So, someone mentioned in class the video of the THK. Here's a link to a video of the VT killer that he sent to NBC. You don't see people dying, but it's still really disturbing hearing his justifications for his actions.
http://www.dailymotion.com/us/cluster/news/featured/video/x1r6o7_
virginia-tech-april-16-2007-cho-seu
It's interesting. In my Victorian/gothic lit class, we always discuss how the the literature of that era really reflected the anxieties and paranoia that the Victorians felt. They were apprehensive about technology and advancement in general; they experienced the Industrial Revolution, drug addictions, and imperialism, and with that, came a fear of the unknown, whether it was science or foreigners. England had undergone a lot of change in a short amount of time and they didn't want to believe that horrible things could happen IN England, at home. If horrible things did happen, it was because of something foreign. A lot of those fears haven't gone away and in my Victorian lit class, I always mention the novels we read for this class because I always see connections. It's cool to see how these apprehensions have translated from one genre to another and how similar they are, even though they are separated by two centuries.
Relating this back to what happened at Virginia Tech and how the media is portraying Cho Seung-Hu, not much as changed. There is still this xenophobia in our society. It happened after 911, with racial/religious profiling and discrimination, and it's happening again. A lot of news articles really emphasize the fact that the VT killer was NOT an American citizen, he was Korean and he was a permanent resident. (Never mind the fact that he pretty much grew up here.) I joked with a friend the other day, saying that people might be scared of me because I'm Asian (and coincidentally, both he and I have similar majors..oh no!), but it's really nothing to joke about. I heard about Asians in Virginia getting things thrown at them or other people spitting on them, etc. I guess history really does repeat itself, huh?
This was just something for you all to chew on.
It's hard for me to understand why people often want to blame an entire group of people for the actions of one person who happens to be a member of that group (if that makes sense). As in, you said some Asians are being harassed at VT for the actions of one man who happened to be Asian. This also happened after 9/11 with Middle Easterners. And--in a way to tie it back to the novel, I suppose--after wars, everyone on the losing side is seen as being "bad," when, of course, there are thousands of civilians who had nothing to do with the war at all (the way many people constantly bash Germans, although there were many who were opposed to the Nazis and their actions). I don't know if it's human instinct to generalize, or to want to put blame somewhere, or what. It may be common, but it's definitly not a good thing for society or different groups of people.
I was considering posting this exact link, but was afraid to watch it myself for fear of nightmares. I figured it would be disingenuous to post a video I hadn't watched. I also wasn't sure where we had set the line in class on violence and media.
I don't really think anybody knows where to set the line on violence and media. I don't plan on viewing the link, but I still have some sort of perverse urge to watch it. I also feel that most people probably feel the same way. Why is our culture so addicted to violence and gore? This reminds me a little of when there is traffic on the freeway because everybody is craning their necks to look at an accident on the other side. Why must we feel the need to see these horrible things? Do we want to see this so that then we can reassure ourselves that these horrific events make us feel terrible? Is it that we are worried that we will someday be desensitized, so now we are trying to prove to ourselves, over and over again, that this stuff still bothers us?
I think people feel the need to slow down to look at accidents or watch such videos for the same reason people watch violent movies or play gory video games--the entertainment value. It sounds terrible, but horrific events are shocking and heart-wrenching, and even better than movies because they are real. People want to feel shock or sorrow or fear or sympathy--something that will affect them, even if it bothers them. That's why it's hard to resist slowing down to check out an accident or clicking on a link to a murderer's video. It's real and it's shocking, so people are curious.