Say Hello to Elliot Rodger
It's common for people to confuse an explanation with an excuse or a defense. Don't get confused. It's just an explanation.
Suffering from Aspergers makes it almost impossible to develop social skills, the self confidence and the sense of belonging that social skills provides one with, and the overt signs of self confidence that women are attracted to.
Men who lack self confidence are the male equivalent of women who are homely. They're just not attractive. Men who are gushing with self confidence are very attractive to women. Unfortunately, most women appear to be completely unable to tell the difference between a confident young man and a cocky, violent sociopath like Jared Remy. Men who enjoy bullying and humiliating socially awkward men like Elliot Rodger appear to be almost irresistible to some women. This tendency to reward bullies is the real reason he hated women.
In the last couple of decades there's been an increasing number of movies, television shows, and of course, video games where the basic premise is that the world we live in isn't real. These products are primarily marketed to individuals in their teens and early twenties and have an especially strong appeal to young males who not only don't "fit in" socially but have spent their lives being made to feel powerless by bigger, stronger males. Elliot Rodger grew up in a world where escapism was never any further away than his fingertips. Like Adam Lanza and so many others before him, he probably had no difficulty developing a fantasy world where killing those he hated and then taking his own life would simply transport him to another, no doubt more pleasant world.
Bullying and ostracism made him hate just about everyone and allowed him to place no value on human life.
Escapist forms of entertainment like videogames, virtual reality, and the internet allowed him to lose his fear of death.
Firearms allowed him to be much more lethal than he would have been with just his bare hands. Don't be fooled into believing that the absence of a gun would have saved lives. He could just as easily have bolted a homemade sword to either side of his vehicle and driven through a crowd of people or rigged up something to spray burning gasoline into a crowded room.
Once again no one appears willing to address the problem of adolescent cruelty. We're going to see more Elliot Rodgers committing kamikaze type massacres.
This is not an excuse or a legal defense, but I believe it's pretty close to what was going on in his mind.
I don't know if I'd blame videogames. I come from a younger generation but me, myself, I kinda used videogames to "medicate." I didn't have drugs or alcohol, just me and my games- Sega Genesis/CD, SNES, Playstation, etc. I used it as a means to relieve stress. Videogames do make it easier to retreat from the world, imo, I definitely agree with that. I don't think they're what cause people to retreat for the world but for sure they can be addictive. I didn't know what to do at the time I was being bullied to the point of being suicidal so I'd always try to move my mind away from what was happening- with fantasy. My imagination, books, games, etc. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVmSPWszej8 Something like this gave me an escape outlet for the time I played it. Once I was done it was time to go on to the next game. A sad existence but I had no comrades to share my time/feelings with, and experienced intense rejection/humiliation upon trying.
ReplyDeleteNeither video games nor guns nor bullying is the "cause."
DeleteBeing bullied and ostracized creates a relationship between the potential killer and society that allows him to discount the value of human life. He is now emotionally able to kill.
Video games and other such media facilitate the potential killer's ability to form whatever fantasy is required to believe that this life is just a temporary, painful annoyance. Suicide becomes something to look forward to because you'll be transported to a better world. He now loses his fear of death.
Firearms are often blamed as well but they only augment the potential killer's ability to impose harm upon others. The idea that outlawing guns will stop someone who is both homicidal and suicidal from causing mass casualties is a sick joke promoted by people who don't want to acknowledge the fact that adolescent cruelty comes with a cost. The killer could always drive a stolen fuel truck through the wall of a theatre or school. Of course they'll probably still blame the NRA if that should occur.
Creating a personality like Elliot Rodger is a multi-step process best short circuited by treating adolescent cruelty as a serious and potentially lethal societal problem instead of a character building exercise.
DeleteI updated the text of the post after realizing that I'd left the impression of blaming video games. My apologies.
ReplyDeleteI forgive you.
DeleteBy the way, sorry that I haven't posted to you in more than a while. It's just I was trying to come up with what to post to you.
And this isn't the last post that I'm making because I'm sure that I'll make more for you.
Anyway, good luck.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bzCDVPPwCA
ReplyDeleteBtw, you ever see this movie? The killer watched it and seems to reference dialogue from it multiple times during his manifesto video.
I certainly don't blame the movie for what he did. I'm sure without the movie he might have recorded a less flashy manifesto. However, I can see why he'd sympathize with the fallen villain in it and have a strong desire to draw as many parallels as possible between himself and the guy in the movie.
As the son of a big-shot Hollywood director, it kinda makes a lot of sense that his "video manifesto" has had the highest production values and most release of that of any shooter. (comparing his video to Cho's video)
I've never seen the movie but it's obviously being marketed to men who spent their formative years being made to feel powerless.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to your other blogs about aliens and online safety?
ReplyDeleteI deleted them. Boredom, disinterest, etc. I may get rid of this one and do something else soon. I've been thinking about it for months.
DeleteOh please, please do not get rid of this blog! I love it so much, you've done some amazing work here! You're one of my favorite writers, man, it's like Picasso tearing up old paintings to make new ones.
DeleteThere's no need to delete it. Are you trying to get Iggy, and all the other bully-enablers you've ever taken to task, dance a jig in joy? They're the only ones who really want this place gone at all, and they're the ones who'd be the most pleased to see this place no more.
If you really want it gone, at least please warn us all 2-3 months in advance so we can save this excellent work. :)
If I decide to get rid of it I'll provide several months of notice. Have no fear. I got rid of the others because they were slow movers that distracted me and consumed my time without generating any attention.
DeleteSometimes people like elliot ridgers are creepy assholes. And the explanation does not excuse what he did
ReplyDeleteI can agree with that. Socially dysfunctional people can be very creepy and annoying. And you've made the classic mistake of equating an explanation with an excuse. The whole point of stating that an explanation is not an excuse was to avoid having to respond to comments like yours.
DeleteWhen you see someone who doesn't fit in being bullied by cocky, oh so manly assholes, avoid making those assholes feel good. The life you save may be your own.
The problem is, the schools don't teach any social skills to those who need it most.
ReplyDeleteThey kind of just throw everyone in the same "school popularity politics shark tank" and laugh at the children who sink and praise those who sink. It's a sick system.
Parents are the problem. Too many parents want their children to be feared and couldn't care less about their children's victims. Jerry and Phoebe Remy are two of the best examples of parents who are clearly accessories to the violent crimes of their baby roid monkey.
Delete"We're going to see more Elliot Rodgers committing kamikaze type massacres."
ReplyDeleteHmmm. What about plain old direct lethal self-defense? I'm surprised you never commented about this story:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/florida-teen-jorge-saavedra-won-charged-murder-bus-stop-stabbing-article-1.1001277
This is one of those rare situations where the bully got what he and his asshole parents deserved.
DeleteI just read the post you cited. I used the words "Method 3 is rarely used. It requires victims who are both homicidal and suicidal, a statistically unusual combination." Victims know that bullies cannot simply be overpowered and taught a lesson. They have to be seriously injured or killed. Adults who enthusiastically condemn and punish victims for "going too far" are also aware of this fact but choose to ignore it.
DeleteA victim who kills the bully has probably reached a point of desperation indistinguishable from being suicidal. Once the bully is dead, the conditions that made the victim "suicidal" no longer exist
Like Bobby Kent, this bully got what he deserved. Unlike Bobby Kent's victims who were aggressively railroaded, this victim was treated like a victim who had to defend himself.
I don't agree with this:
Delete"A victim who kills the bully has probably reached a point of desperation indistinguishable from being suicidal."
First of all, although Bobby Kent's killers definitely decided to kill him, I don't think that's the usual case. Jorge Saavedra used a pocket knife, which is only lethal if you're very lucky. There was no clear-cut decision to kill, although it ended that way.
Remember Casey Heynes? What he did (though it wasn't pre-planned in all likelihood) was far more dangerous, although as it turned out his bully wasn't permanently injured. Ritchard Gale could easily have landed on his head and died or been crippled.
True enough, you can't always expect the authorities to clear you in these cases. But this is not like a Harris-Klebold scenario where the police are going to take you down if you don't kill yourself. That's suicidal.
Unlike bullies, I like it when people disagree with me. It prevents me from becoming complacent by forcing me to repeatedly reconsider my theories.
DeleteCasey Heynes is awesome Fowl Ideas, you should look him up on Youtube. :) To be honest, even if Casey's bully had been crippled, it'd be no great loss. I talked to him on FB and the guy is basically poor, dumb white trash from a trailer with 7 or so siblings. He's barely literate and he kept claiming that, "Casey called me fat first and bullied me," which was a blatant lie. Casey's a Hero for what he did and Richard Gale is a Zero!
ReplyDeleteI saw the video a few years ago. Perhaps they can find a future in reality television.
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