I'm sure many of the readership here are aware of what took place on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, so I won't be doing a re-hashing of events.
I had read up on the case, and when it comes to murders and violent crimes, people look for a motive; why did the killer do what they did? Elliot Rodger's rationale for his spree is one that deeply shocked me.
Sprinkled throughout the 141-paged autobiography/manifesto he left behind, Elliot made repeated references to how bitter and angry he felt towards women, perceiving them as having constantly rejected him and complained about women not giving him a chance to prove how "worthy" he was. He bemoans the fact that despite how his life had started out idyllic, that his first childhood friend was a girl, this woman he eventually knew would become the bane of his existence:
"[She would] eventually come to represent everything I hate and despise; everything that is against me, and everything that I’m against"
He goes on to paint himself as a victim of the "wickedness" of women, stating that he was "unbeknownst to the horror and misery the female gender would inflict upon me later in my life. In the present day, these girls would treat me like the scum of the earth; but at that time, we were all equals. Such bitter irony."
He continued to share his pain by trying to gain sympathy from the public, posting video and text rants to Facebook and YouTube, one video of which baffled me greatly as he stated his grievances about feeling shunned and rejected.
We've all been there, men and women alike. We've all been rejected by somebody, we all throw ourselves a pity party, men crying "who do women hate me?", women crying "why do men despise me?" Eventually, we need to look at ourselves, think "What the hell am I doing with my life? I'm wasting my time with this," pick ourselves up off the ground and move on with our lives. That's life, life isn't fair. We might get let down and rejected by a significant other, a crush, or who could be the love of our lives. It might hurt for the longest time, but it's possible to come out the other end; a little bruised, but wiser. We eventually resolve it in our own way.
But as recent history told, Elliot took that step much too far. Obviously something wasn't clicking inside his brain when he tried to rationalize his feelings.
While reviewing what his thoughts and feelings were before he committed his crime, the ones which stuck out to me were his contradictory (and essentially hypocritical) statements, of which I will use the above video I've linked to illustrate my opinion.
At one point, he asks "women" (implicating the entire female gender) why they are so "repulsed" by him, later in the video, he goes on to say that he "deserves women," that he tries to dress nicely in order to impress them, that he's polite and "the ultimate gentleman." I read that Elliot had suffered from mental illness, I feel like a big chunk of that might have been narcissistic personality disorder.
On one end, there's someone with an inflated ego. But this was pure obsession; obsession with himself, obsession with the twisted thought that women, and the world on top of that, was out to get him. Contained in his own world, Elliot figured the best way he could solve his problems: revenge, a tactic which is never the answer to a problem.
Also, it once again brought forth a stark reality for some; stereotypes and objectification. From his writings and his musings, I think Elliot never really did feel anything for women, other than that they served only as a means for his desirous satisfaction. You hear him talk about how he never kissed a girl, how he was still a virgin and never had sex, how he had never even held a girl's hand, and how he felt that because they never offered affection to him, women were in the wrong and deserved to be punished. Sure doesn't seem like someone who cares about a girl's personality or feelings.
But he didn't just reserve his firebrands for females, he also came at the men he perceived as douchey, loser jocks and "jerks" that women seem attracted to.
If the Internet had their way with diagnoses, they'd probably label him as a "nice guy", albeit an extreme case of one. I guarantee you the Internet will be abuzz with misogyny accusations against this kid; and they'd be correct in assuming so. But everything on the Internet can get taken and run with, as it's seen with the #YesAllWomen Twitter hashtag, so I assume digital blood will be spilled on this issue.
The reality of this event was an eye-opener to me, because it reminded me of some experiences I've witnessed. I've had some friends who fell into the same feelings of despair, a couple even tried to commit suicide. Thank the Lord that they never followed through on that and that they're still alive today, but after seeing those happen and seeing what Elliot had done really made me see how serious it is when people go through these moments; how important it is for people to come alongside them, talk with them and prevent them from doing anything regrettable; or, if it's a serious case that could put people at harm, take any necessary action to prevent a tragedy, including institutionalization. It was said that the police was called to Elliot's home in response to his suicide threats; after convincing the officers that he was a "polite young man," they didn't pursue the case further. Many feel that despite this, they still should've kept a closer eye on him and his activities, and I agree whole-heartedly.
Another lesson I took from this event was the persistent reminder that life is precious, and you never know when, where and how you could lose it.
The emotion I came away from this tragic story with was a great deal of sadness. Sadness for the innocent victims who lost their lives in this kid's blind rage. Sadness for the families of the victims and sadness for Elliot's family, who will find it hard to live down what he had committed.
Rest in peace for the victims who died at Isla Vista, and I pray that comfort, love and forgiveness find their way to the families who were scarred by this horrible event.
