The Denver killer is clearly a very very sick young Man.

[Cheeky Monkey]

Er what ? I would think the torture films like Hostel and the like may be worse myself.

Uncle you don't get people going to movie theaters (US spelling) and slashing hamstrings with a cut throat razor when I last checked!

Unfortunately the idiotic society that is the USA will always be one where civilians are armed to the teeth and it takes almost nothing to legally buy 'a shooter.'

 

[Lord Bracknell]

He is very intelligent which seems to be a trend with these mass killers. He is convinced he is Heath Ledger from the last Batman film. Any sensible contributions ?

Any one who is "convinced he is Heath Ledger from the last Batman film" seems to me to fail the basic Intelligence Test. Unless, of course, he is in fact Heath Ledger, which, on the basis of the evidence I have seen, is unlikely.

 

[El Presidente]

The Denver killer is clearly a very very sick young Man.

There are no winners here.

The lawyers are!

 

[Set of Tracksuits]

Thanks for that contribution. Very well put forward and thought provoking. Well done you.

What exactly did you expect? All you did in your opening post was state the very, very obvious.

 

[tangfastic]

The cinema chain has announced it will no longer allow costumed face-masks and fake guns into its screenings. Which is the only reaction one could have possibly expected. Bring the government around a table and discuss the entire issue of weapons/US society? Don't be silly.

did they say whether body armour and real guns is ok or not?

 

[StonehamPark]

The lawyers are!

& The media.

The 1000's % rise in newspapers 48 hours after the incident will have put a few extra coins in a few pockets.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Isn't Munich just a bit dull, or are you having an anti-Spielberg moment?

How can you honestly say that blowing people up in their own beds is dull BHAfan1983!

 

[salty seagull]

On the upside, I`ve heard there are things to do in Denver when you`re dead.

 

[Brightonfan1983]

did they say whether body armour and real guns is ok or not?

Do you know what, I think you've found the loophole.

 

[Questions]

Thanks for that contribution. Very well put forward and thought provoking. Well done you.

I must admit US I was thinking exactly the same as Edna's reply. You say it like there was possibly some sort of debate going on on the matter.

No winners ? Of course there are no f***ing winners.

 

[Brightonfan1983]

How can you honestly say that blowing people up in their own beds is dull BHAfan1983!

Munich? The film about the Olympic/Israeli murders in 1972?

 

[Durlston]

I disagree about people not being born evil, US.

What about the James Bulger killers in Liverpool? They were just kids themselves; abducting him from a shopping centre, torturing him and then putting the lad on to a railway line to die was one of the most shocking murders in the last twenty years.

 

[severnside gull]

Or just dont make guns easily available to people! But this was obviously computer games fault!!!!!!

now where did I say that?

Letting Americans have guns and anmunition as a "freedom" has been part of American culture from its inception and has always created problems. Computer games don't create new ways of killing people but for a small minority whose perceptions of reality are imbalanced they may be particularly and significantly "unhelpful". Should we consider that as a possibility or should we just discount it as another infringement on our liberty - precisely the same premise that encourages gun ownership.

 

[Rich Suvner]

You take the piss but a lot of people will not believe he is sick but is evil.

I'm interested by this statement

I think generally you may be correct that many acts of violence are undertaken by people who are sick, and have lost their way from lack of support and guidance, or even by being dehumanised themselves.

BUT why the presumption that this individual is not evil? Do you believe there aren't people out there who might simply be evil?

I am not convinced for example that Anders Breivik is any more sick than he is evil - he had a motive and was directed by it.

At what point do we not write off someone's actions as underpinned by illness and simply recognise that some people, when guided by an objective, can act in ways that shock and appaul the overwhelming majority?

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

Munich? The film about the Olympic/Israeli murders in 1972?

No, not that one! This one was about an Israeli death squad blowing members of the Palestinian group Black September (responsible for the massacre of the Israeli Olympic team of 1972) through hotel room walls and killing them by other unsavoury means.

 

[The Buttery Biscuit Base]

Or just dont make guns easily available to people! But this was obviously computer games fault!!!!!!

That is a very reactionary statement to blame computer games. I've been playing them, as have have thousands of others, for years yet I don't feel and need or desire to kill and I don't see the blurring of reality.

Its similar to saying that because someone was drunk when the killed someone else, it is the alcohols fault. The blame lies in side this fellas fragile mental state. I will coincide though that it may well have tipped him over the edge, but we can't tarnish all games that involve killing because of the 1 in however many 1000's that don't have a grasp on reality.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

You can rely on me to light the fuse and stand back folks. Thats why you all love me. I am genuinely puzzled by the evil v ill argument. The Bulger killers had horrendous parents and watched a diet of horror films so were they born evil ? I don't think so. And my original statement that is is very very ill was because some people will not agree with that and just say he is evil.

 

[Beach Hut]

Hollywood will be the winner, a film in around 3 to 4 years

 

[Rich Suvner]

That is a very reactionary statement to blame computer games. I've been playing them, as have have thousands of others, for years yet I don't feel and need or desire to kill and I don't see the blurring of reality.

Its similar to saying that because someone was drunk when the killed someone else, it is the alcohols fault. The blame lies in side this fellas fragile mental state. I will coincide though that it may well have tipped him over the edge, but we can't tarnish all games that involve killing because of the 1 in however many 1000's that don't have a grasp on reality.

I think you've missed the sarcasm in [MENTION=4667]Munkfish[/MENTION]'s post

 

[Acker79]

It is far too simple to suggest it was a particular film or video game that made him do it. None of them have that power over people, or else more than one person from the millions of people that watched Munich or Hostel or The Dark Knight would have done this.

It is a currently incomprehensibly complex combination of many factors, including but not limited to: genetics, upbringing, a multitude of cultural and societal influence (gun laws in a society that clings to them as problem solvers, the promise of the american dream for everyone that can't actually be fulfilled by everyone, hateful judgemental and prejudiced belief systems, save money on taxes over free healthcare, Films, music and video games with violent and aggressive imagery, friends made, friends lost, bullies, bad parenting, a society that craves celebrity and fame as life goal regardless of talent coupled with a society that is more interested in the story of the killer than the story of the victims), long term ill effects of drugs/alcohol, diet, trauma that either affects someone physically, emotionally or mentally...

No one film, however violent, is responsible.