Knee-Jerking

Most of us have had moments in our lives where we saw a person in a movie or on television or knew someone we admired and said, “I want to be just like that guy”. No doubt that is an inborn response as a result of our learning process from the time we are born. We watch our parents and emulate the movements, verbiage and characteristics used in their everyday lives.

I recently lost my dog to cancer. We had a good life together. I got her as a puppy and, through time, we learned much about each other. Through our love and devotion, it made each of us feel good to interact in a positive way towards one another. I learned from her and she learned from me. The Biography Channel is full of interviews where famous actors begin their talk about how they got into the business with a discussion about his or her idol or mentor. My guess is that our brains have a tendency to wire themselves into a framework of positive feelings when we find opportunities to emulate a person or pet that we admire. It has probably been that way since the first mammals walked on earth.

Like most things where the brain is concerned, the wiring can get flawed. That flaw can range from undetectable to markedly screwed up.  Children of abusive parents often become abusers themselves, mafia bigwigs usually have no problem enlisting their kids into the business and (usually after college) young people tend to follow the political ideals of their parents. The drive for fame can be very strong in some people. So strong in fact, that it can overwhelm their daily thoughts. So where does an introvert who wants to emulate other famous people go to become famous? It would have been pretty difficult just a few decades ago. But things have changed. It’s easy to become famous now. Any miss-wired psychopath can take comfort in the fact that the news media will give him or her instant fame. Fame can come in many different forms. Even celebrities mention that bad news about them is still publicity and publicity is what they are all about.

Last Friday as the first reports began coming in about the terrible tragedy in Connecticut, the primary goal of the media was to get the name of the killer. My bet is that the media felt that whoever got that name first was the winner. It’s likely that unstable psychopaths protected by the ACLU, off their meds and sitting at home watching TV alone, are not considering the children or the teachers that were murdered. They are saying to themselves, “Wow, that Adam Lanza is famous! I wanna be just like him!”

We all tend to knee-jerk during these tragedies to find solutions as to why it happened. “It’s the guns fault." "It’s the parents fault". "It’s Bush’s fault.” These are typical mantras. My knee-jerk reaction is “It’s the media”.  

Here are the headlines this Sunday morning at the top of The Drudge Report blog:

REVENGE OF THE 'GOTH' LONER...

Mother took killer to shooting range...

Pulled him out of school...

Unable 'to feel physical pain'...

Intelligent and shy...

'Evil,' or just mentally ill?

How many mentally unstable people in this country are reading these headlines and plotting their next move? Is this sensationalized information necessary? Do news directors ever consider the possible consequences of their reporting? I doubt it. It’s the ratings stupid.

I think we need a serious discussion concerning the process of reporting these heinous events. Free speech advocates may cry foul, but consider this. Which part of the Constitution do we address; taking away our right to defend ourselves with a gun ban or protecting the innocent through carefully denying the mentally ill the spotlight that they do not deserve?