tadpole256

How elements of Pop Culture were blamed yet again!
The victims of the Virginia Tech shootings were killed by a person weren’t they? They were cruelly gunned down in the prime of life by a sad loner who felt he needed to eke out some sort of revenge, weren’t they? I already know the answer is yes, but after the crap I’ve had to endure reading over the past week, I had to check to be sure.
Elements of the media and some crackpot rent-a-quotes in particular seem to have been trying to blame the massacre on anything but a person with a gun. Video games have been the main culprit under suspicion this time, as they have been after other school shootings such as Columbine. But music hasn’t got away without it’s fair share of finger pointing either, as Marilyn Manson, and artists like him, were once again highlighted as having infuenced the tragedy. And you can stick films in the mix too, with the cult Korean gangster flick ‘Oldboy‘ held up as a direct reason that this incident happened. What an absolute pile of steaming horse crap this all is, and here I’ll explain why…

Let’s start with video games, the scourge of the right wing politicians who see them as damaging to kids and ruining families. Yes, there are some violent video games out there, but no, not everyone who plays them goes out and kills 32 people in a fit of anger and revenge. In fact it’s such a tiny minority of the games playing public who commit atrocities like this, it’s hardly worth debating. Unfortunately idiots such as Jack Thompson and Dr. (obviously of speaking crap) Phil came straight out after the tragedy and directly blamed video games, making gamers like me feel we have to defend our hobby. I resent that, and think morons who use this crime as a means to further their own ends ought to be ashamed of themselves. The killer Cho Seung-Hui has since been discovered not to have even played games, or owned them, or had any sort of dealing with them. So why did social commentators see fit to immediately blame games for what happened?
Music was certainly less implicated in this tragedy than on others before it, but still got dragged in as it always does. Marilyn Manson was again asked his views on it, and had people accusing him of influencing people with his music. Yes, he probably does, as isn’t that the reason for making music? But if you’re going to tell me a normal, rational person could be made to kill innocent people purely by hearing a song or a particular artist, you need your head examining along with the rest of them.
The killer did for ‘Oldboy’ what no-one could have imagined… he increased the sales by huge amounts. After the link was made between the poses he made in his final photographs, and this Korean gangster movie, everyone wanted to see it, to know what was so bad about it. Yes, it’s a blood ridden film, but do I think it could have sent someone on a killing spree? No, not a chance. Cho Seung-Hui had clearly watched this cult movie and was taken by some of the imagery in it, enough that when thinking about how he’d like to be seen by the world and remembered, he copied poses from the film. But to take this fact and extend it to blame the movie for what happened, and accuse film makers of influencing potential murderers to that degree is sheer madness, and anyone who expresses such a view is just after a headline, and their 5 minutes of fame.
So, should video game makers be forced to censor the more violent releases just in case someone copies them? Should music all be generic pop, with no true message, just in case someone takes a lyric the wrong way? Should films have all violence and blood taken out of them in case someone is so taken with the visual imagery, they choose to replicate it?
In my opinion no, to all 3 of the above questions. Art imitates life, and the creative forces are infuenced by what they see go on around them, not the other way around. Instead of blaming any form of pop culture in their wake, commentators should wake up and start campaigning for better education, better counselling for messed up kids, better mental health care, and better security for ordinary everyday citizens who want to be able to go about their daily business without fear of getting hurt.
Don’t let these side issues blind you to the real problems happening in society, and don’t stop playing games, listening to music and watching the films you want to watch.
The 3rd and last part of these series of editorials will be up tomorrow, and will cover the gun laws in both the US and around the world. Would it actually make any difference if the law regarding firearms was changed in America?



Pop Buzz UK » Blog Archive » The Virginia Tech Shootings - A View From The UK Part 2

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tyreay

I saw on the news, a day or two after the shootings, that this kid did play alot of first person shooter games. I guess that just goes to show how the media makes statements that it doesn't have supporting evidence for. As for Dr Phil...... A morom trying to be in the spot light at the cost of young lives.
Not the first time he has jumped on the band wagon with no clue.
He should try his own diet.

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There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle. ~Alexis de Tocqueville

tadpole256

Why can't people just admit that some people are crazy? Crazy with no external source...

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jaaaman

That is just too hard to do for most teens and adults to do in todays society. They would rather place blame elsewhere.

Katczinsky

If a Mormon came up to me accusing pop culture as an influence on Cho to do the things he did, then I can bring up the fact that he listened to Christian rock and was a religious person (mentioning he was a Jesus figure, etc).

Well, existence precedes essence. That is to say, man essentially defines his reality. People aren't innately born "evil" or "good", like the traditional religious definitions might hold, but instead they define themselves, and there is ultimately an element of influence from your environment. So people are quick to point fingers.

And I think it's way too easy to be narrow minded and point fingers at your enemies (in this case, conservative Mormons pointing at pop culture). Really pop culture has nothing to do with it. I mean, I personally play a lot of violent games, and watch a lot of really violent movies; but it doesn't make me want to go out and shoot people. There's a very tangible line between virtual and real realities. I don't get choked up when I see a person get shot on a movie, but I do when I see dead people in real life.

This isn't to say, however, that there weren't contributing influences in Cho's decisions. Yes, the choice was ultimately up to him, and he largely defined his existence. But there were some environmental influences. Obviously having a form of autism (perhaps Asperger's Syndrome) makes socializing very difficult. And being in complete alienation all his life obviously has a huge impact. I think there are also many other contributing factors such as America's fear and sensationalism society, but nothing was as major as his complete social isolation and his own decisions.

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Yoji

What is it about society today that wants to place "blame" on external sources, rather than looking at oneself first?

I'd imagine that the person to blame for the Virginia Tech killings was the one who pulled the trigger........

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tadpole256

Agreed. I also believe that the source of many of our problems lies within ourselves...

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Nightrider

I couldn't agree with you more, Tadpole!

And, to respond to your last question - No, I don't believe that it would make any difference if the law regarding firearms was changed in America. See, people who make up their minds to commit such atrocities (in my opinion) can't really be stopped. They will find a way to get guns (in other words), regardless of the laws. This is why we must make guns more accessible to law-abiding citizens. . . See, if more people were carrying guns (with permits), the crime rate would actually go down. This is a fact, not an opinion. I'm just tired of listening to the crap spewed out by these anti-gun people. The statistics are against them, and they know it. Their only goal is seemingly to disarm all law abiding citizens, and place guns (only) in the hands of government. Little do these anti-gun people know, however, that law-abiding citizens will continue to own guns (and will use them, if necessary, to protect their homes and family). That is a constitutional right, and probably the most important of all our rights. Furthermore (quite frankly), law abiding citizens need to continue to carry guns to protect ourselves from people who want to take our guns away. Our founding fathers understood this, and so do most reasonably intelligent people. . .

Have a nice day!

- Nightrider