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AOL News has obtained two plays a classmate says were written by Cho Seung-Hui. Ian MacFarlane, the former classmate and current AOL employee, provided us with the plays. A note from Mr. MacFarlane and links to the works appear below.What happened yesterday:
When I first heard about the multiple shootings at Virginia Tech yesterday, my first thought was about my friends, and my second thought was "I bet it was Seung Cho."
Cho was in my playwriting class last fall, and nobody seemed to think much of him at first. He would sit by himself whenever possible, and didn't like talking to anyone. I don't think I've ever actually heard his voice before. He was just so quiet and kept to himself. Looking back, he fit the exact stereotype of what one would typically think of as a "school shooter" – a loner, obsessed with violence, and serious personal problems. Some of us in class tried to talk to him to be nice and get him out of his shell, but he refused talking to anyone. It was like he didn't want to be friends with anybody. One friend of mine tried to offer him some Halloween candy that she still had, but he slowly shook his head, refusing it. He just came to class every day and submitted his work on time, as I understand it.
A major part of the playwriting class was peer reviews. We would write one-act plays and submit them to an online repository called Blackboard for everyone in the class to read and comment about in class the next day. Typically, the students give their opinions about the plays and suggest ways to make it better, the professor gives his insights, then asks the author to comment about the play in class.
When we read Cho's plays, it was like something out of a nightmare. The plays had really twisted, macabre violence that used weapons I wouldn't have even thought of. Before Cho got to class that day, we students were talking to each other with serious worry about whether he could be a school shooter. I was even thinking of scenarios of what I would do in case he did come in with a gun, I was that freaked out about him. When the students gave reviews of his play in class, we were very careful with our words in case he decided to snap. Even the professor didn't pressure him to give closing comments.
After hearing about the mass shootings, I sent one of my friends a Facebook message asking him if he knew anything about Seung Cho and if he could have been involved. He replied: "dude that's EXACTLY what I was thinking! No, I haven't heard anything, but seriously, that was the first thing I thought when I heard he was Asian."
While I "knew" Cho, I always wished there was something I could do for him, but I couldn't think of anything. As far as notifying authorities, there isn't (to my knowledge) any system set up that lets people say "Hey! This guy has some issues! Maybe you should look into this guy!" If there were, I definitely would have tried to get the kid some help. I think that could have had a good chance of averting yesterday's tragedy more than anything.
While I was hesitant at first to release these plays (because I didn't know if there are laws against it), I had to put myself in the shoes of the average person researching this situation. I'd want to know everything I could about the killer to figure out what could drive a person to do something like this and hopefully prevent it in the future. Also, I hope this might help people start caring about others more no matter how weird they might seem, because if this was some kind of cry for attention, then he should have gotten it a long time ago.
As far as the victims go, as I was heading to bed last night, I heard that my good friend Stack (Ryan Clark) was one of the first confirmed dead. I didn't want to believe that I'd never get to talk to him again, and all I could think about was how much I could tell him how much his friendship meant to me. During my junior year, Ryan, another friend and I used to get breakfast on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Shultz Dining Hall, one of the cafeterias on campus, and it was always the highlight of my day. He could talk forever it seemed and always made us laugh. He was a good friend, not just to me, but to a lot of people, and I'll miss him a lot.
Click on the links below the read the plays. WARNING: the plays contain profanity and scenes with disturbing content.
- Read Play #1: 'Richard McBeef'
- Read Play #2: 'Mr. Brownstone'
Reader Comments ( Page 5 of 689)
61. This "thing" looks like it was written by a screwed up 9 year old. It's unbelievable that it was written by a student of Virginia Tech. It's not even grammatically correct. I guess Virginia Tech doesn't require much. Oh, and to boot, he was an English major! LMAO.
Tina at 2:57PM on Apr 17th 2007
62. Someone should have taken this play seriously. It sounds to much like real life and the kind of anger someone would posses if he were sexually abused. Low self-estem, hatred, feeling like he doesn't fit in.
You are in college but nobody is educating professors or students what to look for in people who have been abused.
It's a shame. Look how many are dead now.
dkaelinamri at 2:57PM on Apr 17th 2007
63. This is a very sick story. How could people now see what this would lead to? People must take more precautions when people act out in this manner.
jessmdeleon at 2:57PM on Apr 17th 2007
64. Very angry young man! Makes one wonder what happened to him as a child. He came to the US when he was 8 years old....what made him so angry, so hurt, so desparate, so vile?
More than any of these questions, why and how did no one see what he was becoming?
My heart goes out to the family and friends of all those touched by this horrific act.
sa at 2:57PM on Apr 17th 2007
65. Jessica, you have no right to come on here and post with such disrespect for the tragedy that happened. Just because your TV shows were "interrupted". You know, a lot of people's lives were interrupted in a horrible way yesterday, and you have no right to come here and complain about the fact that you can't watch TV. Grow up.
tyrantduck at 2:58PM on Apr 17th 2007
66. Ian, if you thought Cho was capable of this type of violence and you weren't alone in your assessment, why didn't you bring it to someones attention?
John at 2:58PM on Apr 17th 2007
67. People like you Stacy talked to CHO all his life. From this incident we should learn a little compassion.
Tiffany at 2:58PM on Apr 17th 2007
68. It's odd, I couldn't help but notice how Stacy was ridiculed for focusing on the writing style of the piece instead of the tragedy surrounding it. Meanwhile the next 4 people seem to think they're the arbiters of what people can and cannot say, and only the second comment mentions what happened, but only in light of using it to bash Stacy. It sounds like Madeline, Roxie, Scott, and Monmon are the ones who need to "grow up". Perhaps I do too. Additionally, it does seem that as this forum is specifically looking at the plays he turned in, it is not out of line nor insensitive to make a comment on the writing style. I don't know if I could comment on the tragedy, just because I wasn't there and it's unfathomable to me to imagine what happened.
Dave at 2:58PM on Apr 17th 2007
69. Stacy has a good point actually. The entire tone of the dialouge sounds as if a high school freshman wrote it, so much to prove that Seung-Hi still had issues with conformity and maturity, much of what kids go through in high school. He obviously couldn't express his anger very well through his writing or any other outlet, so it must have built up over the years. Nonetheless, it's a sad tragedy and a sick story.
tex at 2:58PM on Apr 17th 2007
70. What I find interesting and disgusting is this guy Ian MacFarlane, now is giving out this information he has had for a long time. He indicated he and the other students discussed their concern over this play written by Cho. So,if Ian was so very concerned as he says he was, THEN WHY DIDN'T HE TURN THESE PLAYS WRITTEN BY CHO OVER TO THE SCHOOL AUTHORITIES AND THE POLICE?????? It appears to me that Mr. Ian MacFarlane is simply looking for notoriety and to be on the news...........in other words he wants his 15 min. of fame. Shame on him. Hope he carries the guilt of the unnecessary deaths of his classmates for the rest of his life.
Shame Shame Same.
Annette K at 2:58PM on Apr 17th 2007
71. How sad...that poor boy (young man) must have really had some awful things happen in his life to bring out such a dark side. My heart goes out to all the victims as well as him.
Verna at 2:58PM on Apr 17th 2007
72. It wasn't that deranged. I have seen way more deranged in films.
keith at 2:59PM on Apr 17th 2007
73. Why didn't his instructor see that something was very seriously wrong with this young man at the time of this writing. He did need help - VERY MUCH - and how many people let this behavior carry on when they were around him? All of those lives taken - - - - Oh My!
Judi at 2:59PM on Apr 17th 2007
74. While the information is relatively new, and thus subject to confirmation, I'm compelled to comment. Two facts are evident that present in most school rampage shootings. The shooter exhibited violence through written media, and someone was aware of the violent writing. There was also an alleged trigger in the "relationship problems". Mr. Cho was a "loner", used violent imagery in his writing. I'll bet there was some abuse in his past, either at the hands of an authority figure, or bullying. I'm curious as to his background in South Korea. Also, I'm curious as to what kind of information is gleaned from his hard drive, for instance what kind of music he listens to and what kind of games he plays. People who engage in these behaviors do not just "snap" there are precursors, some of which are obvious, others which are subtle. Hindsight is 20/20, as the expression goes, and noone can be faulted for not observing these warning signs. However, those of us in the education field do need to learn from these, and develop some kind of game plan to identify these signs. The staff of the institution are the first line of defense in situations such as this, and hopefully the deaths of the thirty two VT students and staff allow us to prevent the next such tragedy.
Jude at 2:59PM on Apr 17th 2007
75. Stacy is right. He probably went nuts because he realized he was a crappy writer and being a psychopath to boot he probably just took it out on all the innocents he did.
hank at 2:59PM on Apr 17th 2007