The shooting of 32 people in Virginia Tech by a young Korean man is the worst shooting incident in America's history, after a similar shooting in a state high school some years before. The news was cringe-worthy not only because of the death toll but the fact that it was prominently reported that the criminal was Asian. Jessica Zafra in her blog was right in saying that most of us prolly thought 'Please not be a Filipino...'. Funny, how we come to think of our association to such abominable acts. Are we really that damned lot?
I can't help but think of Gus Van Sant's Elephant, the 2003 Cannes Palm D' Or (?) winner, which was inspired by a high-school shooting in the States. The film raises to the fore America's long-standing battle on gun culture and troublesome state of America's youth. Gun culture is also the subject of the Oscar-winning docu by Michael Moore Bowling for Columbine.
It was repeatedly reported in the foreign news that Cho, the Korean man responsible for the Virginia Tech shooting, was troubled and exhibits violent traits. Yet, he was also described by neighbors as quiet and aloof. Despite his being Korean in birth, it's also important to note that he was partly raised in the States. However, Foreign Policy blog noted the odd coincidence that the world-record for shooting sprees was by South Korean police officer who killed 56 in an 8-hour rampage.
2 comments:
With about 22 million South Koreans, it's easy to link up coincidences in such a large demographic.
I'm worried about the racial backlash though. The foreign policy blog points out there are 100,000 Skoreans in the United States.. That's 100,000 human targets right there.
True. The racial element makes the issue more contentious. Imagine if it were a Filipino. They'd practically backlash a large chunk of the US populace.
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