Murderers Go Multimedia
A psychopathic Korean-American has set a precedent.
Whereas Charles Manson’s acolytes posted their messages in blood, the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski typed up his screed, and the Columbine Killers left behind notebooks full of their rantings, Cho Seung-Hui has brought madness into the 21st Century with digital photos and Quicktime movies, some shot in a lull during his killing spree.
While jihadis have been posting videos and passing around tapes for years, their intent is to shock their enemies and to recruit followers with their videotapes of beheadings and anti-Semitic and anti-Western rants. In that sense they act as propaganda that give few insights into their mental state. A better analogy would be the “farewell messages” left by homicide bombers, which have been common in the Middle East for the past 25 years. These often show the mental state of the bomber – anguished, often appearing drugged, and usually brainwashed – and clue us in better to the “why” behind the bomber’s action.
However Cho’s complex multimedia presentation represents a new development in the annals of American mass-murder. His message – like most messages left by mass murders – is inherently irrational, self-contradictory and incoherent. We can learn little from its garbled message, other than to note the insanity of the person responsible for it. Where Cho’s impact will be felt is on the presentation of the message itself.
He has set a precedent that future psychopaths will no doubt follow and perhaps even expand upon. It is not hard to imagine a pair of modern day sickos like the Columbine killers carrying video cameras to the next killing spree. This sort of thing is already being used by al-Qaeda, and would represent the next step in the romanticizing of mass murder by the mentally ill.
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