Murder, Suicide and Death

Thoughts on Aspects of, The Dirties, directed by Matt Johnson:

As the character of Matt progresses with his filming obsession it becomes easier for Matt to lose touch with reality. Various moments indicate that he sees the world more as a film than as real life. One of which is the scene where he and Owen are standing on the cliff together and he is only able to focus on filming aspects as opposed to actual conversation with a real person. This is when Matt’s disconnect with reality can be seen visually as pointed out by Owen. By making his life a movie, with himself and those around him as the characters, he can create a world where only his sense of morality matters. In this world of black and white, he sees himself as the hero defeating the villains, not the troubled teen murdering bullies. Also he can escape guilt by making everything in his life make believe. This lost sense of reality can truly be seen in the final scene where he is gunning down ‘the Dirties’, also know as his fellow classmates. He is confused when everyone runs in terror after his first shots are fired; he states that he only wishes to kill the bad guys. This blatant inability to differentiate between fantasy and reality may have been made easier by his obsession with film, but when it comes to shootings there are many complexes underlying factors at work as well. The same disconnect with reality can be seen with Dylan in the columbine murders. The continual rehearsal made it easier for him to shift into the guise of the hero fighting bad guys, just as Matt did in the film. They come in outfitted with weaponry almost as if they were in a movie and they were busting some criminals. By distancing themselves in this way, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, were able to go through with the murders/suicides on April 20th, 1999.

The motives of such horrific crimes are hard, if not impossible, to emotionally understand but they are often relatively simple understand intellectually. In the case of Matt, Dylan, Owen, and Eric, they are all motivated by similar aspects of society, to commit the atrocities for which they are given infamy. The bullying each one of them experiences is a key factor in that it makes dehumanizing their victims all the more simplified. This violence in their every day life seeped into their subconscious and combined with their mental instability. Said mental instability may be due to the daily isolation, problems at home, and/or many other factors that have been linked to murder as an act of a mentally unstable individual. In regards to Jahar there are a few contributing factors to his malicious act. One is his loyalty to his brother, and need to prove said loyalty though complete, and utter, dedication to his brother’s cause. Also a factor is the religious aspect of his life, in that religion has long been a motivator for acts of murder, massacre, and genocides. And his brother’s interpretation of said religion, created the perfect recipe for an impressionable young man to commit a horrific act of violence, such as the Boston Bombings on April 15th, 2013. Manson’s motivation is a tale as old as time, the idea of racial supremacy. Driven by his bigoted superiority complex, Manson manipulates his followers into committing several murders in the hope that it would start a race war. The justification that the shooters most likely used was that they were making the school and the world a better place. Though there is no justification for the taking of a human life unless it is undiluted self-defense, it is plain to see what types of justifications are in specific types of killers’ heads. In the case of the bombings they were arguably no less justified than the countless innocent people who died in numerous military acts by the U.S. government. That being said the bombers may have done this for their country, their people, or themselves. Once again it is not a legitimate justification, just a possible reason in the killers mind. Lastly, the Manson murders were fairly basic; they believed themselves the superior race and therefor entitle to cleansing, in the most grotesque sense of the word, ‘their’ country.

All killers on this planet have at least one thing in common, they are of the human race but deviate from the accepted social norms. The high school shooters were teenagers, who were bullied in high school, that is a connection that most people can share. This connection can possibly make them seem less monstrous and more human. In the case of Jahar, he attended college just like anyone else with friends and interests in his school. And Manson was considered an extremely charismatic man, whom was able to speak with and manipulate people from all walks of life. This complicates the understanding of their crimes, through the creation of a moral dilemma that would not exist if one were simply vanquishing a monster. These are people, who may have murdered due to; at least in part, the society, which beat down, oppressed, or didn’t necessarily meet their standard of living. Looking at these murders’ side of each event may be difficult and confusing but it also allows for a very important realization. These murderers could be anyone, and therefor measures can be taken in order to, at least, try and prevent further acts of terrorism from occurring in the future.