The next day that boy shot and killed him during first period. My Funny Valentine explores the ripple effect hate has on a community by following fictional characters on the fringes of the murder who are forever changed because of it:
Helen, who taught the dead student years prior, has become an advocate for changes in how schools navigate “problem” children; Gloria was down the hall in another classroom when the gunshot went off, but will forever be branded as a student who went to “that school”; Hal may have had online conversations with the young student prior to his death, and doesn’t want anyone to accuse him of anything unsavoury; Rhonda has just received one of the dead boy’s organs; Roger taught the boy, but doesn’t believe that his newfound martyrdom is called for; Ray’s son had an altercation in a locker room with the boy, something which will never be solved in the wake of his death; Bernard’s journalism career is catapulted forward by being the first on the scene, but he’s conflicted about prospering from the death. Haunting, moving, and strangely comedic, My Funny Valentine cracks open the greater humanity of a community trying to heal a wound.
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