It turns out the guy that shot up the campus in Virginia made some videos and sent them to the media. Several copies to several locations. Have you seen it? I’ve made every effort possible to avoid any and all exposure to it, and I think it’s shameful that it’s being aired at all.Because that’s what the guy wanted.
And he’s getting it.
Regardless of whether or not it’s preceded with suited commentary and observations on his mental state, it’s wrong to give him any further attention.
Yes, we should definitely be aware of and mindful of ways in which, especially in today’s society, we might detect and help defuse a potentially volatile person or situation. And we should use such occurrence to remind and improve our awareness.
Consider this: that guy setup his computer or video recorder, consciously selected apparel, spewed his opinions, then sat down to do some post production work in order to create a final edit, and to feel good about what he was broadcasting to the world. Then he did just that; packaged it up, labeled it, and took it with him, where I’ve read that he mailed it off between killing two and then thirty more people.
Ultimately, at least as some significant level, this all took place so you’d watch his video.
And people do.
That’s what I’d call, regardless if his being dead or alive, rewarding bad behavior.
Consider this as well: If historically, videos and manifestos issues by people that go on killing sprees were never aired/released and just buried with them, do you think there’s be less motivation for the next guy to do these things? I do.
Ideally, I’d have loved to have had it turned over to the FBI, reviewed, researched, perhaps used in publishing a guide on detecting signs of stress and possible conflicts. Then burned and buried along with his body, unseen by anybody, and undocumented in any further way.
I have to say, too, that at some level within the media, when this arrived, there’s absolutely had to be some person or persons that felt a sense of elation of having this ‘hot item’ in their hands. This highly valued sensational piece of added drama to air at 6.30, with plenty of advanced press touting it’s airing.
To a point I’ve raised before, this video, along with many other video’s that circulated the internet and television, is the result of a society that’s allowed too many lines to be crossed for the sake of titillation. This, like video’s of the beheadings of a captive American that have also been considered ‘news worthy’, is not something that’s presented or used to help drive home the point that we’ve got some serious issues and problems to resolve. They’re sadly based on sensationalism, ratings, and water-cooler awareness. I vividly remember being the ‘odd man out’ that had not seen the Nick Berg beheading video. It’d been out for a month or two. I felt out of touch. I watched it, painfully and actually stopping and turning off the sound. Then i wanted to vomit. I felt a need to shower with brillo. I felt filthy, not only because of the gruesome subject matter but because if my own capitulation and by action, relative trivialization of a life taken so violently.
You can learn about and learn from the violent actions like these in so many productive ways. And by watching a video they made for you to watch, you give them what they want.
That’s the absolutely last thing I am willing to do.
Postscript 04/19/07 12:51 PM:
My friend Matt, a former news reporter with more then his own share of stories, directed me to Tim Goodman’s SFGate articles, from which I subsequently found this piece, which echoes some of my own thoughts.