Cinematical

the hammer thing is ridiculous. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/va-tech-media-coverage-s_b_46244.html

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"Now Sid, don't you blame the movies, movies don't create psychos, movies make psychos more creative!" - Scream, 1996

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Trying to blame this tragedy on anything other than the fact this guy was crazy is just sad. The man was mentally unstable. It wasnt the movies, or the tv show, or the book, or the video game... The man was dark and unstable. You could spend weeks analyzing this persons life and still find excuses for him. A crazy person could go on a rampage even if he watched Sesame street and Dora the explorer all the time. What was sad was the fact the man was obviously disturbed but no one, friend or faculty really saw the warning signs for the dangerous things the were.
My personal opinion is that it may be a racial bias. In The US people look at the asian community and see a group that is not prone to violence. That is the stereotype. If a Black man, a white man, and an asian man stood side by side, society would be more apt to believe the Black man or the white guy would be the more dangerous of the three. In reality all three are just as capable of losing it and killing a lot of people.

To Quote Chris Rock, " Everybody is wanting to know what music were the kids listening to, or what movies were they watching. Who gives a f* what they was watching! Whatever happened to crazy? What, you can't be crazy no more? Should we eliminate crazy from the dictionary?"

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I don't understand why you would compare his actions to a south korean movie. Just because he's Korean doesn't mean that he got his inspirations from a korean movie. Plus, there are many American movies that are violent and sick.. and yet you write an article stating that Oldboy might have inspired this mentally unstabled man? You're just placing more blame on the South Koreans who had no part in this tragic event. You can't blame movies for "inspiring" a man to kill students.. Millions of people watch movies but you do not see them killing an innocent group of people.

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wonder who took these pictures of this _loner_ whom nobody knows.

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"wonder who took these pictures of this _loner_ whom nobody knows."

virtually every digital camera sold for more than $50 has a timer feature.

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I'm sure everything in this "manifesto" had some deep symbolic meaning to this crazy tortured guy. Why pose with a hammer unless it means something specific? The movie connection sounds plausible. Doesn't it make sense that a Korean would be interested in a Korean movie, especially a movie with dark subject matter? Does he seem like the kind of guy who would be checking out the lastest Will Ferrel movie? Depressed, lonely, angry people tend to seek out movies, music, literature that are on the dark side. There's a big difference between a correlation and a cause.

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He was a lit major - odds are damned good he wanted to have symbols and references. He probably planted many on purpose so as to drum up interest. This guy was smart enough to see how he could create controversy.

He wrote of Columbine and Jesus in the same manifesto. And sent that manifesto and movies to NBC. He did it on purpose. He know mentioning Columbine would get people interested. He knew drawing in Christianity would get people into him. He knew Ismail Ax would people/criminologists digging.

This wasn't an accident. It wasn't sudden and it wasn't the work of a dumb ass kid. He made himself immortal and forever will be mentioned in criminology classes and books for years to come.

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Asian man holding a hammer reminds movieblog of a recent film of a man holding a hammer. More at 11.

Now, we might start talking if he didn't use guns...

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OMG The Matrix was the first movie to feature a guy with sunglasses on duel wielding!!!!

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Everybody with a cause is using this tragedy to illustrate their own points and to support their own views. Gun control, not allowing conceal and carry of guns, violence in movies, violence in video games, lack of mental health screening in schools, ignoring the problem of bullying in schools, lack of community support, domestic terrorism and the always popular canard of racism in America. Scientologists are supposedly descending on Virginia Tech, of course if it's another religion going down there it's called outreach. Even the batsheit crazy Phelps guy who protests at the funerals of Soldiers is supposedly going down there to protest and blame it all on homosexuals. Even the batseit crazy Nancy Grace is down there raging and weeping on cue when the camera is on her. Everyone is doing what they normally do and advocating what they normally advocate only they are doing it from the campus of Virginia Tech. Like vultures, and with apologies to vultures, every advocate of every cause is there, every Network anchor is there with their sincere concerned faces. The players and the referees are in place, let the blame game begin.

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I agree with #4, Jessica.
When I saw the comparison on Nightline, I thought, here we go again with the movie violence thing....and really, just because he's Korean, doesn't mean he HAS to pose like Oldboy.
this guy was "mentally ill" and the pose he made (witch is similar to Oldboy's poster) is not like an original pose from Oldboy...it's a pose we've all seen before when people are posing with hammers...
People shouldn't use this photo to compare his action with violent movies.
For the record, there are many other movies, american movies, that are more or just as violent as Oldboy.

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so many people are worried about where he got the idea to do this. Who took the pictures? and what else did he have wrong with him in the past? This is what he wanted obviously he wanted to be known for something. Why should we worry about the killer of all the young students and teachers. Why not worry about the kids families, friends, and peers. We shouldnt be worrying if another shooter is still out there because either way if he or she wants to get in they can. soo worry about what is happening which is the parents of those children. Who confronted them with a counselor. Everyone is wondering why the killer was depressed maybe he lost a loved one just like all the parents, family, friends, and peers did.

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Are you quite sure that movies are not a factor in our actions? Everything else influences us - upbringing, beliefs, what we are taught, what we eat. Why are movies exempted from being a factor in our actions?

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hey, you were quoted in The Times - big newspaper here in the uk!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article1680643.ece

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