Last week seven people were killed and thirteen injured before murderer Elliot Rodger turned the gun on himself. Rodger’s killing spree largely took place on the University of California, Santa Barbra’s campus, which is located in Isla Vista, a small community in the Santa Barbara area.
According to Rodger’s confession, which he filmed prior to murdering anyone, his “Day of Retribution” was inspired by his hatred of women. Years of rejection from women caused Rodger to develop and foster some extremely misogynistic views, which he expressed in YouTube videos and a written manifesto. While many have argued that this horrific event is yet another cause to rehash the mental health debate, it actually brings up something much more pressing: the abysmal value of life in the culture Rodger lived in.
California’s societal atmosphere is projected as luxurious, but contains aspects of a truly status-craving system. This is seen in Rodger’s multiple videos where he discusses his family’s income and the famous figures they associate with.
I myself admit to having gotten caught up in the fast-paced, high-class routine I was constantly surrounded by in L.A., and on a surface level cannot complain. We lived short days by the pool and late nights under the stars. However, the romanticized lifestyle of living in a world of movie stars, singers and other iconic figures creates a disillusioned goal that, for youths, evidently influences the way they socialize and what they value. It’s apparent Rodger valued only money and status and sex.
One word to describe my experience growing up as a teenager in L.A.: exposing. Attending a small, private Jewish school for the majority of my education eradicated any sense of privacy. In such a small environment, we knew what every student drove. We knew who went through rehab. This wasn’t so different from Rodger’s perception of the world as projected in his videos, where he often references his BMW or his expensive sunglasses as tokens of his “magnificence.”
“I don’t know why you girls are so repulsed by me,” Rodger said in one of his videos. “I am polite. I am the ultimate gentleman. And yet, you girls never give me a chance. I don’t know why.”
At first listen, my heart went out to the underdog. I sympathized with his struggle of loneliness and status.
“I’ll take great pleasure in slaughtering all of you,” he continued. My sympathy ended there.
Ultimately, Rodger resented his family for not being wealthy enough, calling his mother selfish in one of his videos. He resented his male classmates for being sexually successful and resented his female classmates for not desiring him. When he decided to act upon his resentment he did so with murder.
Twelve crime scenes later, Rodger successfully inflicted shock, rage and confusion upon an entire student body during a time of second-semester finals and senior graduations, one being my sister’s.
Social media platforms are blowing up with opinions on who and what this young gunman represents. Among those on display are the words “psychopath,” “slaughterer,” and even “victim.” Personally, I would go with “gunboy.” The potential man in Rodger was splintered the moment he made his first kill. What we are dealing with here is a boy who had access to a gun.
Father of 20-year-old victim Christopher Martinez, Richard Martinez, expressed his anger towards the National Rifle Association for his son’s death.
“I’m angry with the leadership of the NRA who always want to characterize this as if it’s a lone madman. That it’s an act of nature we have to tolerate,” he said. “I am angered by how they have worked to normalize this.”
This event was anything but casual and with anguished parents like Martinez, a dramatic change will formulate.
