Va Tech Shooting
Okay, I let the dust settle on this one for a little bit before writing about it. Most of you know that I don't watch any sort of news shows because of how depressing they are (9/11 really turned me off to network TV). So, as a result, I always have a sort of delay between when things happen and when I find out about them. I found out about the shooting in one of my classes - heard lots of things before I read anything.
Now, what I'm about to say is going to seem very self-centered and inconsiderate. I'm willing to deal with the lash of criticism I'll receive because of it because I am truly worried.
With the recent release of Cho Seung-Hui's manuscripts (the shooter at VT, if you didn't know his name) there is an awful lot of speculation of what could have been done. Lots of blame is being put upon the English Department at VT, and criticism is being dropped down upon liberal arts as a whole because of it. Should Seung-Hui have been removed from college? Should he have been arrested after writing those screenplays?
I sure as hell hope that everyone recognizes the absolute hypocrisy in those questions.
I'm scared for my own writing and the writing of my peers. We release things into contained environments because we don't want the world seeing every letter that we write. I, for one, have written some pretty disturbing stories, and have workshopped them. I wrote a story last year about a boy that steals dogs and tortures and dismembers them in his basement. I've written stories about murders, sometimes very gruesome, to get a point across. Normally, I have an alterior motive when I write gruesome scenes. The story about the dog is really a criticism of the culture of violence we live in. I wanted this kid to seem like the kid you grew up next to - the one who wasn't quite all there, but still seemed friendly enough (but not friendly enough to be a friend).
See, the thing is, I don't want to have to tone down my writing to appease my audience. I have always tested boundaries in every aspect of my life - I try to live my life as though I could die tomorrow.
Now, I'm afraid to hand in a story with violence in it.
I know that most people won't think that I'm a psychopath. I know that I'm perfectly fine with my life - I'm about as happy a kid as you could meet. I suppose this doesn't necessarily apply to me. I just do not want this isolated event in VT to affect the way my classes are taught. I do not want censorship in the classroom, that's a scary notion.
I feel bad for the students down in VT that were affected by this, I really do. But, the event is what it is - a psychopath killing 32 people and himself. It has nothing to do with what he wrote, or what could have been done. If someone wants to kill 32 people, they're going to kill 32 people regardless of what you or I do.
As if the liberal arts don't get enough flack from universities as it is - this is not what we need to pin this rampage on.
Now, what I'm about to say is going to seem very self-centered and inconsiderate. I'm willing to deal with the lash of criticism I'll receive because of it because I am truly worried.
With the recent release of Cho Seung-Hui's manuscripts (the shooter at VT, if you didn't know his name) there is an awful lot of speculation of what could have been done. Lots of blame is being put upon the English Department at VT, and criticism is being dropped down upon liberal arts as a whole because of it. Should Seung-Hui have been removed from college? Should he have been arrested after writing those screenplays?
I sure as hell hope that everyone recognizes the absolute hypocrisy in those questions.
I'm scared for my own writing and the writing of my peers. We release things into contained environments because we don't want the world seeing every letter that we write. I, for one, have written some pretty disturbing stories, and have workshopped them. I wrote a story last year about a boy that steals dogs and tortures and dismembers them in his basement. I've written stories about murders, sometimes very gruesome, to get a point across. Normally, I have an alterior motive when I write gruesome scenes. The story about the dog is really a criticism of the culture of violence we live in. I wanted this kid to seem like the kid you grew up next to - the one who wasn't quite all there, but still seemed friendly enough (but not friendly enough to be a friend).
See, the thing is, I don't want to have to tone down my writing to appease my audience. I have always tested boundaries in every aspect of my life - I try to live my life as though I could die tomorrow.
Now, I'm afraid to hand in a story with violence in it.
I know that most people won't think that I'm a psychopath. I know that I'm perfectly fine with my life - I'm about as happy a kid as you could meet. I suppose this doesn't necessarily apply to me. I just do not want this isolated event in VT to affect the way my classes are taught. I do not want censorship in the classroom, that's a scary notion.
I feel bad for the students down in VT that were affected by this, I really do. But, the event is what it is - a psychopath killing 32 people and himself. It has nothing to do with what he wrote, or what could have been done. If someone wants to kill 32 people, they're going to kill 32 people regardless of what you or I do.
As if the liberal arts don't get enough flack from universities as it is - this is not what we need to pin this rampage on.