15-minutes of fame in second Montreal massacre

Warhol's 15-minutes of fame has gone eerily awry.

The second Montreal massacre in less than 20 years was shockingly played out on TV, radio, and webpages yesterday as a trench-coat clad 25-year-old gunmen walked into a downtown college campus and randomly began shooting.

Unlike the previous massacre (where the gunmen -- name withheld intentionally -- targetted women with his rage) yesterday's shooting is still steeped in ambiguity and uncertainty. Even more chilling is the lack of communication about his deeds. Only two hours before he was shot dead by police, young Kimveer had posted a message on his regularly visited www.vampirefreaks.com site -- there was no mention of what he was about to do and no mention of any motivation for his actions. I'm sorry but "Life Sucks...work sucks...we all have to die sometime" only conveys a sense of futility; it does not provide definitive insight into why someone would take this sense of futility out on another individual.

First, I am going to acknowledge that in the next few days (and perhaps weeks) there will be a lot of talk about the influence of video games. Given the fact that Toronto experienced a horrendous accident because of the apparent influence of video games (see below for link to story) it does not take a leap of faith to appreciate how quickly people are going to start blaming these games -- games that have taken on a new and far-reaching importance among teenagers and young adults.

This type of condemnation of one of society's leisurely pursuits is not unknown. In the 80s we blamed Dungeons and Dragons -- a role-playing game that, apparently, prompted some youth to act out their fantasy worlds and kill their mates. In the 70s it was good ol' heavy metal -- play the record backwards and the kids were given Satanic messages. In the 60s it was art, music, liberal lifestyle and the proliferation of non-corporate sponsored media. The list goes on -- well past the 20th century.

That is not to say that I do not believe a medium can have an impact on still-growing minds (or even on minds, hell EVERYONE is influenced by the media, old or young). Yet, teenagers and young adults -- regardless of how definitive and defiant they may be -- are still trying to find their feet in this world. As such, they are still developing and growing and are still overly influenced by the medium that surrounds them. While the vast majority often act out this angst in semi-respectable ways (get drunk, get laid, grow out of the lifestyle), there are a few who take it to an extreme. Kimveer is one of these extremists. The artists that live on the fringe of our society are another. While both seek some sort of immortality through their actions, it is Kimveer's actions that prove shocking and are, unfortunately, glorified.

How many days will the media devote to expressing every detail of this massacre? How many photos will we see of Kimveer posing with his guns? How many editorials, opinion pieces and columns will wax on about the possible motivations behind this act (this posting included).

In reality, though, if Kimveer's aim was to become notorious -- he succeeded. In otherwords, he HAS achieved his 15-minutes of fame -- the very 15-minutes that has become a national obsession.

If we are to tackle this problem of disassociation from reality and responsibility; if we are to handle the extremists and the disenfranchised, we will have to stop blaming the toys. Like heavy metal and D&D, video games are just an avenue for expression. While you can slap caveats and warnings and even limitations on such a product, these actions will not prevent the dissemination or the influence this medium currently has on young adults today. And, rest assured, as soon as you do figure out a way to 'control-the-flow' there will be another, fresher medium that has caught the attention of teens today.

The reality is we cannot stop the need for young adults to produce a counter-culture movement -- it's a right of passage. Nor should we penalize the majority for the potential volatility of a slim minority (that's tyranny of the minority, or in otherwords censorship). However, we can start to actually address the underlying societal factors that have been raging for decades (some would say for centuries). While no one likes to hear it, there are significant socio-economic factors that help produce this level of apathy, dissociation and irresponsibility.

Yet, in a society obsessed with causes we are quick to dismiss correlations -- so despite the body of research that shows a correlation between crime (such as the violent crime that occured in Montreal yesterday) and socio-economic factors, we choose to focus on more tangible remunstrances, looking for objects rather than situations to fault.

Unfortunately, the study of human interaction is rarely mapped out in causes -- it is an inexact science. As such, if we were to address this obsession to be rich and famous (to be a 'somebody') we would, indeed, be addresssing the primary motivation for such horrendous acts AND we would need to address the underlying socio-economic factors that prompt such a fantastical way of dealing with life.

In the end, I leave you with this anecdote. A girlfriend of mine is an architect in a nationally recognized, well-respected firm. After spending countless years in school, thousands of hours on training and a decade on building her career she is appalled with the attitude of the new graduates her firm is hiring. She describes these new hires as self-indulgant, indignant laggards who expect a great deal, while offering very little. Of course, these 20-somethings do not have this perspective. Rather, they believe that the world owes them and that the potential for partner or CEO must be achievable within five years or there is no point in putting in the time and energy at that job/firm. While this may seem extreme, it is not. My architect friend, like many of my other 30+ friends, are experiencing the self-possessed 'gimme' attitude of a generation that has grown up on Paris Hilton, Hillary Duff and Marie & Katie Olsen (to name but a few). They have grown up believing that an attitude of 'better-than' really does get you a bigger piece of the pie and that the she who screams loudest is heard best is the optimal way to achieve your goals. Yes, this may be a ridiculous attitude and it may not be far off from any other attitude of any other 'next' generation. The difference being, though, is thar our current technology now affords the disenfranchized with the means to maim. As such, dealing with the issues that prompts the dissassociation is no longer ideal it is essential.

We may never know why Kimveer shot 12 people yesterday. We may never know why he chose to shoot (and be shot) at police rather than surrendering his weapons yesterday. The problem now is not to react to the extremism, but to deal with the overwhelming causal factors that helps to lay the foundation for such extreme behaviour. We may never be able to eradicate the violent and desperate feelings from our society, but we can certainly try.

For more information on the Need for Speed video game crash in Toronto this past January go to: http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=cd1d1928-d102-4a8e-aa9a-ffa0bc013dad

For more information on the second Montreal massacre go to any Canadian news portal.