Freaks, Aliens, and the Social Other: Representations of Student Stratification in U.S. Television's First Post-Columbine Season

A curious temporality connects the horrific carnage that took place at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, 1999. Prior to the massacre of twelve students and one teacher and the suicides of the two teen assailants, Columbine had no real relevance outside of its immediate locale. Rather, the school could have been viewed as a relatively banal template of middle-American normalcy, with its suburban location, its balanced commitments to scholarly and athletic excellence, and its widely publicized dedication to Catholic Christian values. Columbine was, simply stated, undistinguished from other schools of its kind; it was just like schools throughout the nation, a fact that reinforced the fear and concern among authorities, parents, and students, who believed, "If it can happen there, it can happen anywhere." Yet since the incident, our society can speak of the post-Columbine era in a meaningful way. The temporality of the term simultaneously connotes a period of individual pain, familial suffering, anger, solace, healing, and national soul searching as well as a new historical period into which Americans have collectively entered.