Murder and Pop Culture: Some Thoughts on the Denver 'Batman' Shooting

By now everyone knows about the horrific shootings that happened at a movie theatre in Denver, Colorado during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises. The name James Holmes, which meant nothing to us the other day, is now etched in our memories, reminding us how deranged, twisted and violent humanity can actually be. Inevitably, due to where these shootings occurred, there will be efforts on the part of average citizens, psychologists, criminologists and pop culture analysts to link Holmes's motivations back to the Batman franchise in some way. Perhaps it may be argued that Holmes might have forged a connection with a particular Batman villain (reports claim that Holmes dyed his hair red and referred to himself as 'the Joker') and decided to enact this role in his approach to the shootings. Booby-trapping an apartment is itself an action which can be associated with the schemes of comic book super-villains.  So far I have read two articles that claim there is no inherent link between Holmes's actions and the Batman franchise. This may very well be true. However I feel that to completely neglect the possible function of pop culture in motivating and developing this crime is a mistake.

 The 1999 Columbine massacre provides and  interesting comparison to the Holmes shooting, not only because both events occurred in Colorado, but also because it suggests the manner in which a murderer may use media texts to construct his identity. For those who don't know the story behind it, this massacre occurred after two senior high school boys entered school one day and embarked on a violent shooting spree, killing 12 students and 1 teacher, while badly injuring 21 students directly . Following this, the two boys turned their guns on themselves and committed suicide. The lead -up to the event notably began with the formation of a website by the shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, which was initially created as a source for gaming levels for the Doom computer game. Within the site Harris submitted blog entries which indicated the developing process of their plans as they spoke about personal issues, weaponry, explosives and his and Klebold's own malicious antics .

The fact that Doom was essentially used as a 'cover' for Harris and Klebold's scheme is allegedly no coincidence. It is said that Harris created his own levels for the game on the internet and, at one time, it was rumoured that the layout of these levels resembled that of the high school. Though this was subsequently proven to be inaccurate, there remains speculation that Harris and Klebold, who had criminal records prior to the massacre, enaacted many of the realities of their games in the real world as a response to the consistent lessening of their computer privileges due to bad behaviour. Essentially the energy they put into their online activities could have been transferred to their real world ones. Other media cultures and texts which were related to Harris and Klebold's motivations were aspects of Goth culture, Oliver Stone's film Natural Born Killers and, amongst other rock acts, the music of Marilyn Manson which, at the time, appeared to advocate for devil worship and murder.*

If any of these media links to the Columbine massacre are true, then it is a massacre which is grounded in media responses . I use the word 'responses' here because I believe that to refer to pop culture as an influencing factor in a serial killing or massacre is a mistake. Pop culture is rooted in reflections on our society, it does not make it. The way we engage with it depends on our own psychological states because the aspects of a film, book, piece of music or video game which we individually remember most are ones that register most accurately with our social backgrounds, behavioural traits and other such aspects of our psychological make-up. Essentially pop culture enforces our identities. It does not influence them. Hence if the media texts which are associated with Harris and Klebold's behaviour are indeed accurate then it is possible to suggest that they acted as modes of expression for these two young killers. Their interest in Natural Born Killers is itself evidence of this as the film grapples with the relationship between the media and serial killers. The film could essentially have reflected on  Harris and Klebold's own desire to be noticed and "admired", clearly in the most graphic way possible. If this was the case their interest in it was clearly rooted in how it identified this part of themselves.

Perhaps then this is the case with Holmes's case. Whether he is an avid comic book geek or someone who merely has a working knowledge of the Batman series, I can't help but think that there's a reason why the opening of The Dark Knight Rises was the chosen event for his particular massacre. For some dark and depraved reason he might have seen the  Batman series as an expression of himself. Perhaps in the Batman villains he noticed his own desire for rage and murder. Choosing to associate himself with the morally, ethically and socially jaded world of Gotham City might have been his sadistic way of saying "this is who I really am".  Whereas we see Batman as a form of entertainment with an interesting subtext, he might see it as a life force which defines his true nature.

Of course we may never know whether this is indeed the case but, if it is, it is certainly a lesson in the dangers of identifying with media in a particular way.  Holmes's suggested interpretation of Batman has now possibly forever tarnished the image of the Batman comics and films. Much more tragically, however, it has ended human lives.

Source for info on Columbine: Wikipedia


Source for Photo: http://zipmeme.com/meme/James-Holmes-Joker-Meme/115636/popular/