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Do Some Angry People Simply "copy" the Anger of Other People?
Do Some Angry People Simply "copy" the Anger of Other People?
Have you ever seen the movie "Copycat" starring Sigourney Weaver? In this movie, Sigourney is an American psychologist who specializes in identifying the psychological "footsteps" of serial killers in the US. According to Sigourney (as the psychologist), not all killers have an original modus operandi. Some merely copy the "killing style" of serial killers who preceded them. Hence, the name of the movie - "Copycat". It may be said, in connection to this, that some angry people choose to copy the style of others who took the same path. At the extreme, this leads to the angry person murdering other people. Teenage shooters in the US are a good example of such an angry person. On April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Colorado, two teenagers brought firearms to school and murdered 15 people and wounded others. The duo, named Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, then committed suicide. This past April 17, 2007, South Korean student Cho Seung-Hui killed 32 people and succeeded in inflicting injuries on 50 more at Virginia Tech in Virginia, before he killed himself. The latter event is considered the worst school shooting in the history of the US though there were other school shooting incidents following the Columbine event. Is Cho Seung-Hui simply a copycat killer? There are signs that he was. In a package that Cho mailed to NBC News in the middle of his killing spree, Cho mentioned that he considered Eric and Dylan, the Columbine killers, as "martyrs". Perhaps he "admired" the path taken by Eric and Dylan. The videotape that Cho mailed showed how angry he was with "rich brats" and their "hedonistic needs." Excerpts from work done for school showed a twisted mind that was obsessed with violence. If we were to examine Eric Harris' past writings on a website he had with America Online as well, we find that he was also angry with society and obsessed with violence. Cho was recommended by professors to be helped by the university counseling service because of the twisted nature of his writings. Eric and Dylan also underwent psychiatric assessment after they got into trouble because of their mischief-making but were released due to good behavior. All three relied on guns to murder their victims. And, more seriously, all three believed that their actions were an act of retaliation against a society that had "wronged" them. In the movie "Copycat", Sigourney confronted the serial killer who was prepared to murder her as his next "challenge". She told him he probably was someone with an inferiority complex and was hiding it by murdering people - and this struck a nerve, angering the serial killer further. (You will have to see the movie to know what happens next.) But the point is, some people put up a front of anger in order to mask insecurity or an inferiority complex. We see then that anger can be contagious if other people are receptive to our expressions of anger. This makes anger a dangerous emotion to feel, more so to express. In such cases, other people would then have a right to step in and prevent the angry person from harming other people. The welfare of the group would supersede the rights of the individual. [One clue to Cho's anger may be traced to the fact that back in Seoul, South Korea, Cho's family was poor. Prior to 1992 (when the family emigrated to the US), the family lived in a 3-room basement apartment measuring no more than 40 square meters. Such an apartment, which they just rented, is generally the least expensive place within a multi-apartment building - according to building owner Lim Bong-ae. Moving at 8 years of age from a state of poverty to a new country and school environment where many youngsters Cho's age came from wealth may have caused Cho to become withdrawn, embarrassed by his family's lack of wealth. People who are withdrawn are usually highly sensitive. It can be speculated that Cho may have felt intimidated by all these changes. Beyond speculation though, one thing is certain: that in Cho's message sent to NBC News, he railed against "rich brats" and their "Mercedes" and trust funds. It was also evident from his videotape that he felt self-pity at the time.]
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