Current events

[scarfman]

I don't recall reading anything like this about the kid at Virginia Tech, but the kid at the Omaha mall last week did it because he was setting out to become famous. Nine days later at least the local news outlets are still talking about him. There's gotta be other alienated kids in their basements right now, watching all this, and also not necessarily understanding the difference between famous and infamous, taking all this in.

Notice I haven't used his name. I genuinely don't remember it, and I think that's appropriate. I don't remember the Virginia Tech kid's name any more either, and in fact I think I'll go back to the entries I wrote contemporaneously and take it out.

Comments

[arjuna-lj.livejournal.com]

A novel (rather good one, too) from a few years ago dealt with precisely that idea in some detail... We Need To Talk About Kevin or something like that. Fantastic book, anyway.

[pedanther]

It's not a new thing, unfortunately: Herodotus' history includes a mention of a young man who set fire to a famous building in an attempt to become famous, and of the official response, which was to expunge the young man's name from the records and to make it illegal to talk about him.

Ironically, Herodotus, writing outside their jurisdiction and feeling that it was important to include all relevant details, did record the young man's name, so in a way he got what he was after.


(And now I'm reminded of the H. Rider Haggard story about the African tribe where the greatest honour a hero can be awarded is for his name to be made taboo in perpetuity, thus ensuring that he will be remembered. The idea is that the lawgivers will have to remember the name in order to police its use, and the ordinary folk will have to teach the name to each new generation of children, so that they will not transgress the law.)

[melwicker.livejournal.com]

Some people just don't get it in their heads that committing murder, or even threatening people with murder, is evil. People get desensitized to violence and they don't consider the negative impact it has on the community. That kid probably didn't think that his actions would cause people to hate him and shun him from the community.

By the way, Happy Birthday!!

[prettydragoon.livejournal.com]

H*rostrat*s.