Everything you know is wrong.
I just finished reading Columbine by Dave Cullen. I highly recommend it to anyone who remembers April 20, 1999. It will shake up everything you thought you knew. The media was reporting quickly, spouting out any explanation or inspiring story they could get their hands on, and almost all of it was misleading, misrepresented, or entirely false.
Points:
~The shooters were not targeting any particular group of people.
~The shooters were not outcasts who were tortured by their peers: they were not the popular kids, sure, but they had busy social lives and quite a few friends. They both dated multiple girls, and one of them had just gone to prom a few days before. They were picked on, but not more than most people experience in high school, and by many accounts, they were bullies themselves.
~They did not call themselves the "Trench Coat Mafia." That was an entirely different group of kids, and the moniker was just a joke.
~They were not Goths.
~They did not actually go bowling the morning of the massacre. But they were enrolled in bowling class, and seemed to enjoy it.
~Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold did not share one mind, or even one motive. Eric was a violent, manipulative, skilled psychopath who was able to fool everyone around him, and able to get Dylan on board with his plan. Dylan was depressed, suicidal, and wavering on the plan up until the last days. He never attacked anyone without Eric there, watching and encouraging.
~Cassie Bernall (remember the "she said yes" girl, the martyr whose story was repeated more often than any other?) was not asked at gunpoint if she believed in God. Although she was a devout Christian, recently converted after being in a lot of trouble, and it would have been in character for her to say yes if they had asked, they didn't ask. Eric Harris just shot her under the table without even looking to see who was there. ANOTHER girl, one who was injured but survived, was saying to herself "Oh God, oh God, please don't let me die" AFTER being shot, and they asked her if she believed in God. She said "yes," and then the gunmen moved on. One of the witnesses mistook her voice for Cassie's, and the story took off and got blown way out of proportion. No one was interested in the truth (although it was reported), because the story was getting young people into churches.
It's a sad story, but a fascinating one on many levels. The book is written with a very compelling voice, almost like a novel. I had to remind myself at a couple of points that it was nonfiction. And I mean that in a good way.
Points:
~The shooters were not targeting any particular group of people.
~The shooters were not outcasts who were tortured by their peers: they were not the popular kids, sure, but they had busy social lives and quite a few friends. They both dated multiple girls, and one of them had just gone to prom a few days before. They were picked on, but not more than most people experience in high school, and by many accounts, they were bullies themselves.
~They did not call themselves the "Trench Coat Mafia." That was an entirely different group of kids, and the moniker was just a joke.
~They were not Goths.
~They did not actually go bowling the morning of the massacre. But they were enrolled in bowling class, and seemed to enjoy it.
~Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold did not share one mind, or even one motive. Eric was a violent, manipulative, skilled psychopath who was able to fool everyone around him, and able to get Dylan on board with his plan. Dylan was depressed, suicidal, and wavering on the plan up until the last days. He never attacked anyone without Eric there, watching and encouraging.
~Cassie Bernall (remember the "she said yes" girl, the martyr whose story was repeated more often than any other?) was not asked at gunpoint if she believed in God. Although she was a devout Christian, recently converted after being in a lot of trouble, and it would have been in character for her to say yes if they had asked, they didn't ask. Eric Harris just shot her under the table without even looking to see who was there. ANOTHER girl, one who was injured but survived, was saying to herself "Oh God, oh God, please don't let me die" AFTER being shot, and they asked her if she believed in God. She said "yes," and then the gunmen moved on. One of the witnesses mistook her voice for Cassie's, and the story took off and got blown way out of proportion. No one was interested in the truth (although it was reported), because the story was getting young people into churches.
Click to viewIt's a sad story, but a fascinating one on many levels. The book is written with a very compelling voice, almost like a novel. I had to remind myself at a couple of points that it was nonfiction. And I mean that in a good way.