I think I finally figured it out. This Columbine massacre has really gotten me thinking lately. And for someone who is more conditioned to violence than a seven year-old watching the Ultimate Fighting Championship this is an odd thing. I don't know why this particular act of violence caught my eye when so many haven't. Perhaps because the day before it happened I heard a kid go on about his desire to pick off all members of a certain a capella group from Baker tower. I know what you're thinking. "Oh No! We have to look into this!" Listen, this happens all the time. If I had a quarter for every time I've heard someone speak of their desire to hit one particular fraternity with a rocket launcher I'd have at least two dollars. Face it, violence in our society is seen as a joke and most people, ones with a sense of conscience and compassion can differentiate jokes from actions. It is of course unfortunate that we all think violence is a joke, but in order for our brains to explain what we see on the TV, both fiction and non-fiction, sometimes it has to be.
When the World Trade Center bomb went off it was only four blocks away from my high school, and I remember feeling the vibration in Ms. Danaher's sixth period English class. And even as I walked to my home two blocks away from the World Trade Center, I didn't find the situation frightening or strange, I only thought it was cool how army helicopters were landing on our practice field. I'm sure you've heard, our society is inundated by images of violence on television, movies and the like. I was watching Commando recently, the first rated R movie I ever saw when I was 12, and Arnold Schwartzenegger in the climatic scene kills 74 people in what has to be less than five minutes. Seventy-four people, by himself. I counted. I wonder where these kids get their ideas from.
But that isn't my point. The solution is not in banning violent images from the media. And I don't think watching Commando forced these kids over the edge. Guns did this, ban guns. Black trench coats did this, ban trench coats. It's no joke, in some Denver towns black trench coats are now banned. It's easy to say it's movies that caused this. And you know what? They didn't. But I think I do know what did. Bear with me.
Just recently, I went to go see Michael Moore, one of my favorite film makers come to speak in a panel discussion about his latest movie "The Big One." It was down in Cook auditorium and I was looking forward to a discussion on economics, filmmaking and morality. Unfortunately, as a Professor MacAvoy made his opening remarks he chose to make several amazingly cruel jokes about Mr. Moore's weight. I was stunned that an "academic" chose to use fat jokes in an argument with a man who only has a high school education. Now you may be thinking, how cruel could he have been. The "man" made references to a scene in Mr. Moore's movie when laid off workers at the Payday Candy Bar factory carried a coffin symbolizing the death of the American working man while placing Payday candy bars inside. The "man" said that unbeknownst to the audience Mr. Moore was lying in the coffin gobbling up each one of the candy bars. He then continued to make repeated reference to Mr. Moore's weight, over and over as the audience gasped in disbelief. Mr. Moore handled the whole thing with amazing grace, never making any type of personal insult in response. Eventually, Prof. MacAvoy ran off like a baby when certain members of the audience expressed their displeasure with his behavior. It was perhaps the most bizarre thing I have ever seen at Dartmouth. I was honestly ashamed to think of myself as a Dartmouth student and I was ashamed that Mr. Moore would think of that man as representative of this college. You can say to yourself, "Oh he didn't take it seriously," but as the insults started Mr. Moore wrapped his arms around his chest almost trying to hide his body from the audience. Believe it or not people actually do have their feelings hurt, and Mr. Moore was one of them.
So what's my point with this story? Well, I think it's very indicative of a trend in our society of a certain lack of respect for your fellow man. I can promise you that those two boys that slaughtered those innocent people were victimized their whole lives for being skinny, nerdy, ugly, whatever. The New York Post headlines a couple of days later included: "lethal geeks were made for each other," "goths: those loonies aren't with us" and my personal favorite, on the front page: "the creepy world of the high school nerds who killed 13." These kids are made fun of and persecuted even AS THEY ARE DEAD, and people wonder where they got all their rage. Of course, they're crazy and their behavior was downright evil but you have to wonder why this is happening every couple months in the U.S. and in Europe it happens once every four years. We have created an in-your-face culture of insults, your mother jokes and fat jokes. When you have a 70 year-old business professor taking part you know that it has inundated all of society. In my limited travels to other countries I have noticed a distinct difference in the respect shown towards people. When I meet my friends' relatives from other countries or my relatives from out of the country I always am amazed at the poise and nobility they seem to have, and it's because of how they treat others.
I understand that kids are mean and they have always been but that's not the way it has to be. Next time you see a friend of yours or someone you know treating someone else with cruelty pull them aside and tell them to stop. Of course they'll respond with, "Aw, I'm just fooling around, he knows I didn't mean nothing by it." No he doesn't. Neither did Michael Moore the second he wrapped his arms around his chest. And don't worry, there is nothing weaker than a bully, they won't do anything. When students spoke up against that professor who was making fun of Michael Moore, he ran away like a baby. That's what cowards do. They won't fight someone their same size. They prefer to beat up on girls. You know, you have to wonder why that overweight kid you always make fun of randomly insults girls or why "shorty" gets into fights when he's drunk. I'm not kidding, this is everywhere and if we want to live in a polite society where we have more love than hate we're going have to treat people with respect. If those kids in Colorado had been treated with love from their peers instead of with scorn because of their physical appearance and intelligence I guarantee none of this would have happened. I'm sorry but that's the way it has to be. And if one more person makes a joke about me blowing something up because I'm Nicaraguan, Irish and Lebanese, I might just take them up on it.
