VA Tech Shootings

[Tale]

Who are you talking to?  No one here is trying to blame "foreigners."  The only question was his legal status and whether he could legally own a gun.

Roughly what Azazel said - I wasn't addressing anyone here, it was just my thoughts after reading, hearing and seeing a lot of stuff.

[Riggswolfe]

For some reason this particular crime has really affected me. I knew noone there and have never even been to Va but every time I look at the pictures of the dead and read about their lives I get upset. Even Columbine didn't have this kind of an effect on me. I don't know why it is but I alternate between shaking with rage at Cho and hoping there is a Hell so he burns in it and almost being in tears from reading about the lives that were cut short. I find myself caring less why he did it and only concerned about what he did.

[Slayerik]

Riggs, we may have differing points when it comes to MMOs...but you basically laid out exactly how this has effected me. Columbine didnt sink in like this massacre has.

I hope he burns.

On a side note, all the coverage of his "poems", photos, videos, and what not get me thinking.....if I was a guy on the edge, this kind of attention could push me over it. Networks need to stop showing the shit. Show his mug and have it say Horrible Bastard. I dont want to see his name at all, stop immortalizing this fuck.

[Yegolev]

There has been some speculation, especially among online forums, that Cho may have been inspired by the South Korean movie "Oldboy," part of Chan-wook Park's "Vengeance Trilogy." One of the killer's mailed photos shows him brandishing a hammer — the signature weapon of the protagonist — and in a pose similar to one from the film.

Good movie, I recommend it... unless you have been deemed a dangerous psycho, of course.

[Ironwood]

For some reason this particular crime has really affected me. I knew noone there and have never even been to Va but every time I look at the pictures of the dead and read about their lives I get upset. Even Columbine didn't have this kind of an effect on me. I don't know why it is but I alternate between shaking with rage at Cho and hoping there is a Hell so he burns in it and almost being in tears from reading about the lives that were cut short. I find myself caring less why he did it and only concerned about what he did.

Hmmm.  I'm the opposite.  I don't care.  At all.  Which is worse - it's like I'm totally desensitised to mindless and inexplicable shootings.  Hell, even the blokes pictures just makes me laugh as he strikes his 'Counterstrike' pose...

If it makes you feel better, I was at Stirling Uni during the Dunblane massacre and was deeply affected then.  But now ?  After even the Amish copped some Fatalities ?  Nowt surprises or bothers me anymore.

 

[bhodi]

The world's just too hard. I'm totally desensitized to it now. Unless it directly touches myself of my friends, I simply can't summon any emotion for it.

I live 3 hours away, I know many friends who have gone to VT (no one there now, admittedly) and it simply doesn't affect me. Maybe it's because I've been seeing nothing but 'dozen people killed in bombing' news articles every other day for the past year.

[Azazel]

For some reason this particular crime has really affected me. I knew noone there and have never even been to Va but every time I look at the pictures of the dead and read about their lives I get upset. Even Columbine didn't have this kind of an effect on me. I don't know why it is but I alternate between shaking with rage at Cho and hoping there is a Hell so he burns in it and almost being in tears from reading about the lives that were cut short. I find myself caring less why he did it and only concerned about what he did.

Yeah, I'm feeling the same thing. I've been quite depressed because of this the last few days. Which is darkly comical considering something like 198 people got blown up in a Bahgdad market about 2 days ago which just washed over me as "more of the same from Iraq".

I think it's because of several things - after the loss of a close family member 18 months ago, some rare deaths reported in the media trigger the whole set of feelings and depress the shit out of me. The first one was Eddy Gurerro (the wrestler), there was one other, and now this. With the VT thing, what really hit me was that myspace link posted here a few pages ago (that "Max" girl's page really hit me hard, actually, especially the comments), it really made it real, as opposed to more shit we talk about here or shit we watch in the detatched way on the news.

I also think there's also the fact that I was actually back in University this time last year doing my postgrad, and I'm now a teacher, so I'm kind of feeling it as both a recent student and also npw as a teacher. Then last night, checking out CNN they had an interviewer who'd spoken to a local mortician, who didn't want to speak on camera, but the anecdote about the dead students' phones ringing and vibrating in their bodybags also hit me as a kind of nasty but realistic detail. Made me think of my classmates and their phones ringing and vibrating during lectures and tutes.

Columbine didn't hit me at all, and I'm also pretty desensitised to the bi-weekly massacres and bombings in places like Iraq and Israel and Palestine. The situation and location with VT are a place i can really closely relate to, despite being on the other side of the world and never having been there. I think that makes it hit harder than other things. For me, anyway.

[tazelbain]

Maybe I don't understand what it means to be an English Major, but I expected him to be more articulate.  His comments about Columbine are very telling.  The cycle of Mass Murder Celebrity continues.

[Riggswolfe]

With the VT thing, what really hit me was that myspace link posted here a few pages ago (that "Max" girl's page really hit me hard, actually, especially the comments), it really made it real, as opposed to more shit we talk about here or shit we watch in the detatched way on the news.

That was the first thing that affected me. Especially the comments. They go from "Are you ok?" to "We'll miss you" in the space of a few hours. It really hits home.

Then last night, checking out CNN they had an interviewer who'd spoken to a local mortician, who didn't want to speak on camera, but the anecdote about the dead students' phones ringing and vibrating in their bodybags also hit me as a kind of nasty but realistic detail. Made me think of my classmates and their phones ringing and vibrating during lectures and tutes.

What's sad about that is it was probably family and friends desperately trying to reach those people and see if they were ok. It's a sad and morbid thought.

[Azazel]

Yep, my thoughts were the same on both points.

[Lantyssa]

The world's just too hard. I'm totally desensitized to it now. Unless it directly touches myself of my friends, I simply can't summon any emotion for it.

I live 3 hours away, I know many friends who have gone to VT (no one there now, admittedly) and it simply doesn't affect me. Maybe it's because I've been seeing nothing but 'dozen people killed in bombing' news articles every other day for the past year.

Intellectually I understand how sad this is.  Reading the nitty-gritty details can get me to tear up, but I am avoiding most of it.  As is senseless as it is, it is more of the same senseless loss I've been reading about around the world.

[HaemishM]

My greatest source of emotion about this whole thing is the media. Sure, burn in hell with crotchrot disease, killer, but seriously, the media is chewing this whole thing up with a carrion's gluttony like never before. The day after, they have that professor's son FROM ISRAEL on the goddamn television trying to talk about his dead dad. Have some motherfucking decency, you fucking trolls, let the man have his grief. And stop aggrandizing Cho with all those photos, and ravings of his, stop obsessing over Ismail's Axe, whatever the fuck that meant. JUST STOP. You won't be able to figure out why he did it, nor should you be able to. Anyone who can understand his motives is likely a crazyfuck killer themself, and should be shot into the goddamn sun.

There's no mystery here. There's no court case. There's no trial. There's no case. IT'S OVER. Let the mourners grieve, and focus on something in which you can have a positive effect. Focus on 5 million missing emails, focus on the clusterfuck we have made of Iraq. Focus on the lack of recovery in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Stop carrion-feasting and start reporting on NEWS AGAIN, you sanctimonious crotch crickets.

[bhodi]

Exactly. "Never forget!" ... Fuck off, you sanctimonious douchebags.

[Azazel]

Intellectually I understand how sad this is.  Reading the nitty-gritty details can get me to tear up, but I am avoiding most of it.  As is senseless as it is, it is more of the same senseless loss I've been reading about around the world.

You're right of course, Lant. To me it was just another American mass shooting till I clicked on the link in this very thread. The combo of the comments and that particular version of the Men At Work/Colin Hay song, then one of the photos on the myspace was what essentially flipped the emotional switch in my head and triggered the other shit in my head and the overall reaction, connected to the other things I mentioned earlier.

Haemish is also right as well. But then again, I've probably watched about 2 hours of CNN in total since I clicked the link, which is honestly 2 hours more of CNN than I usually watch or have watched since the London Bombings unfolded in real-time while I sat here. Last night though, (I had it on when posting here) the overuse of the killer's press kit (that's what it was, after all) in a loop about every 2 minutes (either the video or the publicity photos) really pissed me off. The timelines, building layouts, and so forth, yeah, sure, thats why I was watching, after all. But the glee that they were using the press kit with pretty much guarantees us that the next random fucking nutjob who does this (and tried to break the new modern record) will also have a press kit, and so on and so fucking forth.

[Merusk]

So, just clicked over through the News.  Two copycat problems today.. the one I heard about was some kid who sent an e-mail saying he'd try to break the record by hitting 100.

The news channel then proceeded to segue into 'and that's what's so dangerous about all this coverage. The fact a copycat killer might see all the attention and decide to get some of it for themself.'  I think they broke my brain.

[Chenghiz]

I don't really get why people think this kid's writing could have been indicative of such behavior. This is the country that made the "Saw" movies profitable and popular. This is the country that watches shows like Law and Order featuring little boys getting sodomised. Where the fuck do people get off saying writing like that is any different than the movie they saw last Friday?

[Triforcer]

I don't really get why people think this kid's writing could have been indicative of such behavior. This is the country that made the "Swa" movies profitable and popular. This is the country that watches shows like Law and Order featuring little boys getting sodomised. Where the fuck do people get off saying writing like that is any different than the movie they saw last Friday?

Of all I've read on this case (hundreds of internet postings, news commentaries, etc.) this is the strangest take I've ever seen...its almost like something noninsane was translated into Swedish, then Urdu, then Japanese, and back to English.  What the hell is "Swa"?

[Samwise]

I think he means "Saw".  That's all the light I can shed on that bizarre string of sentences, though.

[Chenghiz]

Yes. Sorry about that. I get a bit asrhyukl;efggr when riled up. :P

[Sky]

There's no mystery here. There's no court case. There's no trial. There's no case. IT'S OVER. Let the mourners grieve, and focus on something in which you can have a positive effect. Focus on 5 million missing emails, focus on the clusterfuck we have made of Iraq. Focus on the lack of recovery in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Stop carrion-feasting and start reporting on NEWS AGAIN, you sanctimonious crotch crickets.

I heartily agree. My favorite news is on HDNet these days. Dan Rather Reports did a special on this, but focused on the candlelight vigil and talking to mourners, and he will probably not address it again because he's focused on real investigative news. Leaving CBS was the best thing he ever did.

The HDNet World Report is also a good investigative news show.

They both give more time to issues and ignore the soundbite style of modern mainstream news.

[Llava]

Because the violence in his plays isn't violence that drives the plot.  It's violence for the sake of pure violence.

You saw the bit where the kid's mom is in the house and magically has a chainsaw to grab and brandish against the stepfather because the kid muttered something, right?

Personally, I don't think those plays were enough to determine that he was fucked up, but they clearly weren't coming from the same sort of mind that produces a CSI or Law&Order.

[Riggswolfe]

I don't really get why people think this kid's writing could have been indicative of such behavior. This is the country that made the "Swa" movies profitable and popular. This is the country that watches shows like Law and Order featuring little boys getting sodomised. Where the fuck do people get off saying writing like that is any different than the movie they saw last Friday?

Of all I've read on this case (hundreds of internet postings, news commentaries, etc.) this is the strangest take I've ever seen...its almost like something noninsane was translated into Swedish, then Urdu, then Japanese, and back to English.  What the hell is "Swa"?

Picking on his misspellings aside, I understand what Chenghiz is trying to say. To his POV the kid's writings, in a different environment could potentially go on to become just another in a string of movies/tv shows that are similiar to them.

The problem Chenghiz, is twofold 1) his writings, what little I've read, are pointless angry ramblings, and I'm not talking about his "press kit" here but the stuff he turned in for school work. SAW is violent and over the top but it does have some structure and a semblence of the story. Cho's stuff was basically psychosis committed to paper. 2) You also have to look at his other acts. Not talking to people except maybe in monosyllables, using his cell phone to take pictures of girl's knees and legs under their desks while in class, etc...

Honestly, the more I read about Cho the clearer it becomes that he was insane. He wasn't just some angsty kid who was picked on in highschool like those Columbine fucks, I'm thinking he was an undiagnosed psychotic and he had a major, major break. I still hope he rots in hell but I can understand what happened a little better now.

[Murgos]

SAW wasn't created in a vacuum.  150 some odd people worked on that movie directly and countless others were involved on the periphery.  The people who came up with the concept had to hold meetings with dozens of people and get them to buy into it as a money making concept and invest MILLIONs of dollars.  Rational people (for Hollywood anyway).

Any similarities between that process and Cho's writings is purely coincidental.

[Furiously]

SAW is actually a morality play though. Same with most slasher movies.

If you have pre-marital sex - Jason will kill you. If you smoke pot Jason will kill you.

If you are the wholesome, good valued non-bitch girl who screams well - you might live.

[HaemishM]

SAW was a decent horror/slasher/thriller/style movie morality play. It had a puzzle, it had structure and it had style.

Hostel, OTOH, was a more psychotic, deranged piece of exploitative shit than I've ever seen on film. It was wretched from start to finish. It made me want to get Cho-y on the producers, writers and director. If you want to point to any kind of indication of similar violence movie for violence sake, Hostel is the one to point out.

But neither have shit to do with the fact that this fuckjob had taken six steps over the batshit line. His writings (such as they were) might as well be diary pages from a madman. They hold no significance other than that they show how fucked in the head he was.

[Lantyssa]

You're right of course, Lant. To me it was just another American mass shooting till I clicked on the link in this very thread. The combo of the comments and that particular version of the Men At Work/Colin Hay song, then one of the photos on the myspace was what essentially flipped the emotional switch in my head and triggered the other shit in my head and the overall reaction, connected to the other things I mentioned earlier.

Please don't get me wrong.  I'm intentially avoiding most of the coverage.  The one thing I read was a collection of pictures and short bios of the victims.  I had to start skimming because I could tell I was ready to turn into a bawling baby.

If one of you can stomach reading a good portion of the MySpace page and not have it emotionally effect you, I'd call you a cold-hearted bastard.  You're not though, so don't worry about trying to justify it.

[Slayerik]

I cant get that song out of my head. I liked the Original version by Men at work, but I like the Colin Hay one as well. So now I'm in this loop of hearing the song in my head and having it remind me of poor slain Maxine Turner from that myspace page.

The other part that gets me is the last login...

[Riggswolfe]

I cant get that song out of my head. I liked the Original version by Men at work, but I like the Colin Hay one as well. So now I'm in this loop of hearing the song in my head and having it remind me of poor slain Maxine Turner from that myspace page.

I too am haunted by that song Slayerik. Who'd know that you and I would see so eye to eye on something finally. *sighs*

[Azazel]

Please don't get me wrong.  I'm intentially avoiding most of the coverage.  The one thing I read was a collection of pictures and short bios of the victims.  I had to start skimming because I could tell I was ready to turn into a bawling baby.

If one of you can stomach reading a good portion of the MySpace page and not have it emotionally effect you, I'd call you a cold-hearted bastard.  You're not though, so don't worry about trying to justify it.

Oh, I don't think I got you wrong - I was agreeing with what you said. Until I read the details it was just another headline from a long way away that had/has no direct impact on my life. So, um, I guess I'm saying stay off myspace.  :-(

I cant get that song out of my head. I liked the Original version by Men at work, but I like the Colin Hay one as well. So now I'm in this loop of hearing the song in my head and having it remind me of poor slain Maxine Turner from that myspace page.

Also. Yes.