Slow Thursday

Today's going really slow. I'm at work, fighting boredom and disinterest. Gray skies over Baltimore. Weather's still cold. At least tommorrow it's Friday.

It's a slow news day, and a slow 'internet day'. There's nothing capturing my attention today. This only makes my workday drag, and leaves me near completely exhausted by the time I get off work.

The Virginia Tech shootings have been dominating the news for the past few days. Jeebus, what a grand tragedy.

From a clinical standpoint, the Virginia Tech tragedy holds a certain to me, because of the twisted psychology of the perpretator. As a writer/filmmaker, I've a fascination to unravel the minds of people who commit such heinous crimes. It's always been beyond as to why someone would commit horrid murder. I think that if I weren't a filmmaker with the urge to tell stories, one of my alternative careers would have been that of a Forensic Psychologist or Pathologist, because such cases really get me thinking.

What kind of psychosis makes someone snap and do what this kid did? How long did it take for him to get to that point? How can someone like him not see the evil in his actions?

A couple of my future films contain characters such as this individual. I think that, at large, our society in general has no understanding as to how people grow to become so evil. By the time we see evil, it's too late; horrendous crimes have been committed and many people lose their lives. I'm talking Columbine here.. September 11.. and now this. How did it come to this?

And is that question which will fuel some of my future films--How did it come to this? The Virginia Tech mass murderer troubles started a long-time ago. And there were signs. Yet, he managed to slip and fall thru every 'safety net' which could have prevented what happened on Monday. How did it come to this? How do some people simply become walking, breathing 'black holes' who seem intent in inflicting suffering and snuffing the lives of others.

Also, already, we're beginning to see the typical reporting from the media about some of the 'causes' behind this asshole's actions: He was, apparently, a fan of Chanwook Park's 'Old Boy', and posed in a couple of pictures in similar poses as stills from that film. The typical mass media accusation--Did watching a movie make him do it? We also got that jerkoff lawyer in FL, Jack Thompson, using the tragedy and trying to blame video games for the killer's actions... even though there's been no evidence that he was a gamer. Thompson's a true idiot.

Regardless, what has happened at Virginia Tech is a terrible tragedy which will reverberate for years to come. It's a shame they couldn't get some help for that kid in time. And something tells me that this kind of modern illness will happen again. The question remains in my mind, and will continue to be there until I make these particular films I must make.