Hello.
So I was perusing the internet and found the blog written by Purcell’s least favorite son, Kevin Underwood. I found something quite disturbing on there. Now with most tragedies the media loves to attribute going nuts and becoming violent on one’s taste in entertainment. With the kids from Columbine the media tried to blame the actions of those kids on the fact they listened to Marilyn Manson. We’ll all just go ahead and ignore the fact that they had access to guns and years of daily persecution behind them. Whether it’s violent movies or music there seems to always be some sort of celebrity or type of entertainment that gets a bit of the blame.
Underwood really didn’t write anything on his blog that indicated he was way out of his mind. He basically had all the writing integrity of a depressed fifteen year old Hot Topic employee. I was left wondering what could have possibly driven him to something so violent and horrible. Then I saw it. He had links to two of the most evil and devious websites I’ve ever seen. The first was unbelievably heinous. A link to Star Trek: The Next Generation star Wil Wheaton’s official website. The other link was to comedian Weird Al Yankovic’s website. How did we not see this coming a mile away? Based on media logic, if one enjoys Star Trek and parody songs they clearly are going to end up killing someone. Damn you Wil Wheaton and Weird Al! When will you step forward and claim responsibility for what this man did?!
He did list that he listened to Marilyn Manson but he also listed Chumbawumba as one of his favorite groups. Who is that? They were that one hit wonder who did that Tub-thumping song some years ago. “He drinks a whiskey drink. He drinks a lager drink. He sings the songs that remind him of the good times. He sings the songs that remind him of the better times.” and so on and so forth. Maybe his real crime is wallowing in mediocre entertainment.
I only wish to point out that entertainment does not dictate action. If one does allow their taste in entertainment to dictate their actions, the problem is not the entertainment but rather the person. It’s all about taking responsibility for one’s actions. As a society we are so willing to blame someone’s actions on a litany of things, but rarely is one of those things one’s inability to cope with anything sane. Maybe this guy was just crazy. Maybe this guy acted out violent fantasies fueled by his own inability to adapt to society. Perhaps a lifetime of self imposed solitude as a result of being made fun of constantly brings about violent behavior. We’ll never really know but I’m willing to bet it wasn’t because he watched Star Trek or liked horrible music or thought parody songs were funny.
Personally I think that if people would take the time to listen to other’s without prejudice, we might avert more tragedies then we’ll ever know about. The smallest act of kindness might just save someone’s life. Also, if you’re nice to that guy you think is crazy, he’ll probably cross you off his list of potential victims.
- Joel
www.chkona.com
www.myspace.com/joeldavidd