There were a hundred different reasons why the Virginia Tech shooter did what he did. Primary among those was that he was seriously disturbed. But another was that he was looking to get famous. This is a bigger problem for our whole society than just lone killers. And it doesn't just apply to America, it applies to the whole world.
I have said many time before that the Columbine killers were looking to get famous, even if it was posthumously. This applies even more so in Virginia Tech. All of the shots of the killer posing at the camera were faux-hero shots (in his own twisted mind). This is how he was going to stand out.
He seemed to be thinking this way: Everyone is wrong, he wasn't going to just live the rest of his life in awkward obscurity like a loser. He was going to show them. Literally, show them.
You know who else does this? Suicide bombers. They make videos before they go to do their bombings. It is ostensibly to get their intentions on tape so people can know why did it. But that's bullshit. The real reason they're doing it is because they want to be someone bigger than themselves. They want to make their own rap video. They want to be famous!
On a much more comical level, everyone is making videos of themselves, and as they all say on You Tube, "they're just putting themselves out there." You can hear that in about 50% of all You Tube self-made videos.
The desire to get famous is universal and has always existed. I'm not just blaming the Paris Hiltons of the world. After all, what could be more narcissistic than becoming a talk show host? But in the past, you needed some sort of talent to earn that fame. You needed to be able to get people to listen or watch you based on some skill you had. Nowadays, a lot of people are taking the short-cut. Whether that's making porn tapes like Paris Hilton or committing wide-scale murder.
Obviously, Paris is not as bad as the Columbine and Virginia Tech killers (not even in the same ballpark, but it is part of the same phenomenon, just a more benign version of the fame tumor). She's just embarrassing herself and making a lot of money doing it. God bless her (hey, I even watched the tape, so it's not like I'm above it). I also watched all of the news about the Virginia Tech killer. So, we played into his hands. I think it's important that the media share all of the information and let us make up our minds about what to do with it as adults in a free society.
But the problem is it's such an intractable issue. Everyone wants to get famous. As any child psychologist will tell you, bad attention is easier to get than good attention. And that combines to produce a crass, and sometimes dangerous society. And we have to come up with a way to deal with it.
The first step is identifying the problem. And I think we're close to doing that. The much harder step is figuring out what to do about it.
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The Paris Hilton Effect
Posted Apr 28th 2007 3:24PM by Cenk Uygur
Filed under: Media, Pop Culture, Young Turks, Celebrity, Terrorism, Crime, Virginia Tech Shooting, Cho Seung-Hui
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. I bet Paris Hilton votes Republican. What a bunch of fucking idiots. I predicted back in October 2006 that Bushies would realize their President has made a fool out of himself and his party with this war and try to blame democrats. Lo and behold.
Before you hicks, probably all from Alabama, jump on me, I support this war - meaning I believe it needed to be fought but not with the incompetence that Republicans have fought it with.
That's it. Dalosophy, let your Jew-bashing begin.
Sadaqat at 4:16PM on Apr 28th 2007
2. Cenk,
I've heard the hypothesis that the most important reason for taping these losers is not for fame or to show why they did it, but to seal them into doing it. If there's a tape of you saying that you will blow yourself up and making a buncha highfalutin' claims, you'll probably think twice before backing out. Just getting it out there.
lil_turk at 7:22PM on Apr 28th 2007
3. I wish to delete my first comment.
Sadaqat at 12:50AM on Apr 29th 2007
4. What these people don't get is,when you are dead it, doesn't matter if you are famous or not!
Linda at 1:32AM on Apr 29th 2007
5. Reffering to the Hilton twig,Angelina in LA was one of the first people to become famous for doing nothing here in LA...she had billboards put up all over LA of herself with her name only on it..trying to start a buzz.It was hilarious,I actually think I saw her in a B movie once or was that a Cheech and Chong movie....??
Linda at 1:38AM on Apr 29th 2007
6. Why are we still talking about this sick bastard murderer. There were hundreds of poeple that took the brunt of his anger and we dont hear squat about them. Lets not focus on the asshole with grudge and focus on the families and the victoms. There stories I will read with interest. Screw Cho' and his horendous actions. Celabrate the survivors and mourne the victoms, keep Cho the coward out of the press.
Kurt at 1:43AM on Apr 29th 2007
7. Suicide bombers are promised 22 Virgins when they get to heaven.....wow never thought there was so many vigins seen in such large numbers!!!
Linda at 1:46AM on Apr 29th 2007
8. I'm having a little bit of a problem making the connection stated in the blog. Although there may be one. Paris Hilton to me is a Republican "it" girl whose star (if you want to call it that) has faded with the advent of a Democratic congress. Ever since the election, her exposure time has dropped.
The reason I say Republican "it" girl, is that she personifies Republican values: a worship of wealth, selfish, malicious and fickle, all surface and glitz that only money can buy. Im sum, a worship of money for money's sake.
Cho said he hated rich kids, and made a point of it. Maybe in his sick mind he saw some connection between useless Paris with her unearned wealth, and his classmates. Of course there was no connection, but sick people make connections others would call delusional.
It was the same in the Reagan years: the worship of inherited wealth. Remember Dynasty and Dallas? Remember the "yuppies", young urban professionals with a certain style and attitude that signified material success and youth.
As long as our society worships wealth for wealth's sake, talent or compassion for those less lucky not needed, there is always going to be an underpool of resentment, not admiration, on the part of those struggling to make ends meet, which in this case means almost all the working class and all of the working poor. Add that, and a very sick violent mind, and you come up with a tragedy.
Actually, Nicole Ritchey and Paris Hilton may be unhappy that they've crashed and burned with drug and alcohol associated driving issues, and Paris may go to jail. While bad for them, it may make things safer for the rest of us.
Phil at 3:57AM on Apr 29th 2007
9. he kids at Columbine and The VTech killer are victims, two different kinds. One by the hand of a bully, the others by the people who THEY bullied. Kids these days are more eager to take matters in to their own hands and seek revenge for whatever they feel was done to them. Specially when no one seems to hear them.
My favorite question yet on the VTech Killer was 'are there any Cultural factors?'
Are you kidding? This kid was promised the American Dream, only to be made fun of because of his name, and ancestry and looks. And the kids that had IT, the trust fund kids, do a Paris Hilton. Get drunk, rape and use drugs and Daddy`s lawyer comes bails them out and wipes the slate clean.
The only Paris connection I see is that the media magnifies everyone`s stupidities into the NEWS of the day. Good job guys! We have nothing else to do? Was anyone a hero today?
itsjustme at 10:16AM on Apr 29th 2007
10. Did your mother bash your head when you was a baby? Republican No she is a hollywood A'hole demirat with the same morals. Hillary Values.
average joe at 11:54AM on Apr 29th 2007
11. its called herostratos syndrome. not paris hilton effect. guy burned down one of the original 7 wonders of the world, when asked why before the execution he cooly replied "want to be known for something." so there you go. google it. the whole story is more interesting.
mmaryland24 at 8:53PM on Apr 29th 2007
12. its called herostratos syndrome. not paris hilton effect. guy burned down one of the original 7 wonders of the world, when asked why before the execution he cooly replied "want to be known for something." so there you go. google it. the whole story is more interesting.
mmaryland24 at 12:05AM on May 4th 2007
13. You think this is a nightmare? Go to youtube.com and type Hush 2316 into the space bar. You will see the "Real" nightmare right there in Knoxville Tennessee.
marksmant at 4:44PM on May 2nd 2007