Yesterday we predicted that it was only a matter of time before some band or artist was blamed for warping the mind of Cho Seung-Hui, the Virginia Tech gunman. After the Columbine shootings in 1999, much was made of the fact that the students responsible, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, were Marilyn Manson fans. This later turned out to be false - but Manson was pilloried all the same, forced to cancel his US tour under pressure from Christian protest groups. His career never recovered.
Well, lo and behold, today the media is buzzing with speculation that Cho Seung-Hui may have been incited to murder by Guns N' Roses. Details are sketchy but it seems the killer once wrote a play which takes its name from the GN'R song Mr. Brownstone. It tells of a gang of 17-year-olds who skip school to gamble at a casino and fantasize about murdering their teacher. The play apparently goes through the lyrics of the entire GN'R song, relating Mr. Brownstone to the teacher the main characters want to kill.
Once again, a rock band comes under fire for the actions of an unhinged individual. Why this need to find a scapegoat? If anyone is responsible, beyond the killer himself, it is surely those responsible for upholding America's gun laws, which ensure that getting hold of murderous weapons remains laughably easy, even as the murder rate spirals out of control.
But the NRA is too vast and nebulous a target. People need easy targets, and that's why we can expect to see Axl Rose denounced by ill-informed moral guardians in the coming weeks.
Entirely gratuitously, here's a live version of Mr Brownstone, from back when Guns N'Roses really were the 'most dangerous band in the world'.
He doesn't glamourise violence or anything. He's just a c*nt.
Posted by killersfan at 05:29PM | April 17, 2007
i blame all of the backing singers because they finally want to be lead singers.
Posted by badger legs at 11:00PM | April 17, 2007
no really its your fault so deal with it.
Posted by badger legs at 11:05PM | April 17, 2007
I am a psychologist and a university instructor who has worked with many violent inmates and parolees with mental health disorders.
I understand how this could have happened in a disturbed individual who was not being treated, but understanding the possible contributing factors does not lessen the pain felt by all who were directly and indirectly impacted.
I wanted to let survivors of this massacre understand that we share in your anguish, your grief, and your profound sense of loss over this senseless act. Here is a song I wrote to express our sympathies:
let's hope that they blame Justin Timberlake because I'd love to see his career flounder and never recover because he is terrible, just like Mariyln Manson was, and if some body is gonna go down for this, at least it should be somebody who doesn't deserve to make music in the first place
Posted by Taylor Shull at 08:56PM | April 19, 2007
Why single out guns n' roses when the charts are full of violent songs? If music had this impact on people, surely there would be terrible events like this on a daily basis!!
Why do people buy guns - they only have one purpose, that is to destroy life. STOP selling guns!!!
Posted by Lel at 09:15PM | April 19, 2007
Here we go!!!!! Blame on eryone we don't like....I listen to metal,watch horror movies and I don,t go into a killing people...is about sick individuals who first need help to stop them and the selling of guns to stop terrible events like this to happens.....Don't judge by the book covers!!!!!
Posted by max at 08:41AM | April 20, 2007
it isnt about the music. its about sick people doing violent things and fer some reason or other getting excessive amounts of coverage. the attention is what cho really wanted in the first place and yet he gets to miss out on it. oh sweet irony!!
Posted by Nicole at 04:14PM | April 20, 2007
what a load of crap!
poor marks on cho for not recognizing the song for what it is too.
The song is about heroin.
Posted by michael at 08:57AM | April 21, 2007
The world is a sick place and i think it is wrong what he did, but GW Bush has the blood of 65 000 people on his hands but yet the media does not make him out as a monster like cho.
Posted by Ryan South Africa at 06:59PM | April 21, 2007
i love james blunt
Posted by barry at 10:38AM | April 23, 2007
Here's the second of 2 VT tribute songs just released to college radio stations:
isnt this all a bit too preliminary? just cos he wrote a violent creative writing play based around a song doesnt mean that gnr are going to be blamed. the way things are here in america, the emo people and the hiphop people are the ones who will find blame placed on them should the psychotic right decide to blame anybody. i have been following htis on hte news and they havent placed blame on an outside source as of this post but that doesnt mean they wont.
Posted by nicole at 05:03PM | April 24, 2007
Or maybe someday they'll blame all the pussycat dolls-alikes and AFI-alikes for anorexics and suicides
Posted by Pins at 08:10PM | April 26, 2007
It's also like when that kid became obsessed with the Manhunt (was it Manhunt?)computer game and killed his friend in a way identical to that on the game. If anyone's mind is screwed up enough to commit mass murder, then they're likely to be obsessed with something. Even if you removed the world of all music, horror films and violent video games they'd still be obsessed with famous murders or similar things. Face it, whatever music you listen to and whatever image comes with it, to blame that for tragedies such of Virginia Tech instead of THE FACT THAT GUNS ARE EVERYWHERE IN AMERICA INCLUDING IN THE HANDS OF THOSE WITH CLEAR MENTAL DISORDERS!!!
By the way, did anyone hear about the NRA or someone saying that if guns were allowed in the college then students could have defending themselves? Jesus Christ...
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Posted by Zeratulss at 07:58AM | November 13, 2007
Yesterday we predicted that it was only a matter of time before some band or artist was blamed for warping the mind of Cho Seung-Hui, the Virginia Tech gunman. After the Columbine shootings in 1999, much was made of the fact that the students responsible, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, were Marilyn Manson fans. This later turned out to be false - but Manson was pilloried all the same, forced to cancel his US tour under pressure from Christian protest groups. His career never recovered.
