Lighthearted and snarky is usually the order of the day here at moviegasm. But sometimes things happen in the world outside of Hollywood (a world that's easy to forget about from inside Hollywood) that just hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm talking, of course, about the Virginia Tech shootings. As it happens, and in the interest of full disclosure, I am from Virginia and went to college very near Tech, and knew a lot of people that went there. This was many years ago, and I didn't know anyone connected with what happened, but it still added some emotional weight to the incident for me.
It's tempting to be critical of the news media's round-the-clock coverage, the incessant interviews with anyone loosely connected to the incident, the wild speculation about the motives and mindset of Seung-Hui Cho, the gunman. But the reason they spend so much time covering it is that as a people we're fascinated by it. And I don't think it's like rubbernecking the carnage after a natural disaster. I'm not making light of things like Katrina and the tsunami in Southeast Asia, but there's something different about an event like this.
I remember the Columbine shootings vividly. I was in college, in my bedroom reading The Cider House Rules, and a roommate opened the door and said I should see something. And as sickening as the events that transpired were, I was equally offended by the aftermath. You see, way back when, I had a black leather trench coat that I loved. I listened to Korn and Marilyn Manson. I watched horror movies. And being young, I was angry about the way the world worked. It's a slow awakening process, finding out about the world. There's a reason that when these things happen, that it's young people who perpetrate them. It's not like some recently-fired postal worker spraying his office with bullets. It's harder to ascribe a motive, to see inside the bad guys. It's like a blind rage at everything; either the callousness of God or the coldness of a chaotic universe. This is the awakening that happens between youth and adulthood. It is the hardest test most of us ever face, and not everyone makes it. It reminds me of the haunting line in Spielberg's A.I., when Francis O'Connor is leaving David in the woods rather than having him destroyed, and the only farewell she can think of is: "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the world."
And I watched as the media tried to blame it on the music and movies that were my outlet for that anger. I found that I could no longer wear my coat without garnering looks around campus. I listened stoically as our leaders tried to fit this tragedy into a nice, neat box that they could fix with parental warning labels on CD's, while conveniently forgetting the profound wisdom in Marilyn Manson's words when asked by Michael Moore in Bowling for Columbine what he would say to the people affected by Columbine. His response was: "I wouldn't say anything a single thing to them. I would listen to what they have to say."
Comments (5)
You deserve a standing ovation for that. Well said.
1 of 5 | Posted by nmk01![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.tvgasm.com/newsgasm/nav-commenters.gif)
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Posted on April 25, 2007 2:20 PM
Amen, Sutter. You've succinctly and eloquently said what's been bouncing around in my mind since the horrific incident. Thank you. Ditto the standing ovation.
2 of 5 | Posted by JayhawkAnne![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.tvgasm.com/newsgasm/nav-commenters.gif)
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Posted on April 25, 2007 2:51 PM
Sutter, are you a Wahoo?
in any case, well said, friend--i'm from central VA, had dozens of friends at Tech, and have two cousins there now--one in the grad. engineering school and another on the aeronautical engineering faculty--they were both elsewhere when Cho entered Norris (the main engineering classroom building at Tech) but I too have felt more personally affected by this than I might otherwise have been . . . I can also remember watching the Columbine story unfold in my apt. in C'ville way back in the day . .
Nice work; unexpected sincerity at TVGasm. Your sober account of this sad story is refreshing in comparison to the hysteria of the major news media outlets. kudos.
3 of 5 | Posted by jack | Posted on April 26, 2007 8:53 AM
Why isn't anyone blaming Collective Soul? Apparently he was obsessed with one of their songs - Shine?
Kudos for such a courageous statement.
4 of 5 | Posted by Megolopolis![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.tvgasm.com/newsgasm/nav-commenters.gif)
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Posted on April 26, 2007 11:48 AM
Thanks, everybody, for your comments.
5 of 5 | Posted by sutter kane![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.tvgasm.com/newsgasm/nav-commenters.gif)
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Posted on May 6, 2007 1:32 PM