Well, when Elvis Presley sang Viva Las Vegas, he obviously didn't picture a gun massacre. That, as you must already know, is what struck the world's partying capital on Sunday night, at a country music festival. It's now the deadliest gun massacre in American history. Fucking barbaric.
But it's just one in a very long line, and that emphasizes a very insidious, underlying danger. If they ever become so commonplace as for us to consider them inevitable, rather than doing however much we can to make a real difference, that is arguably when we ourselves become a big part of the problem.
I also think global media yet again has mostly been appalling in its coverage of this tragedy and particularly the investigation into the culprit, Stephen Paddock. A 64-year-old with no known history of mental illness, terrorism connections or criminal history besides a traffic violation. After the massacre he took his own life, which in this case was pure cowardice because it meant he wouldn't have to face conviction. And by running his story as much as they have been, the media are making a martyr of him. Oliver Stone directed the film Natural Born Killers, which condemned mass media obsession with serial and spree-killers, which was massively controversial upon release in 1994. But how vindicated must he feel now?
I feel no less angry. I'm just beyond glad we have no Second Amendment or National Rifle Association in Australia, which is home to some of the tightest gun laws on Earth. My heart fully goes out to all the casualties, the injured and their loved ones. This week, we are all Las Vegans.
No comments:
Post a Comment