It was so easy to blame videogames for maniacs going on a rampage. Walk into your local video game store and have a peek at the back of the box. There was more than enough there to write an opinion piece, link it into a tragedy and sell some news papers. The same applies to Hollywood and it seems that the witch hunters are out in force again.
No doubt, many of you are aware of the 22 year old who went on a drive-by shooting spree in a student community in Santa Barbara, California, that left seven people dead, including himself. I refuse to name the individual in question as his name has been publicised enough. To do so again, only celebrates these individuals.
And now, Hollywood is getting the blame for these most recent killings. In particular Judd Apatow’s filmography and Seth Rogen’s new movie Bad Neighbours, and the accountability is being handed out by a Washington Post critic, who I refuse to name for the aforementioned reasons. It’s a lengthy piece pursuing a number of agendas including the lack of women in the film industry (which I’m not tackling here), but the part that really is ludicrous is the following
How many students watch outsized frat-boy fantasies like “Neighbors” and feel, as ______ did, unjustly shut out of college life that should be full of “sex and fun and pleasure”? How many men, raised on a steady diet of Judd Apatow comedies in which the shlubby arrested adolescent always gets the girl, find that those happy endings constantly elude them and conclude, “It’s not fair”?
Should that not have read “How many mentally ill students watch outsized frat-boy fantasies like “Neighbors”. Lets be honest here, if you are influenced by a movie to murder innocent people, then there is something wrong upstairs. A few screws have come loose and possibly fallen out. And it most certainly wasn’t the movies did undid all the screws in 90 minutes. You don’t have to be a qualified medical professional to come to that conclusion. As for men being raised on a steady diet of Judd Apatow comedies, considering he has directed four well known movies (40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Funny People and This Is 40) I wouldn’t exactly call that a steady diet, especially considering there is at least two years between each movie. That’s not a diet, that’s starvation.
And while Apatow has more writing credits to his name, the majority of those are collaborative efforts, so at least get your facts right and “blame” the other writers as well or is this nothing but Apatow Agenda. Blaming a few lengthy comedies for the deaths of innocent people is nothing but ridiculous drivel. The article goes on to point out “Part of what makes cinema so potent is the way even its most outlandish characters and narratives burrow into and fuse with our own stories and identities. “ That’s a relevant point if you’re insane. The thing that always staggers me about tragedies like this is that journalists blame an easy target for a catastrophe, while nearly completely ignoring the real issue of mental illness.
Mental illness is a terrible, horrific illness. It consumes people slowly until they are constantly surrounded in darkness. It’s fair to say that many of us have been touched by mental illness or know somebody who has. I spent years dealing with people on my old radio show who struggled with suicide and depression. While that in no way makes me an expert on the topic, I certainly have more experience dealing with it than your average joe. In countless hours of conversation with people who attempted to take their own life, many times in horrific ways, not once did they ever blame anybody or anything. The darkness crept in bit by bit, and in the end they couldn’t see the wood for the trees. It is a terrible place to be in, a place where you can’t see a way out. A place where you can suddenly lose control, and that’s it. Lights out. With the help of others, be it friends, family or some of those qualified professionals, it is very possible to extinguish the darkness. Bit by bit, day by day. And that is always possible. It’s never impossible. And people need to tell themselves that every now and then.
In this particular case, this 22 year old didn’t get help. His problems weren’t acknowledged or spotted. I’m sure his friends and family are now thinking back to particular moments over the last few months which, now make complete sense and acted as tell tale signs. But thats not laying the blame at their door. Far from it.Sometimes the easiest words to say to somebody are “How you doing?” or “Is everything alright” or even “I’ve noticed you’ve not been yourself the last few days, I’m here if you wanna chat”. Read those questions out loud. How long did it take? Exactly.
The Washington Post article finishes with “We’re only as strong as the stories we tell ourselves.” Which is absolutely vomit inducing. Please, pass me the bucket right now. It’s a great showing of strength alright that a journalist can create some hooplah by exploiting the deaths of innocent people and their families. The same families who will never again get to say “Goodbye” “Goodnight” or “I Love You” to their departed loved ones. If you’re looking for strength, look at those families and not in the mirror!
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