![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
But it turns out I do. Not about the shooting - I know little enough about that, and want to keep it that way, actually - but about the commentary to the shooting. And boy, has there been a lot of it!
First, let me just say the obvious: There is no particular evidence that the shooter, James Holmes, is autistic. It's certainly possible, but it's definitely not any more likely than any OTHER member of the random public is in the spectrum, and it may well be less likely. It's really not true that this sort of thing happens "more often than not" with autistics. Were that the case, there'd be a lot more shooting deaths in this country, and we've got more than enough as it is.
I'm not going to dignify this with any more response than that.
(Well, maybe a little more. Autism isn't a mental illness, however, even if it were, mentally ill people are ALSO far more likely to be victims than villains. That is all.)
The second thing I have to say is about victim blaming. You would expect a lot of commentary on this subject - it's tragic, it's scary, and at the risk of being callous I'll point out what the Onion said on the subject: we've got scripted reactions we have to get out of our systems.
So I would've expected some commentary on gun control, on the role of violence in our culture, things like that.
I didn't expect comments on how people should not have brought their kids to see the movie, and if they had those kids would still be alive.
(And I read over at FreeRange Kids. I should know better, I really should.)
The first I read about it was an opinion piece on how, even though there may be a valid point as to whether or not young children should a. go to midnight premieres or b. watch very violent movies like this one, now is not the time to air these complaints.
( I might end up sounding a little insensitive )
Look, I'm not saying it's always wrong to judge people. I'm just saying that in certain situations, you have to keep your judgments to yourself... especially when they're a. tacky and/or b. illogical. This guy could've just as easily shot up the matinee, and then whom would they blame? ("Oh, but he didn't shoot up the matinee, can't you see???" Yes, that's why I used the subjunctive, you twit.)
Oh, and on that note? If I hear one more person (read one more person) blithely recite "guns don't kill people" at me, I might just scream. Guns make killing people easier. I understand there may be some valid reasons for them, but that doesn't mean that no restriction is reasonable. If I ever invent a time machine, I'm going to make a quick stopover to ask the founding fathers what, exactly, they intended with the second amendment.
First, let me just say the obvious: There is no particular evidence that the shooter, James Holmes, is autistic. It's certainly possible, but it's definitely not any more likely than any OTHER member of the random public is in the spectrum, and it may well be less likely. It's really not true that this sort of thing happens "more often than not" with autistics. Were that the case, there'd be a lot more shooting deaths in this country, and we've got more than enough as it is.
I'm not going to dignify this with any more response than that.
(Well, maybe a little more. Autism isn't a mental illness, however, even if it were, mentally ill people are ALSO far more likely to be victims than villains. That is all.)
The second thing I have to say is about victim blaming. You would expect a lot of commentary on this subject - it's tragic, it's scary, and at the risk of being callous I'll point out what the Onion said on the subject: we've got scripted reactions we have to get out of our systems.
So I would've expected some commentary on gun control, on the role of violence in our culture, things like that.
I didn't expect comments on how people should not have brought their kids to see the movie, and if they had those kids would still be alive.
(And I read over at FreeRange Kids. I should know better, I really should.)
The first I read about it was an opinion piece on how, even though there may be a valid point as to whether or not young children should a. go to midnight premieres or b. watch very violent movies like this one, now is not the time to air these complaints.
( I might end up sounding a little insensitive )
Look, I'm not saying it's always wrong to judge people. I'm just saying that in certain situations, you have to keep your judgments to yourself... especially when they're a. tacky and/or b. illogical. This guy could've just as easily shot up the matinee, and then whom would they blame? ("Oh, but he didn't shoot up the matinee, can't you see???" Yes, that's why I used the subjunctive, you twit.)
Oh, and on that note? If I hear one more person (read one more person) blithely recite "guns don't kill people" at me, I might just scream. Guns make killing people easier. I understand there may be some valid reasons for them, but that doesn't mean that no restriction is reasonable. If I ever invent a time machine, I'm going to make a quick stopover to ask the founding fathers what, exactly, they intended with the second amendment.
