Quote:
Originally Posted by kyp275
Hmm, while I certainly wouldn't lay all the blame on it, I still think it's definitely part of the issue. They may be outcasts, but that means they were spurned by others, not necessarily that they themselves have rejected everything they've known.
I would argue that their disconnect from reality, or just plain apathy, makes it easier for them to severe the last restraints they might have had. Ultimately I'm not sure if it's really possible to truly understand what was going through their mind.
The world may be changing faster than it ever has before, but the sad reality that man's inhumanity to man knows no bounds, have not.
|
I think your post hints at what the problem might be, and it's not glorification of violence. It's the fact that they were spurned or rejected by their peers and so became outcasts.
The people who commit these massacres may also glory in violent pop culture, but I think they're just seizing on something visible to express their violent thoughts. The pop culture is not the originator of their violent impulses, but rather their isolation and hatred of the people around them, at best the pop culture simply serves as a catalyst. But the real problem is that they came to be so isolated and hateful in the first place, and that has nothing to do with pop culture, and everything to do with how we all act in our every day lives. Perhaps the biggest problem is the fact we stigmatise mental health issues so much, it simply drives people underground, away from society at large which usually grounds our worst ideas.
If you look at all these mass murderers, from the Unabomber to Seung Hui Cho, the common ingredient is isolation, and the madness that stems from it. Something to consider about two of the most notorious mass murders in American history: Neither of them were particularly into pop culture.