Murder by Proxy: How America Went Postal

In my career I have seen workplaces destroyed by bullying. My co workers have suffered PTSD, heart disease, profound depression, gastrointestinal disease, and many other illnesses. Their productivity has been seriously impacted by bullying. We loose 6 Billion dollars worth of productivity in the US annually because we condone bullying in the workplace.

This film deals effectively with the US workplace's most important topic in an effective manner. When workers see it; they say every worker should see this film. They are enthusiastic, as am I about the film. I have seen a number of workers commit suicide as a result of workplace bullying and many others suffer profound health impacts. This is a very important film!

It blared background music to create a serious overtone, car alarms, police sirens, etc, while people are talking in the documentary. The editing looks as if it was completed in the 1970's with its outdated styles and soundtrack, rather than edited in 2010. (PS: Many clips are indeed old, such as the interviews. However things which should have been updated with new film, were not. It's as if a five year old pieced this together out of existing film for a school project)

The movie attempts to cover many shootings and the details of them all. Yet it glosses over the important details by filling up 90% of the video with commentary from postal workers, most of which are complaints regarding their bosses.

It also fails to mention some important details, such as the series of fights by McIlvane which led to his suspension, caring to talk about instead the fact that he was written up for improperly following trivial procedures. The movie shifts the blame onto the managers, rather than attempting to provide a holistic view of the situation.

The overall result is a poorly edited documentary, weak in its attempts to explain the mass shootings.

I watched this film in light of recent mass shootings. Though it mostly addresses the phenomenon of workplace shootings using historical reference to post office incidents, there is plenty of material that, in a broader view, pertains to the current horrors in Connecticut and NY. The film does not glorify criminal acts, but attempts a psycho-social (and at times economic) explanation, which in my mind succeeds. Deserves a higher rating than given by many, in my opinion. I wonder if the low ratings are due the societal explanations given for the motives of such despicable actions, or maybe the turnoff is in even trying to explain such horror at all.