<p>Those short celebrities are very disappointing to some people when they see them up close. 5’ 10" is fine, though.</p>
<p>My H is the same height as Eddie Vedder.
Whose brother went to UCSB, to bring it slightly back on track.</p>
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<p>It is true the popularized statistics state there are more females than males in the NYC dating scene. </p>
<p>However, this includes women of all age groups along with older folks of both genders who are highly bitter about prior nightmarish dates, marriages, or other long term relationships. </p>
<p>This includes a 50-something man an older HS classmate(Early 40 something) had the misfortune to encounter on her one and only date with him when he seemed to have spent the entire date whining about his prior ex-wives/girlfriends and relationships. </p>
<p>Yes, it is the poor men who have it really tough in the dating scene. That should clearly be the takeaway of this awful tragedy.</p>
<p>I expect that may be the slant of the screenplay which is probably being written as we speak.</p>
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<p>That’s certainly the narrative being put forth by the murderer in his video rant and manifesto. </p>
<p>Read a bit more and it confirms not only entitlement from higher SES privilege, connections, and family status, but also racism as this quote from his manifesto shows:</p>
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<p>Not entitled indeed…</p>
<p>And he’s not the only one who took his feelings of entitlement to women’s attention and sex to murderous extremes considering there’s a similar incident of three men in Stockton California who fired several shots at a few women when they were turned down for sex they felt entitled to just hours after this murder spree:</p>
<p><a href=“3 Women Refuse Sex, Suspect Fires Rounds | FOX40”>http://fox40.com/2014/05/25/3-women-refuse-sex-suspect-fires-gun/</a></p>
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<p>That really is backwards thinking. Do you seriously believe what you wrote?</p>
<p>The underlying issue is that he is mentally ill</p>
<p>There are plenty of people who are short, rich, entitled and they don’t deal with it by killing a bunch of people.</p>
<p>If he were tall, he may have been upset that he was too tall - then go off and shoot short people.
If he were 100% Asian, he may have been upset about that - then go off and shoot caucasians.
If he were poor and unentitled, he may have been upset about that - then go off and shoot rich, entitled people.</p>
<p>I don’t put much stock in the rantings of a mentally ill person in terms of determining their rationale for being a maniac. Kaczynski’s manifesto and Manson’s rantings also had all sorts of rationalizations for murder that does not mean that those were the actual underlying issues.</p>
<p>I don’t get this pathology of “let’s not call it mental illness because other people may get upset”.</p>
<p>Oh god, cobrat, give it up. He was NOT some highly privileged rich kid. His father didn’t become “successful” til the Hunger Games. He did not live some life full of unbelievable luxury everywhere he went. </p>
<p>You are as obsessed with wealth and perceived snobbery as this kid was with finding a girl. </p>
<p>I read the manifesto and watched a few of the videos (including the “Retribution” one). Not much can be done. Gun laws don’t change. If they didn’t change after the Newtown massacre, I don’t hold out much hope that they ever will change. And the civil libertarians will make sure involuntary commitment laws will be very difficult to change. It’s the civil liberties of the disease and not the person which are supreme (people who refuse to take their meds, as that is their right, so the disease wins). Not that these issues necessarily came into play here. Regarding meds, I don’t think Elliot took meds at all. Didn’t he research risperidone and then refuse to take it? There was a psychiatrist in LA, I believe, and then several “counselors” in Isla Vista. Ineffective. </p>
<p>Despite Elliot’s being a legal adult, if the car was in a parent’s name, then victims (in the case of the deceased, then their families) can go after the parent in court, correct? The car was given to him, but it might have been given to him to use. And whose name is on the insurance policy? It would have to be gross negligence to go after the police department, which would be extremely difficult to prove. The mental health professionals seem to be off the hook. </p>
<p>“He makes references about how he drives a BMW and yet, girls won’t give him the time of day and that’s why he’s angry and wants to destroy them and hates other “brutes” who don’t have as much as he does…but gets girls anyways.”</p>
<p>And if he hadn’t been able to afford a BMW, he’d have been jealous of those who had them / used them to get girls. Whatever wealth he had is irrelevant to anything. Nothing would have changed in the end. </p>
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<p>I agree that culture is an important part of the problem. So is mental illness.
However, people all over the world have been exposed to violent mass media for many years now. Mental illness isn’t unique to this country. Yet, the USA is the only prosperous country in which mass shootings have become nearly as frequent as they are here. What makes us different? It’s the guns. </p>
<p>The best evidence that the primary cause is not “culture” is that other countries, like Australia, have had similar mass shootings. Their response? They changed the gun laws. The result? No more mass shootings. </p>
<p>Is this an overly simplistic view of a complex problem? Well, maybe. So let’s restore federal funding to research the causes of gun violence and possible remedies.
<a href=“http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2013/02/gun-violence.aspx”>Internal Server Error;
<p>Agree completely, tk. Of course, it will never happen.</p>
<p>"Read a bit more and it confirms not only entitlement from higher SES privilege, connections, and family status, "</p>
<p>Oh please. He felt entitled because he had a personality disorder and was mentally ill. Despite your constant refrain, this isn’t about wealth. There is nothing to suggest that his family “fed” or encouraged this POV. </p>
<p>"There was a psychiatrist in LA, I believe, and then several “counselors” in Isla Vista. Ineffective.’</p>
<p>The “counselors” were the rent-a-friends hired by his mom. He dad made him see a psychiatrist in LA who prescribed Risperidone but he refused to take it after Googling the medication. Whether or not he was actually being seen and treated by anyone on an ongoing basis is extremely unclear. But it is clear he was uncooperative and hours away from home, so I doubt it. The therapist constantly referred to is a mystery at this point. And, obviously no-one wants to be that person if they even exist.</p>
<p>I hate to tell you, mcat, but your son is too short. :))</p>
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<p>And in so doing, ignore evidence from his manifesto, facebook page, family friends, and more. </p>
<p>And I wasn’t necessarily blaming the family for directly feeding this sense of entitlement on basis of higher SES, family status , and more. </p>
<p>He could have easily gotten it from being in the neighborhoods/environment he was in considering where he grew up and decided to combine that with what he knows about his father’s side of the family. </p>
<p>Combined that with his greater respect for his father compared to his mother, his internalized racism(Being thankful his Asian side didn’t show), and possible embarrassment about his mother’s racial and lower SES background, this expression of his worldview is very similar to what I’ve read about some aristocrats and prominent gentry in European and Asian societies who were proud enough of their aristocratic/gentry roots to write many pages about that side of the family and yet, scarcely a mention for the other lower status side of the family. </p>
<p>One prominent example off the top of my head is General Paul Von Hindenberg who made much of his father’s family’s long aristocratic roots and yet, scarcely mentions his mother as she was a commoner and thus, regarded as an embarrassment due to her family’s much humbler family background. </p>
<p>And let’s not forget he expressed high entitlement to having women who were going out with “brutes” or “descendants of slaves” instead of him, the “perfect gentleman” and it extended to the point he tried pushing a happily socializing dating couple off the roof. </p>
<p>The young man was terribly ill mentally. That trumps it all. That his illness was being treated, that there were professionals on his case, that his parents were concerned, and it still came to this is particularly tragic.</p>
<p>^ ^</p>
<p>Would you assume the same about this case in which the perpetrators displayed some of the same entitlement traits as this murderer:</p>
<p><a href=“http://fox40.com/2014/05/25/3-women-refuse-sex-suspect-fires-gun/”>http://fox40.com/2014/05/25/3-women-refuse-sex-suspect-fires-gun/</a></p>
<p>Cobrat, please. Have you ever been to Stockton? Little D & Little Eggy probably fire their guns at someone every weekend. They have nothing in common with ER except that they all wanted sex. OMG! </p>
<p>This very issue of maladjusted males feeling entitled to sex from females is one crucial cultural issue many are concerned will end up being minimized or even ignored when the emphasis of the narrative is on mental illness.</p>
<p>Also, you’re point about how Stockton is different points up to another criticism of the IV murder spree case, how emphasis on some issues is often determined by perceived race and SES status of the perpetrator and the area in which it took place. </p>
<p>Look at how you’re dismissed whether the perpetrators in the Stockton incident were possibly mentally ill even though there’s not enough info yet to show one way or another. </p>
<p>It reminded me of a satirical posting one FB friend who is a journalism student posted about news narratives and perceptions when it went something like this:</p>
<p>If Perpetrator is:</p>
<p>Foreigner or Immigrant from certain areas = Terrorist</p>
<p>If Black or Brown or from lowest SES = Depraved criminal who must be locked up with key possibly being thrown away. </p>
<p>If White and Wealthy = Mental illness or some other mitigating factor to excuse the gravity of the crime and avoid discussion of other critical factors/causes motivating the perpetrator. </p>