I've held my peace long enough. Now, it's time to offer my own opinion on the late Elliott Rodger, son of an assistant director on the "Hunger Games" movies, who stabbed his three college roommates to death, then went postal, killing three more people before making like a coward, unwilling to stand trial, and taking his own life.
The one thing that struck me as odd about this entire case, right from the go, based on the news accounts I've read, was that this was about his inability to either make love, or, at the very least, get a date. Quite simply, Rodger couldn't get any.
Like, couldn't he have taken a sex education course either in high school, or at college? His role models must've been Beavis & Butt-Head instead of, say, Andrew "Dice" Clay. Mike Judge's animated airheads couldn't get any, either, and it didn't bother them one bit. Then again, neither one of them was exactly a brain surgeon to start with.
On the front page of Tuesday's New York Daily News came a headline declaring that the source of Rodger's hate was his junior high school crush, who at the time was only 10, while Rodger was 12. The tabloid smartly blurred the face of the young lady, now 20, to avoid giving her any undue embarrassment. Apparently, Elliott's dad spent so much time working in Hollywood, such that he never taught his kid anything, or couldn't get up the cheddar to hire Dr. Ruth as a tutor. Please.
Of course, there's the usual whining about guns, but Rodger didn't profile as being a few fries shy of a Happy Meal, and obtained his weapons legally. That means his teachers, as well as his parents, missed something along the way. He internalized his anger toward women until he could contain it no longer. That says to me he thought he could deal with it himself, but internalizing feelings doesn't always work. In today's paper, the father of one of the victims lashed out at Congress for not doing anything, considering how the NRA and other lobbyists have supposedly such a firm control of certain lawmakers. That's because money gets in the way of justice in these cases. The 2nd Amendment is supposed to allow us to defend ourselves, but in the 21st century, there are too many people out there who've lost their way, and, like Rodger, are lashing out in the worst possible way. The NRA protects them, but shouldn't. Considering that it's run by a moron, well......!
2 comments:
You're right in that something stinks about this whole story. This may put me in the category of "tin foil hat wearers", but IMO, this was a staged event.
I've worked in the news biz a long time and a news viewer long before that. Eventually you start seeing patterns emerge with such stories. Alittle common sense goes a long way to in spotting frauds.
First off.. this kid is a son of a successful Hollywood director who worked on one of the biggest franchises. A guy like that can't get a date? I'm sorry but I've known dudes who got laid with a lot less! Not to mention his BMW - that alone could have brought him dates - especially in Hollyweird.
Second, the kid's vids from YT look like bad acting - reading off a cue card! Some chalk it up to mental illness (God Complex/Narcissism Personality Disorder/Autism) but I'm not convinced.
Third - this is the age of the iPhone - you're telling me there is almost no video (save for scenes of the shooting by local networks and a brief clip from a CCTV at a deli) from area witnesses? Even if the people were hiding from bullets, I guarantee you someone would have their cameras on record!
Fourth - a combination of acting from "witnesses" and "family members". One blonde girl was crying without tears. The father of one of the "victims" (Mr. Rodriguez) was screaming and crying - again without tears. Conveniently he's yelling about gun control! It always ends up leading to that argument doesn't it - even though the shooter's roomies were stabbed. No one calling for banning knives are they? Rodriguez even spoke at a memorial service at UCSB - rather fast for a public display of a grieving parent I'd say.
Finally - the early witness report in which TWO persons (or shooters) were in the BMW, not just Rodger. This statement vanished fast - but I remember it in the earliest reports.
There are some other little nitpicks regarding the uploading of the YT vid times not matching to Rodger's date announcements but I'll let it slide. They didn't drop the ball on this - they made it and shot it out of a cannon!
I have read that there is at least one iPhone video, which the police have been looking at.
What bothered me more was how the tabloids have already started sensationalizing this sordid tale, as if they're dressing it up for some halfwitted would-be producer to try to shill this on a certain cable network for a quick buck or three. Please. And, then, of course, there is Rodger opting to take his own life rather than go to jail. Too many of these maroons will do that.
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