Okay, I actually get your point here, and will admit that yes, it could go badly. However, you failed to read the quote about Columbine I posted. They had intended to bomb the cafeteria and then swoop in and kill the last few survivors, because they wanted to top the Oklahoma City bomber.
The subtler cruelty comes in the long-term effects of speculation and copycat-baiting; of simplification and assumption and shallow debate; of turning a living place into its most horrific day — “Newtown,” “Aurora,” “Columbine” — and then refusing to let the locals opt out of endless, image-bloated reruns.
This begs the question, what is copycat-baiting? It seems to be the lasting media attention given to a story about mass murder. Assuming that is accurate, the arguments put forth by you and Salon work upon the assumption that psychotic persons act in a predictably rational yet reactive manner. This is countered by the very book you cited!
Eric was a psychopath Dylan was “recruited.” The records they left, the proverbial Basement Tapes.
See chapter 50: The Basement Tapes
Eric outdid Dylan with the apologies. To the untrained eye, he seemed sincere. The psychologists on the case found Eric less convincing. They saw a psychopath. Classic. He even pulled the stunt of self-diagnosing to dismiss it. "I wish I was a fucking sociopath so I didn't have any remorse," Eric said. "But I do."
Watching that made Dr. Fuselier angry. Remorse meant a deep desire to correct a mistake. Eric hadn't done it yet. He excused his actions several times on the tapes. Fuselier was tough to rattle, but that got to him.
"Those are the most worthless apologies I've ever heard in my life," he said. It got more ludicrous later, when Eric willed some of his stuff to two buddies, "if you guys live."
"If you live?" Fuselier repeated. "They are going to go in there and quite possibly kill their friends. If they were the least bit sorry, they would not do it!"
Eric was deluded due to his psychosis.
See chapter 50: The Basement Tapes
Eric joined Dylan on-set. They kicked back in plush velvet recliners, bantering about the big event. Eric had a bottle of Jack Daniel's in one hand and Arlene laid across his lap. He took a swig and tried not to grimace. He hated the stuff. Dylan munched on a toothpick and took little sips of Jack as well.
They ranted for more than an hour. Dylan was wild and animated and angry, obsessively hurling his fingers through his long, ratty hair. Eric was mostly calm and controlled. They spoke with one voice: Eric's.
Eric introduced most ideas; Dylan riffed along. They insulted the usual inferiors: blacks, Latinos, gays, and women. "Yes, moms, stay home," Eric said. "Fucking make me dinner, bitch!"
Sometimes, Eric got kind of loud. That made Dylan nervous. It was after 1:00 A.M., and Eric's parents were upstairs, snoozing away. Careful, Dylan warned.
They rattled off a list of kids who'd pissed them off. Eric had been dragged across the country: the scrawny little white guy, constantly starting over, always at the bottom of the food chain. People kept making fun of him--"my face, my hair, my shirts." He enumerated every girl who had refused his advances.
Dylan got fired up just listening. He faced the camera and addressed his tormenters. "If you could see all the anger I've stored over the past four fucking years," he said. He described a sophomore who didn't deserve the jaw evolution gave him. "Look for his jaw," Dylan said. "It won't be on his body."
Eric named one guy he planned to shoot in the balls, another in the face. "I imagine I will be shot in the head by a fucking cop," he said.
No one they named would be killed.
It went back so much further than high school. From prekindergarten, at Foothills Day Care center, Dylan could remember them: all the stuck-up toddlers sneering at him. "Being shy didn't help," he said. At home it was just as bad. Except for his parents, his whole extended family looked down on him, treated him like the runt of the litter. His brother was always ripping on him; Byron's friends, too. "You made me what I am," Dylan said. "You added to the rage."
"More rage, more rage!" Eric demanded. He motioned with his arms. "Keep building it."
Dylan hurled another Ericism: "I've narrowed it down. It's humans I hate."
Eric raised Arlene, and aimed her at the camera. "You guys will all die, and it will be fucking soon," he said. "You all need to die. We need to die, too."
The boys made it clear, repeatedly, that they planned to die in battle. Their legacy would live. "We're going to kick-start a revolution," Eric said. "I declared war on the human race and war is what it is."
Did you think the info in Chapter 8. Maximum Human Density stated a cause? You might as well blame Doom by what is stated in the book.
It's a safe bet that Eric and Dylan watched the carnage of Waco and Oklahoma City on television, with the rest of the country. Those atrocities were particularly prominent in this region. McVeigh was tried in federal court in downtown Denver and sentenced to death while the boys attended Columbine in the suburbs. The scenes of devastation were played over and over. In his journal, Eric would brag about topping McVeigh. Oklahoma City was a one-note performance: McVeigh set his timer and walked away; he didn't even see his spectacle unfold. Eric dreamed much bigger than that.
Eric and Dylan had been considering a killing spree for at least a year and a half. They had settled on the approximate time and location a year out: April, in the commons. They finalized details as Judgment Day approached: Monday, April 19. The date appeared firm. The boys referred to it twice matter-of-factly in the recordings they made in the last ten days. They did not explain the choice, though Eric discussed topping Oklahoma City, so they may have been planning to echo that anniversary, as Tim McVeigh had done with Waco.
The irony was, his attack was too good for his victims--it would sail right over their heads. "the majority of the audience wont even understand," Eric lamented. Too bad. They would feel the power of his hand: "if we have figured out the art of time bombs before hand, we will set hundreds of them around houses, roads, bridges, buildings and gas stations." "it'll be like the LA riots, the oklahoma bombing, WWII, vietnam, duke and doom all mixed together. maybe we will even start a little rebellion or revolution to fuck things up as much as we can. i want to leave a lasting impression on the world."
Additionally, the American Psychological Association believes that the Virginia Tech shooting was possibly inspired by Columbine, and says that the high coverage of these types of people is likely a factor in the new ones actions.
Did they establish causality? Because otherwise its bullshit.
So much over generalization, why?
Still, fictional stories tell about a culture. I really don't need to rehash that rant, because it's already been said.
Fictional stories tell about an
aspect of a culture within a time frame.
Yes, it provides an insight towards an aspect of culture in a timeframe. I don't see how you can't agree with me on this, because you're saying what I'm saying. I'm not saying whether it's fictional, I'm saying that the common tropes and outlook of a society says stuff about that society.
So close yet so far, do not assume a primary source provides a complete and accurate picture.
Go read Greek, Roman and other ancient myths. Then go back to the fiction of most centuries of the west. In general, barring the occasional Sherlock Holmes and his ilk, most heroes have been attractive. Just look at most of Hollywood's output, ever.
Those fictional stories mutate according to a cultural framework in a time frame. Do not confound.
“Sherlock Holmes and his ilk”? Me thinks your personal bias is bleeding into this and affecting your judgment via minimization.
Did you just confound Hollywood and ancient myths? Because I am not sure if those with a degree in History or those with a degree in Literature would foam at the mouth more over that.
I'm not using circular reasoning.
I'm saying, if that many people already believe it, then why would you think more can't?
This premise is both Argumentum Ad Populum and circular reasoning.
