Topic: Stephen Says
A part of me is loath to wade into the morass of commentary on this subject, for the most part due to the fact that the BBC is reporting that the shooting is being most widely dealt with via millions of blogs, so I’m committing the self-same act that I’m criticizing.
I’m also loath to wade into this subject because the point that 30 people murdered in a mass killing such as this is considered a ‘good day in Baghdad’ is being made over and over again on blogs as well; the implicit message being: Western lives are more important than non-Western lives.
(The secondary message being that global coverage of what is, essentially, a local news story serves as a means to bury more relevant news that doesn’t have such sensational aspects.)
But seeing as it’s the lead story in America, Canada, Great Britain and, I’m sure numerous other countries, it bears comment because once again, the root cause of the shooting will not be explored, giving way to sensational testimonies and simplistic tales of survival (The Triumph of Good over Evil) and the ultimate vilification (Most certainly deserved) of the perpetrator. I’m certain that someone in Hollywood is already drafting next-seasons moving of the week, considering Ryan Gosling as the lead.
So since the blame game is already starting, I’d like to throw my hat into the arena and blame Michael Moore. After all, he made a movie about school shootings that the killer probably saw (Or was at least aware of) and this probably planted the idea in his head. Sure, this is wild, sensational speculation, but so is most of what I’ve heard and read this morning.