I am sure most of you in South Africa have by now have heard of the tragic, senseless, horrific killing of a schoolboy in Krugersdorp as well as the injuries suffered by three others, all at the hands of the same demented pupil at one of the schools. Its really sad, and my heart goes out to the family and friends of all involved. No one should have to go through something as horrific as this.
But, and this is a big BUT, I am deeply annoyed and irritated at how the media and many other narrow minded people have jumped on the "lets blame heavy metal for this" bandwagon. All because the kid in question wore a Slipknot mask while committing these evil acts. Oh how I wish he had gone dressed as Celine Dion, bwhahahhahaha (in fact, if you had me listening to her music, I probably would go out dressed like her and kill everyone in my sight).
Most people seem to be missing the point, that this kid had serious issues (no shit, hey) and even though his parents noticed a "change in him" some time back, did they do anything about it? No, they just let him be. So who is to blame here? Hmmm? This is bad parenting at its worst. They should have seen the signs. And who in their right mind buys their kid a samurai sword? WTF. Someone should have called child services.
Since that Black Monday I have joined several groups on facebook, that either support or blame heavy metal, just to get both sides of the story. But it seems to me that metal is winning the fight as the dissers are keeping very quiet - looks looks like you idiots havent got a leg to stand on, your arguments are futile and unsupported. I was quite interested by one comment that one of the metal supporters made "Hitler listened to classical music, but did anyone ever blame Mozart or Beethoven for his genocide?" I dont think so.
So why should heavy metal always get the blame when something like this happens? Because we are the minority, and so misunderstood. For me, heavy metal gives me a chance to express myself and let go of some of my day-to-day frustrations. Its just so easy for them to blame this kind of music, isnt it? Instead of blaming the true culprits - his parents, who are probably right now being made out to be victims. Please. Dont make me throw up.
And lets turn this around a bit, to other, less "notorious" music genres. What about hip hop, rap and whatever other ass-churned out crap that comes out of these so-called musicians that condone degrading women, gang wars and greed. Does anyone ever blame this shitty music for violence? I dont think so.
Actually, the more I think about this, the more indigestion I feel coming on. I could go on and on about this, but I think I have made my point. Instead of pointing fingers at the music, look at the deeper, underlying factors. This boy was not right in the head. Whether he listened to Britney Spears or Cradle of Filth does not matter. He was crying out for help but no one noticed. Until it was too late. How sad.
LONG LIVE HEAVY METAL.
2 comments:
What a bunch of prats!
Music cant make you do anything. So thanks for the great blog Caz!
Agree with you completely. Funny enough no one seems to have anything to say about Hip Hop ever heard those lyrics...
Anyway people always need excuses and will never look at the real problems like his parents perhaps as you say. What about bullying that is a huge crisis for many youth these days its not like our days anymore. Oh brother I sound like I am a thousand years old but its true. Teenagers even little children are having to grow up much faster these days and its truly sad.
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