The Columbine Subculture, Part Two
So here is the continuation of the Columbine subculture article. We will first discuss the idea that Klebold and Harris are heroes, then the controversy regarding Cassie Bernall. (See the post below if you missed the first part) These parts will be a bit shorter, so bear with me.
Klebold and Harris as Heroes
These people I have a real difficult time trying to figure out, but there seems to be quite a few of them out there. When I first began to search for videos on some of the internet video sites, I noticed that there were Klebold/Harris tags on some of the videos, rather than Columbine tags. My interest piqued, I decided to watch some of them, and noticed immediately that they were mainly photos of the two shooters set to music. The music in the videos ranged from KMFDM (more on them later) to other metal and industrial bands, and at the end of the videos were usually the words RIP Reb and VoDKa (the shooters names for themselves) or RIP Eric and Dylan, or some other type of pronouncement. The comments for these videos were often worse, with sentiments ranging from adulation to admiration to an almost God-like view of Klebold and Harris. Most of these sentiments seem to follow the misconception that Harris and Klebold were victims of bullying, discrimination and other mistreatment and finally decided to take revenge upon those who had mistreated them - an incorrect reading of the actual event.
I guess what so disturbs me about this group is that they feel that it is appropriate, or even expected, that if one is treated as an outcast, picked on, or bullied, that killing those who mistreated you is okay. There is even a website dedicated to the two, with poetry and other writings dedicated to the two killers who simply had put up with enough. I simply cannot understand these feelings for two murderers.
Once the official investigation was over and the documents released, it became known that not only did the two shooters have a rather wide circle of friends (Klebold attended the Senior Prom with a group of friends a few days before the killings - arriving in a limousine), the group that they were supposed to have been a part of, the Trench Coat Mafia, had a history of its own bullying tactics toward others. From all outside appearances, Klebold and Harris were different, but had numerous friends and acquaintances. Recall, also, that planning for the killings began at least a year prior than their being carried out, rather than as a spontaneous response to being picked on, and one begins to realize that something far more sinister than revenge was being carried out. (To be fair, Harris had complained about being left out of all of the "fun stuff"). Nonetheless, a cult of admiration has developed around Klebold and Harris, and those who idolize the two are quite adamant in their beliefs.
The Cassie Controversy
Now we come to what I believe is one of the most significant, misunderstood, misrepresented, aspects of the killings at Columbine High School - was Cassie Bernall killed for her religious beliefs? Remember, this is the thing that led to my current interest in the event, so it's one I have researched with particular diligence. So was Cassie Bernall killed because she was a Christina? Unequivocally - no. And neither was Rachel Scott, and I will try like hell not to offend anyone with what I write here, as the issue causes a lot of harsh debate and hurt feelings on one side in particular.
Other than Cassie, Rachel, Val and the two killers, I am not going to name names here - not of the investigators, not of the witnesses, none. They have, for the most part, only spoke in the official investigation, and I will not bring them up here. If you so desire to find out who said what (and why) it's all in the official investigation, easily accessible with a google search. That said, on to the shooting and tragic death of Cassie.
It was my reading of the comments for the various Flyleaf "Cassie" videos that made me realize that there is still a huge misconception regarding what happened in the library on April 20th. Most commenters who seem to know a bit about the story write that Cassie was killed because she was a Christian, after responding that way when asked by one of the killers. One of the few survivors of the library killings stated that Cassie made that comment when asked. The only problem is that when he was taken back to the library and asked to identify where he heard the conversation, he pointed to a table where Val Schnurr had been shot - Cassie had died in another location.
Val Schurr had already been shot and was asked by one of the killers if she believed in God. She answered yes. Asked why, she said that she was raised to, and just did. The gunman became distracted and walked off without shooting her again.
Cassie Bernall was under another table. She said "Dear God, Dear God, Why is this happening" when Harris walked over, slammed his fist on the table, shouted "PEEKABOO," and fired blindly under the table, killing her instantly. She was not targeted for her beliefs and was not asked if she believed in God. The witness erroneously reported this, leading to Bernall's mother writing a book about her daughter which was then picked up by Christian evangelicals across the country, who called Cassie a martyr. The truth had become known before the book was published, but it was never withdrawn, hence our current controversy.
Those who side with the myth of Cassie say that either the witness was mistaken, or that it really doesn't matter anyway - it's an important story regardless. Those on the other side say that the family should be open about it (they have) and often claim that Christians use the event and Cassie's martyrdom for other, nefarious, purposes.
Myself, I would like the true story to be better known, but I completely sympathize with a family which lost their daughter. I'm afraid there will be no resolution on this issue, as both sides are adamant in their beliefs. A considerable number of people are part of the Cassie contingent of the Columbine subculture.
Other Stuff
I mentioned in the first part of this that there were a couple of other things that should be cleared up. First, regarding Marilyn Manson, the killers hated him and his music. They were more attracted to KMFDM, Rammstein, and other heavy industrial bands.
The Goth culture. Klebold and Harris were not Goths. Period. End of debate. They simply were not part of that culture - media was grasping at straws in the first few months of coverage.
The Trench Coat Mafia. No, they were not "members." They were possibly very fringe members, and had friends who were TCM members, but they were not.
They planned the assault on the school for at least a year before acting - it was not a spontaneous response to being picked on.
They could have acquired the guns another way if their contacts had failed, gun control will not keep guns (or other weapons - see below) from killers.
They used over 90 homemade explosives.
They DID NOT target athletes and Christians. Again, PERIOD. Read the official report.
These are just a few. These two young men knew exactly what they wanted to do. There is a particularly interesting report on the web about their psychological makeups and why they did what they did - look for it, it's quite revealing. Klebold and Harris murdered, in cold blood, thirteen fellow members of Columbine High School and have found the fame that they so desired - you can see the transcripts of the Basement Tapes for more on this. They wanted to be known, to be famous, to have people talk about them, write about them, make movies about them. "Good wombs hath borne bad sons" indeed.
The Columbine subculture is, as I stated in the first entry, a very disparate group of individuals, but they all have a specific fascination, infatuation, or obsession with Columbine, which allows them all to be loosely classified together.
To any of the families or survivors who happen to stumble across this. My thoughts and prayers are with you as you continue to deal with this tragedy some 8 years later, I certainly cannot begin to imagine how you do it.
Klebold and Harris as Heroes
These people I have a real difficult time trying to figure out, but there seems to be quite a few of them out there. When I first began to search for videos on some of the internet video sites, I noticed that there were Klebold/Harris tags on some of the videos, rather than Columbine tags. My interest piqued, I decided to watch some of them, and noticed immediately that they were mainly photos of the two shooters set to music. The music in the videos ranged from KMFDM (more on them later) to other metal and industrial bands, and at the end of the videos were usually the words RIP Reb and VoDKa (the shooters names for themselves) or RIP Eric and Dylan, or some other type of pronouncement. The comments for these videos were often worse, with sentiments ranging from adulation to admiration to an almost God-like view of Klebold and Harris. Most of these sentiments seem to follow the misconception that Harris and Klebold were victims of bullying, discrimination and other mistreatment and finally decided to take revenge upon those who had mistreated them - an incorrect reading of the actual event.
I guess what so disturbs me about this group is that they feel that it is appropriate, or even expected, that if one is treated as an outcast, picked on, or bullied, that killing those who mistreated you is okay. There is even a website dedicated to the two, with poetry and other writings dedicated to the two killers who simply had put up with enough. I simply cannot understand these feelings for two murderers.
Once the official investigation was over and the documents released, it became known that not only did the two shooters have a rather wide circle of friends (Klebold attended the Senior Prom with a group of friends a few days before the killings - arriving in a limousine), the group that they were supposed to have been a part of, the Trench Coat Mafia, had a history of its own bullying tactics toward others. From all outside appearances, Klebold and Harris were different, but had numerous friends and acquaintances. Recall, also, that planning for the killings began at least a year prior than their being carried out, rather than as a spontaneous response to being picked on, and one begins to realize that something far more sinister than revenge was being carried out. (To be fair, Harris had complained about being left out of all of the "fun stuff"). Nonetheless, a cult of admiration has developed around Klebold and Harris, and those who idolize the two are quite adamant in their beliefs.
The Cassie Controversy
Now we come to what I believe is one of the most significant, misunderstood, misrepresented, aspects of the killings at Columbine High School - was Cassie Bernall killed for her religious beliefs? Remember, this is the thing that led to my current interest in the event, so it's one I have researched with particular diligence. So was Cassie Bernall killed because she was a Christina? Unequivocally - no. And neither was Rachel Scott, and I will try like hell not to offend anyone with what I write here, as the issue causes a lot of harsh debate and hurt feelings on one side in particular.
Other than Cassie, Rachel, Val and the two killers, I am not going to name names here - not of the investigators, not of the witnesses, none. They have, for the most part, only spoke in the official investigation, and I will not bring them up here. If you so desire to find out who said what (and why) it's all in the official investigation, easily accessible with a google search. That said, on to the shooting and tragic death of Cassie.
It was my reading of the comments for the various Flyleaf "Cassie" videos that made me realize that there is still a huge misconception regarding what happened in the library on April 20th. Most commenters who seem to know a bit about the story write that Cassie was killed because she was a Christian, after responding that way when asked by one of the killers. One of the few survivors of the library killings stated that Cassie made that comment when asked. The only problem is that when he was taken back to the library and asked to identify where he heard the conversation, he pointed to a table where Val Schnurr had been shot - Cassie had died in another location.
Val Schurr had already been shot and was asked by one of the killers if she believed in God. She answered yes. Asked why, she said that she was raised to, and just did. The gunman became distracted and walked off without shooting her again.
Cassie Bernall was under another table. She said "Dear God, Dear God, Why is this happening" when Harris walked over, slammed his fist on the table, shouted "PEEKABOO," and fired blindly under the table, killing her instantly. She was not targeted for her beliefs and was not asked if she believed in God. The witness erroneously reported this, leading to Bernall's mother writing a book about her daughter which was then picked up by Christian evangelicals across the country, who called Cassie a martyr. The truth had become known before the book was published, but it was never withdrawn, hence our current controversy.
Those who side with the myth of Cassie say that either the witness was mistaken, or that it really doesn't matter anyway - it's an important story regardless. Those on the other side say that the family should be open about it (they have) and often claim that Christians use the event and Cassie's martyrdom for other, nefarious, purposes.
Myself, I would like the true story to be better known, but I completely sympathize with a family which lost their daughter. I'm afraid there will be no resolution on this issue, as both sides are adamant in their beliefs. A considerable number of people are part of the Cassie contingent of the Columbine subculture.
Other Stuff
I mentioned in the first part of this that there were a couple of other things that should be cleared up. First, regarding Marilyn Manson, the killers hated him and his music. They were more attracted to KMFDM, Rammstein, and other heavy industrial bands.
The Goth culture. Klebold and Harris were not Goths. Period. End of debate. They simply were not part of that culture - media was grasping at straws in the first few months of coverage.
The Trench Coat Mafia. No, they were not "members." They were possibly very fringe members, and had friends who were TCM members, but they were not.
They planned the assault on the school for at least a year before acting - it was not a spontaneous response to being picked on.
They could have acquired the guns another way if their contacts had failed, gun control will not keep guns (or other weapons - see below) from killers.
They used over 90 homemade explosives.
They DID NOT target athletes and Christians. Again, PERIOD. Read the official report.
These are just a few. These two young men knew exactly what they wanted to do. There is a particularly interesting report on the web about their psychological makeups and why they did what they did - look for it, it's quite revealing. Klebold and Harris murdered, in cold blood, thirteen fellow members of Columbine High School and have found the fame that they so desired - you can see the transcripts of the Basement Tapes for more on this. They wanted to be known, to be famous, to have people talk about them, write about them, make movies about them. "Good wombs hath borne bad sons" indeed.
The Columbine subculture is, as I stated in the first entry, a very disparate group of individuals, but they all have a specific fascination, infatuation, or obsession with Columbine, which allows them all to be loosely classified together.
To any of the families or survivors who happen to stumble across this. My thoughts and prayers are with you as you continue to deal with this tragedy some 8 years later, I certainly cannot begin to imagine how you do it.
posted by Unknown at 8:49 PM
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