Has the Columbine killers become the new "Che Guevara" chic?
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Has the Columbine killers become the new "Che Guev... - 5/2/2008 9:54:28 PM
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aslouie
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From: Los Angeles, CA.
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A couple of days ago, while I was doing my laundry, I was keeping on abreast with the news, involving a couple of thwarted, copycat school shootings. And as I became a bit more vested in the character profiles of the alleged perpetrators, I can't help but be reminded of the bullying factor--especially when one central adolescent suspect had a website devoted to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (like so many reported websites, dedicated to the titular youths as online shrines), almost as if they're some kind of "liberators," or revolutionaries in the same venue as Che Guevara.
But like the Argentinian crony (to Fidel Castro), both the school shooters and Guevara seems to have become an iconic symbol of "revolutionary-chic," or revolutionary poseur chic, with morally dubious ramifications. And as reports of bullying became ever more open--none of which is all that encouraging (i.e. cyber-bullying on Myspace, Facebook, text messaging, etc...), it's almost creepy at charitable best, to see how too appealing the Columbine killers have become to the bullied (to sort of substitute the politicized word, oppressed), like they're some kind of T-shirt fashionable heroes, without the beret and defiant stare into the horizon. And like Guevara, I don't have to say a whole lot how much Dylan & Klebold shared much of the brutal tendencies as Che.
*I just hope and pray that there won't be a glossy, rock star-polished biopics on Harris & Klebold, a la Motorcycle Diaries!  
In fact, with Virginia Tech recently commemorating the first anniversary of its tragic entry into the fraternity of modern school violence, I'm relatively sure that everyone must know about Cho Seung Hui's admiration for the Columbine shooters as "martyrs," almost in context to the 9-11 age where Mohamed Atta & CO., are seen in the same over-glorified light as say, what Code Pink and the like, have said about Al Qaeda/Mehdi Army in Iraq: "freedom fighters."
And as I try to come to grips with the morally complex views of Cho Seung Hui--having been in a somewhat similar place as he is back then, I'm having a leery suspicion that it won't be too long until someone starts mass-marketing the image of Cho (Seung-hui) as, "Cho Guevara," in Asian American communities, down to the ad nauseum, beret, Soviet star (in the background), and defiant stare into the horizon... and why wouldn't it be possible? I mean, having seen some of the broadcasted pics of Cho, brandishing weapons with a frightening scowl, I could easily (yet uncomfortably) picture the VT killer placed in that same pose as the "revolutionary" formerly known as Ernesto Guevara, since Cho's facial expressions bear an uncanny resemblance to Chairman Mao-era, Chinese propaganda art!*
*I'm so not looking forward to Cho's Little Red Book...
< Message edited by aslouie -- 5/2/2008 10:13:32 PM >
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RE: Has the Columbine killers become the new "Che ... - 5/3/2008 10:46:29 PM
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lightshineon
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You know, bullying is a sin, it drives children to do things they would not do usually. It destroys their whole selfworth, and sense of self. Children are not emotionaly mature enough to process anger. I think if a parent is a Christian they better make sure their children are not bullying other children. It makes me so angry, I feel the flesh, wanting to slap bullies. I have to pray through that one.
I do not understand educators turning a blind eye either, I think they are as responsible, as the killers and the bullies, if they do not handle the situation with zero tolerance. That being said, these kids who are damaged need help before it is too late, before they kill innocent people.
< Message edited by lightshineon -- 5/3/2008 10:52:57 PM >
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Be sure you vote for those, whose views you want your children to emulate.
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RE: Has the Columbine killers become the new "Che ... - 5/3/2008 11:24:58 PM
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stellaluna
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I agree. I'm frankly shocked there aren't more kids shot and killed at schools.
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RE: Has the Columbine killers become the new "Che ... - 5/4/2008 2:17:57 AM
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lightshineon
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The sad fact is there will be.
quote:
ORIGINAL: stellaluna
I agree. I'm frankly shocked there aren't more kids shot and killed at schools.
_____________________________
Remember, whenever you have pearls, there are always plenty of pigs nearby who would be glad to step on them.
F.T., 2007
Be sure you vote for those, whose views you want your children to emulate.
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RE: Has the Columbine killers become the new "Che ... - 5/4/2008 1:42:24 PM
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SteveSund
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From: Michigan
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quote:
ORIGINAL: stellaluna
I agree. I'm frankly shocked there aren't more kids shot and killed at schools.
Why is that shocking? Despite bullying, most children are able to find ways to cope with it that don't involve mass killing. I am not excusing bullying in any way, but school shootings tend to attract a great deal of national media attention.
quote:
I do not understand educators turning a blind eye either, I think they are as responsible, as the killers and the bullies, if they do not handle the situation with zero tolerance. That being said, these kids who are damaged need help before it is too late, before they kill innocent people.
They certainly shouldn't ignore it, but what more should happen? Most schools have comprehensive anti-bullying policies in my state. Under law, they have to. People that engage in this behavior are suspended or expelled in some cases. The problem is that a lot of bullying isn't done out in the open and it can boil down to a case of who to believe. In many other instances, the behavior happens out of school, over the net, or via text messaging.
Frankly, I blame the parents of the bullies in most cases. I have known parents that would just ignore the concerns and say it is just normal kid behavior. I have known a few to threaten legal action if their 'angel' was suspended, which probably would explain some reluctance to have a zero-tolerence policy.
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