Blame it on Manson?

It was an event that shocked the world but more worryingly it highlighted how blind we all were to the problem of violence and its cause. Violence is nothing new and yet it is only after a shooting at a school or a plane being flown into a sky-scraper that we make any noise. Everyone is looking for somebody to blame and conveniently they all find Marilyn Manson. It's so easy to blame something that scares you or on something you don't understand. It's even easier to blame somebody else so that nobody points the finger at yourself. If a kid listens to Manson he is instantly a troubled soul with the potential for destruction? How can this be right? What a prime example of the cause-correlation fallacy.

If a kid listens to both Manson AND Britney Spears then who is to blame if he puts a gun to another kid's head? Listen to any Manson song and you will always hear a message of hope. Manson personally claims that the underlying message from his band, and indeed the reason he created the band, was to challenge society's views and (or) give a message of hope to any listener. In a world so full of colour, why submit instantly to the standardised way of thinking that society projects onto each and every one of us? Look at everything from a new angle, see it in a new light. Don't just think differently for the sake of it, do it to further yourself and everyone around you. If Manson is a bad role model for supporting troubled kids and challenging the way we think, then what is Britney? Another ignorant, bland, manufactured pop artist straight from the record company doing it all for a quick buck and world wide attention, who promotes sexualising teens and women. What a great role model!

Every middle class family in America was quick to blame a single man for something he had no control over and ignored the simple fact that they have been letting their kids down from the very start, creating schools like little ecosystems with the hierarchy of the classroom which singles out those classed as "alternative" or "individuals". It's a breeding ground for the "jock", promoting the American way of life. Being strong, funny, popular so as not to be seen as a loser. You tell a kid they're not good enough every day of their life and you're surprised when they go and shoot up their school? That's either plain ignorance of plain hypocrisy. There's no point being surprised when the monster you created gets out of control. Everyone is a potential killer with the ability and means to be involved in the next Columbine.

The media lost its way a long time ago and I find it hard to see a way back for it. Rather than reporting what's going on, the news reports what people want to hear or events which can't be ignored. Even then they still get it wrong by blaming somebody else without thinking it through. It's not right, but we can't deny that violence creates celebrities. Every killer gets his face on a newspaper, or if he really kicks up a storm he can get on the cover of Time magazine. To a kid being bullied at school every day, who has had every cry for help ignored, the message comes through ; "Better to be dead and remembered than alive and ignored". Every journalist in the world is ready to swoop in on the next big disaster. How many train wrecks do we have to witness to get our fill of suffering? It's no longer reporting, merely giving the masses their daily dose of violence that they all crave.

Violence is nothing new, but the ease of access to it is. Half the world seems to have a dead guy nailed to some boards around their neck or in their living rooms. There was the English civil war, the American civil war, the war of independence, the crusades, Japan's invasion of China, World War 1 and 2 and the list never seems to end. Television, magazines, the internet; they all contribute to our fear of the world. There isn't more killing going on, there is just more reported killing.

Parents are always the ones who are most willing to put the blame on somebody else simply because an attack on their parenting is something they can't cope with. The parents of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold can't pretend they had no idea what state of mind their son's were in. There were numerous warning signs. Eric had a website where he blogged and vented his anger and even stated that he wanteds to kill everyone who annoyed him or blow up his school. That alone should have alerted authorities and parents (who knew of the website before the attack) but no, nothing happened. At most, Eric and Dylan received anger managment classes when they were caught stealing tools out of a van as well as probation. For a parent not to hear a cry for help that loud, well, it's shocking isn't it? If you never listen to your child and push them to the limit you can't really pretend you aren't partially to blame.

On the day of the shooting, the USA dropped more bombs on Kosovo than at any other period of the conflict. Manson, in the documentary Bowling for Columbine, said "...who's a bigger influence, the President or Marilyn Manson? I'd like to think me, but i'm going to go with the President". Nobody would dare accuse the president of influencing the teen gunmen but there you go, that's how the world wants it to be...

Michael Moore asked Manson what he would have said to the boys if he had had the chance. Manson simply replied "I wouldn't say a single word to them, I would have listened to what they had to say, and that's what nobody did".

All I can really ask from you is that you look at the bigger picture before you blame an age old problem on a group or individual. Let's hope we start seeing violence as more of a problem than a solution, which sadly seems to be the way the world works.

In the words of Jack Johnson; "Where'd all the good people go?"

Much love,

The Chemical Kid x