A modest proposal (in re: Va. Tech)

[serinde]

The multimedia manifesto the shooter sent to NBC makes it pretty darn clear that what he wanted out of this was fame & notoriety.

I humbly propose we refuse to give it to him.

Let his name not be spoken. Let there be no earnest talking-heads calling up experts, let there be no books exploring his psychology, let there be no symposia on what motivated him. Let his memory fade into obscurity (in the way that Klebold and Harris have not) and his shade howl in the empty wastes of insignificance.

Comments

[agnosticoracle.livejournal.com]

*applause*

[arkham1010.livejournal.com]

Not only are we giving this asshole what he wanted so badly, attention, we are telling all the other budding socialpaths that if they shoot up a store/library/nursing home that they too can get their 15 minutes of fame!

[nancaurelia.livejournal.com]

Some of the networks have belatedly come to a similar conclusion.

[briony530.livejournal.com]

I'll be posting my own rant about this soon. But I hear ya!

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

Eh, the way I see it, he's dead. Either he no longer exists at all, or he's in the sort of afterlife where knowing he got his fame will bring scant relief from eternal torment.

Oh, and FWIW? Despite being bombarded with the video and so forth over the past several days, I actually can't recall his name. It's been in one ear and out the other.

[missionista.livejournal.com]

abso-fucking-lutely! I am apalled and ANGRY that anyone aired his "manifesto" in the first place.

[naudia.livejournal.com]

I don't remember his name either. My therapist made it pretty clear that the guy was an actual psychopathic person. I take the unpopular view of being sorry that the guy wasn't forced to get help or at least be taken away from society where he could both get help and be kept from killing his classmates. Not sorry for *him* per se, though there is some of that, but sorry that his teacher and school counselor who knew he was seriously disturbed, could do nothing about it. I do agree that this huge backlask of rubber necking is only going to encourage people like-minded to act out.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

That was Eric Idle's suggestion regarding the douche who shot John Lennon, yeah. It's the right thing to do.

[elibalin.livejournal.com]

But that would be sensible, and it's generating hysteria what grabs eyeballs and brings in advertising revenue and sells whopping big SUVs. What's good for General Motors is good for America, and frustrated kids flipping out and killing a bunch of people is really, really good for General Motors!

[heliumbreath.livejournal.com]

I hear that the network he sent his tape to actually aired it. Now might be a good time for a boycott of that network and its advertisers.