could be intense for younger or sensitive kids. There is a scene where Rachel considers suicide but does not do it. There are also scenes of teens drinking, smoking, and making out. There is insinuated sex but no actual scenes (one girl in particular sleeps around and you see her come out of a room buttoning her shirt but has another shirt under it). One scene of Rachel walking into a room and seeing a boy on top of another girl, kissing her, fully clothed, but he jumps up immediately. I don’t remember any language except maybe some derogatory terms from the shooters. There are several scenes of bullying from the “school jocks” and there are scenes of the shooters preparing for the shooting by practicing shooting shot guns and building bombs (the bombs never went off but they did build them). They have a few discussions about who they wanted to kill (they targeted people they didn’t deem worthy…think Hitler) That’s everything questionable I can remember that parents might want to be aware of. Sensitive or highly empathetic youngsters may struggle with the bullying and shooting. Someone else mentioned that Rachel Joy Scott was not the one asked the Christian question. However, the shooters actually were known to ask at least 3 children that question. The boy who was with Rachel told his mom shortly after the shooting that the shooters asked her but has since said he can’t remember the events that took place. It is highly probable that the shooters did at least mock her faith because it was found in some of their writings were they called her a “stuck up Christian *****” (found this information on Google)

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
See all 8 parent reviews

What's the Story?

When I'M NOT ASHAMED opens, tenth grader Rachel Joy Scott (Masey McLain) isn't a perfect kid. Still hurting from her parents' divorce years earlier, and crushing on a boy in her drama class, Rachel isn't above sneaking out at night to party with her long-time friends, and hoping that Alex Dickerson (Cameron McKendry) will finally notice her. But Rachel doesn't like her own behavior, and when she goes for her annual summer visit to an aunt's farm, the teen is open to a young cousin's entreaties to let Jesus into her life. It strikes a chord with Rachel... and then changes her life. Back at school, finding joy in drawing and writing in her journal, Rachel immediately begins attending meetings of a Christian teen group, where she connects with Nathan Ballard (an excellent Ben Davies), a homeless young man, who's barely surviving. Now able to practice what she "preaches," Rachel begins to translate her faith into good works, even as she struggles between the religious and secular high school world. Teased about being a "Jesus freak," Rachel remains stalwart, compassionate, and unashamed of her faith and, at the same time, much more maturely confronts the issues that challenged her before. Meanwhile, one very angry and disturbed student has recruited a partner in crime. The two plan to take their revenge on the bullies, elites, and the entire social order of Columbine High School by plotting a massacre of innocents. As the two stories merge, Rachel finds herself directly in the path of the raging killers. She becomes their victim, the first, along with 12 others who died, and the scores of injured that Harris and Kleban left behind before they killed themselves.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (8):
Kids say (12):

Strong Christian messages and a winning performance by newcomer Masey McLain will make this earnest effort a moving experience for audiences who respond to faith-based movies. Significantly, Rachel Joy Scott's writings reveal that she was a girl who had a premonition that she may not reach adulthood, and felt that she had the capacity to make a difference in the world because of her faith. She was right; her brief life has had a long-lasting impact. Her extensive journal entries and drawings enabled her family to bring her story to others. "Rachel's Challenge," a nonprofit (but nonreligious) organization established after her death, continues to advance messages about violence and safer schools with important programs conducted throughout the U.S.

Unfortunately, the film goes astray with some less than stellar performances, its judgmental tone toward those who aren't religious, and in its depiction of Harris and Klebold. The two very disturbed teens are seen only as caricatures, and the filmmakers' attempts to connect the boys' over-the-top behavior to video games, teachings about Hitler, and evolution are thin. I'm Not Ashamed is one perspective of the terrible events at Columbine. Only for mature kids, and best for families who will appreciate a faith-based look at a true event.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about I'm Not Ashamed as a window into one terrible American historical event. Of what benefit is it to revisit this tragedy? How does telling Rachel Scott's story help illuminate the grief and catastrophe of all whose lives were shattered?

  • Rachel Scott coped with doubts about her life and her future by turning to Christianity and devotion to Jesus, steps that brought her solace and peace, and gave her a sense of purpose and self-worth. What other resources and/or organizations and interests are available to kids struggling as Rachel did? To whom or what would you most be comfortable turning to in order to help you feel better about your life?

  • While the events in this movie are based upon Rachel Scott's journals and interviews with her family and peers, why is it important to be aware that actual conversations and events have to be imagined by the film's creative team?

  • The event depicted here sparked America's awareness of both bullying and antisocial behavior in schools. This movie shows that Columbine High School's faculty, administration, and policy had little or no impact on such behavior. Do you think times have changed since 1999, and that there is more attention paid to bullying and to kids who may be deeply troubled? How does your school handle such issues?

Movie Details

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