The reason I began discussing the Virginia Tech shooting here instead of The Wording - which is a far more appropriate forum for such a discussion - has to do with school shootings as American pop culture.
Not in the sense that it is entertainment or something to do or be done, but in the sense that it happens so frequently that it is a popular theme in American culture. It is discussed amongst people on a regular basis; incidents are alluded to in pop music; TV shows present storylines based on such events; and the list goes on. I knew that this would be a popular discussion for a long time after it happened the moment I heard about it - before they had determined it the worst gun-related school massacre in American history.
[A quick aside: Are there records of school shootings in any other country? YES: Germany, 16 victims. The killer was involved in the same online game, Counterstrike, as was Cho Seung-hui.]
I was actually going to hit upon this whole concept anyway, since they began running Columbine-related shows earlier this month. Not ironically, I would have been writing on this very subject at this very time because the Columbine massacre happened two days from today back in 1999.
As I type this, Chris Matthews is discussing this story; Oprah has relatives of the victims on her show; CNN is live at some mayoral meeting concerning gun control; this story is on every news channel, in every newspaper, the headlines of every website and Internet news service.
Just like the next one will be.
NBC has announced that they have received a package from the shooter, Cho Seung-hui, which was apparently mailed between the first killing(s) and the second attack - some two hours later - which ended in his suicide.
I'm going to continue discussing this over to The Wording, just because it fits better there and I've made all the points I wanted to here.
Not in the sense that it is entertainment or something to do or be done, but in the sense that it happens so frequently that it is a popular theme in American culture. It is discussed amongst people on a regular basis; incidents are alluded to in pop music; TV shows present storylines based on such events; and the list goes on. I knew that this would be a popular discussion for a long time after it happened the moment I heard about it - before they had determined it the worst gun-related school massacre in American history.
[A quick aside: Are there records of school shootings in any other country? YES: Germany, 16 victims. The killer was involved in the same online game, Counterstrike, as was Cho Seung-hui.]
I was actually going to hit upon this whole concept anyway, since they began running Columbine-related shows earlier this month. Not ironically, I would have been writing on this very subject at this very time because the Columbine massacre happened two days from today back in 1999.
As I type this, Chris Matthews is discussing this story; Oprah has relatives of the victims on her show; CNN is live at some mayoral meeting concerning gun control; this story is on every news channel, in every newspaper, the headlines of every website and Internet news service.
Just like the next one will be.
NBC has announced that they have received a package from the shooter, Cho Seung-hui, which was apparently mailed between the first killing(s) and the second attack - some two hours later - which ended in his suicide.
I'm going to continue discussing this over to The Wording, just because it fits better there and I've made all the points I wanted to here.
1 comment:
Think I'm off-base? Check this out.
Talk about rogue opportunists...
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