8:18 AM Monday May 26, 2014
By Harrison Christian
A New Zealand woman (click here) has been caught in the middle of a murderous rampage in the US that claimed six lives and left her neighbour with gunshot wounds.
Elliot Rodger, 22, went on a killing spree near the campus of the University of California, Isla Vista Santa Barbara on Friday night.
He then crashed his BMW with a fatal gunshot to the head.
Hawke's Bay woman Amelia Lyons, 22, was walking home from work when Rodger left his apartment ahead of his rampage.
..."My neighbour was actually shot. It's crazy that it happens on your doorstep - hard to believe that this sort of stuff goes on.
"It's very sombre here now. In this bright, upbeat town everyone's been calling their parents reassuring them they're okay."
She described Isla Vista as a sunny, upbeat town, where young students looked forward to a bright future.
"This kind of thing does not happen [here]."...
...Earlier, Alan Shifman - a lawyer who represents Peter Rodger, one of the assistant directors on The Hunger Games - issued a statement saying his client believed his son, Elliot Rodger, was the shooter. It was unclear how the son would have obtained a gun. The family is "staunchly against guns" and supports gun-control laws, Shifman said....
The Hunger Games was the first of it's kind in showing young people mitigating the near annihilation by nuclear holocaust for their society. The triology has a following. This affiliation of the movies with actual violence will probably increase that following. The problem I have with this is the increase in 'these type of films.'
Recently, "Divergent" was released. It is another group of young people against the system. And it is also a trilogy.
While rebels play well for story lines in movies, the films making their way into mainstream appreciation is more than worrisome. These young people are the generation exposed to September 11th. The idea their lives were a fight for survival everyday is obvious in these films. After all they were taught terrorists exist everywhere including in the air you breath with WMD.
In the Hunger Games there is no way out. Those pitted against each other are on display to the bitter end in a theater like setting.
I remember a critic stating "It is a picture where young people viciously kill each other. There is something wrong about that." I agree.
These movie trilogies are a complete departure from the fantasy and fun of Harry Potter. He was a hero, too. He was up against a mad man and not his peers or a society gone wrong. But, Harry shunned violence and sought only to live in a world of peace and sanity.
I am confident Mr. Rodgers is completely devastated by the actions and death of his son. He and his family have my complete sympathies, this can't easy.
By Harrison Christian
A New Zealand woman (click here) has been caught in the middle of a murderous rampage in the US that claimed six lives and left her neighbour with gunshot wounds.
Elliot Rodger, 22, went on a killing spree near the campus of the University of California, Isla Vista Santa Barbara on Friday night.
He then crashed his BMW with a fatal gunshot to the head.
Hawke's Bay woman Amelia Lyons, 22, was walking home from work when Rodger left his apartment ahead of his rampage.
..."My neighbour was actually shot. It's crazy that it happens on your doorstep - hard to believe that this sort of stuff goes on.
"It's very sombre here now. In this bright, upbeat town everyone's been calling their parents reassuring them they're okay."
She described Isla Vista as a sunny, upbeat town, where young students looked forward to a bright future.
"This kind of thing does not happen [here]."...
...Earlier, Alan Shifman - a lawyer who represents Peter Rodger, one of the assistant directors on The Hunger Games - issued a statement saying his client believed his son, Elliot Rodger, was the shooter. It was unclear how the son would have obtained a gun. The family is "staunchly against guns" and supports gun-control laws, Shifman said....
The Hunger Games was the first of it's kind in showing young people mitigating the near annihilation by nuclear holocaust for their society. The triology has a following. This affiliation of the movies with actual violence will probably increase that following. The problem I have with this is the increase in 'these type of films.'
Recently, "Divergent" was released. It is another group of young people against the system. And it is also a trilogy.
While rebels play well for story lines in movies, the films making their way into mainstream appreciation is more than worrisome. These young people are the generation exposed to September 11th. The idea their lives were a fight for survival everyday is obvious in these films. After all they were taught terrorists exist everywhere including in the air you breath with WMD.
In the Hunger Games there is no way out. Those pitted against each other are on display to the bitter end in a theater like setting.
I remember a critic stating "It is a picture where young people viciously kill each other. There is something wrong about that." I agree.
These movie trilogies are a complete departure from the fantasy and fun of Harry Potter. He was a hero, too. He was up against a mad man and not his peers or a society gone wrong. But, Harry shunned violence and sought only to live in a world of peace and sanity.
I am confident Mr. Rodgers is completely devastated by the actions and death of his son. He and his family have my complete sympathies, this can't easy.
