Can you believe the Virginia Tech shooter wrote this for a class and no one did anything?

Question

The following link is to an AOL news story that shows 2 play scripts that were allegidly written by the shooter. What do you think?

http://newsbloggers.aol.com/2007/04/17/cho-seung-huis-plays/

Answer 1

I read the plays, and they certainly are violent. But I'm cautious not to take these two plays out of context; I mean, we're not told if Cho wrote 40 plays, and all the other 38 were about prancing unicorns and sunny summer days. It's easy for us to look at two isolated scripts, and say "oh, everyone should have known".

The problem with creative writing is that it's supposed to be creative, and, in disciplines such as English writing and drama, we must make a distinction between art and life. A lot of the time, teachers push students to explore their creative boundaries, and to even explore taboo or controversial material.

I mean, look at William Shakespeare. If you want to read King Lear, it has really terrible violence - eyes being ripped out of live skulls, and nasty, nasty deaths. In King John, there is another scene where a prisoner's eyes are to be put out with hot pokers. And Romeo and Juliet, a high-school staple, features teen suicide. A lot of other drama and writing has equally - and even more graphic - violence.

But we study this stuff openly in English classes everywhere - it's even considered fine literature. And then, when you compare the violence in literature and the violence imagined by screen writers, directors and producers for many of Hollywood's most celebrated movies and films, Cho's writing really pales into insignificance. I mean, look at "Silence of the Lambs," or any one of the three films in the "Saw" trilogy, which features people's ribcages being ripped open while they're still alive, and people being forced to put their own hands into acid. That's way nastier than Cho's writings, but it made the film producers multi millions.

Because of the graphic nature of a lot of material in English, Drama, and Arts - and because we don't know if Cho wrote other plays that weren't of this orientation, I think it's difficult to condemn his teachers for not "recognising" the "warning signs".

Otherwise, we should probably lock up a great many of the world's best writers and artists in the name of safety and security. And we should probably shut down Hollywood while we're at it.... minds that twisted should be referred to counselling, right?

Answer 2

Yes, I think the media should have shown the video of Cho Seung Hui. I don't think showing Cho Seung-Hui's video by the media is glorifying his actions. When I saw on television that 33 people were killed in a mass shooting at Virginia Tech University, the first thing that came to my mind was, how could someone do something so horrible. I think that question was answered when NBC and other media stations showed the video of Cho. The airing of the video really showed how disturbed Cho was. He was a delusional man, who need help. I also don't agree with the statement that the video will prompt copycat killers because to my recollection, there was no video of the Columbine shooters. Yet there were other school shootings after the the Columbine shootings. The bottom line is that there are disturbed people out there and if they are going to commit mass murders, seeing the video of Cho is not going to change anything, other than(and this is what really concerns me) thinking of a way to out do what Cho has done.

Answer 3

It's hard to judge where creativity ends and real-world psychotic behavior begins.
Not to compare this nutcase to great story-tellers like Quentin Tarantino or Stephen King , but if you look at their works that get translated into movies, those guys have written some pretty sick and twisted stuff, but they are not mass murderers. How did they, and most creative writers like them, turn out OK, and not this guy Cho? There must have been some other things in Cho's life that made him snap. Who knows?

Regardless, it's this kind of psychological profile information that needs to be made available to those do background checks on people who want to buy guns.

Answer 4

I understand he was referred for counseling, but I don't know whether he even went.
The thing is, writing these plays was not a crime or even a threat. There is not much anybody could do. If you could convince the mental health authorities that he was an immediate threat to self or others, he could have been hospitalized for 72 hours' observation; but I'm not even at all sure there was enough evidence to do that. It would be easier if he was a minor. But they can't really commit somebody for mental health care on this kind of vague threat; there was no specific threat, and it doesn't indicate that he's going to do something immediately.

Answer 5

Today we had a poster who quoted these plays posing as the name of the shooter. The same words the news came out with.
I wonder where he went. I complained. Having no idea...
It is the current profile of these individuals to leave clues and a legacy behind. They are now immortal. In real life they felt oppressed and passed on because ? No one will ever know for sure. The Creative Writing teacher did report the incident and her concerns as they are instructed to post Columbine. It fell on deaf ears. Just like the guy who sold hand guns to a 23 yr old with extra rounds??? What the h*ll were they thinking he needed them for? Same store involved in 5 "reported" homicides with their sold weapons??? ABCNEWS.com

Answer 6

I am watching a Dateline show about it now. He was in a creative writing class which I have had in college and one can write anything they desire. Who knows if he was serious or what at the time, but it reminds me of Stephen King or Wes Craven-novelists and film writers of horror films and such because their minds can think of some sick crap. How does one know when that line is crossed into reality? I think if the professor was worried he could have suggested counseling or something, but college is pretty free for students to express themselves esp. in writing.

Answer 7

It was a creative writing class and the teacher is held by privacy laws. Also, he was referred to counseling. There is only so much that they can do without him having done anything wrong. To me the plays just seem like he has been through a lot in his life and has some issues but not necessarily like hed go kill people

Answer 8

The school refered him to a counselor, at the time they thought it would solve the problem. But that is the problem with most extreme liberals (which have a dominance over education), they think you can fix stuff with counselors and drugs. It's just not true.

He was massively screwed up and should have been kicked out of college and gotten proper care. His parents should have been notified and helped. He should not have had access to that school or any schools.

Answer 9

Whoa... actually to be honest, I thought the plays were going to be much worse...

They did signal out a problem, but it actually nothing I wasn't expecting.

Answer 10

Wow...that's pretty creepy. I know a lot of people who are loners and keep to themselves but most of the time, you just don't give it a second though.