American Psycho
I’ve slogged through so much crap this week as a result of Elliot Rodger’s final act that I think I’ll upset a few and call it for what it is. The rampage has been claimed by women, of course, ranting about rape particularly.
Elliot Rodger didn’t rape anyone. There is no indication that he could even talk to a woman. He saw himself as the opposite of brutal, uncouth rapists, labeling himself repeatedly as the “ultimate gentleman.”
He was next claimed by the religious prophecy crowd, which had no trouble tying him to the gay agenda. Gay marriage and women working outside the home were clearly to blame. That Rodger was an extreme hetero, obsessed with finding a woman to the point of insanity, seems to have been edited out of this week’s sermons.
Of course the anti-gun lobby claimed him immediately, and that was obvious. This brought in the pro-gunners and so that noise blares at the usual cacophony. When white people get shot laws get enacted, and so stay tuned to see where this initiative goes.
Critics of Hollywood were quick to jump on board too. Elliot also played World of Warcraft for 14 hours per day at one point in his life. So anti-Hollywood and anti-video games, check, check.
So it was “rape culture,” Hollywood, video games, the gays, Godlessness, gun laws etc. that created Rodger. Can’t forget the mental health establishment, which failed him with non-prescription therapy. Speculation abounds that he was on anti-depressants, and so that theory spreads widely without evidence. The reporting so far suggests that Rodger refused to take drugs, and he felt he was beyond perfect as-is, as any of his many vlogs will establish.
The extreme right was typing “false flag” the evening of the spree. They discredit themselves.
I’ve seen a lot of prefabricated agenda-driven hype on Elliot Rodger, preformed ideologies that his rampage fit neatly into. The narrative that impresses me the most, the one with the most evidence and substantiation, however, is this one:
Elliot Rodger, if you listen to his words, is the closest thing we’ve had yet to American Psycho.
“I always loved luxury and opulence.”
The virgin spree-shooter, like the others, had a broken spring in his head. His drive for love, superiority, sex and acknowledgment are fairly universal themes though. Elliot was a lonely, shy person who couldn’t relate to others, and he never did figure out how to approach women. He also had a case of extreme narcissism. This victim-complex became more severe over time with each failed attempt at romance. Rodger, an American neo-Caligula, believed himself to be the most deserving of all, and it shocked him to his fibers that he was unwanted and alienated, when in fact he did everything the culture suggested would work out for him. He was a product of magazine advertisements, television and movie iconography, red carpet galas and paparazzi hysteria. He wore the right clothes, drove the right car and he bragged in exasperation that his sunglasses cost $300. So why not the expected rewards of attention, sex and love, his consumerist fairy tale? Movie actors just across the room received all that and more without even trying.
“They’re kissing right now. It’s torture for me to watch, but I have to do this. I have to film this. I have to show the world why life isn’t fair. I have to show everyone why I hate the world, ’cause no girl would do this with me.”
-Elliot Rodger (My reaction to seeing a young couple at the beach, Youtube, May 23, 2014)
Elliot Rodger forces us to consider his case, because we don’t expect him. We assume someone with everything, all the luxuries, the youth, the potential, the connections, will automatically thrive in our society. He was well positioned to follow the yellow brick road into Hollywood, but he had a loose screw. Perhaps a biological problem with his brain, that coupled with his sense of superiority and entitlement made him the perfect psycho killer.
Seven cops descended upon his apartment last month, and yet none bothered to search his bedroom; they were so charmed by this “ultimate gentleman.” The story of which of his videos triggered the police alert and whether the police actually watched it remains fuzzy. Further, the particulars of his admissions at that time, and whether they clearly showed him to be a threat, are hard to piece together. Add to that a number of deleted videos from Youtube, and the picture may be getting fuzzier by the day. ‘What did the police know, and when did they know it,’ is a valid question. ‘Why didn’t they know it’ would be another. Rodger’s own mother had alerted his therapist over disturbing videos he had posted. The therapist eventually contacted police to check on him, but what exactly was said? And what wasn’t?
So love turns to hate, jealousy to rage. It’s a timeless descent, and we’ve seen this show before. Interestingly Rodger accepted a compromise, an escape plan for a while.
“…if I could somehow become a multi-millionaire at a young age, then my life would instantly become better than most people my age…. That was a form of peaceful, happy revenge and it became my only hope.”
His only hope at avoiding the planned “Day of Retribution,” is what he means. Elliot seems to have been America’s son, a true believer ready to kill and die for the Consumerist Dream. He’d accept multi-millions of dollars in lieu of love and sex. That sum was easier dreamed than achieved, it turns out.
“I am not part of the human race. Humanity has rejected me… Magnificent, glorious, supreme, eminent… Divine!” (Manifesto)
Elliot Rodger began by throwing drinks at couples at coffee shops. He progressed to trying to push girls off a ledge at a party, for which he was thrown down himself and then beaten.
“A dark, hate-fueled rage overcame my entire being, and I tried to push as many of them as I could from the 10-foot ledge.”
He purchased a Supersoaker to fill with orange juice in order to attack those he felt were inferior – and that could be pretty much anyone. Perhaps he longed to fill it with his own urine, but his gentlemanly sensibilities prevailed.
“In addition, I had to suffer the shame of other boys respecting me less because I didn’t get any girls. Everyone knew I was a virgin. Everyone knew how vulnerable I was to girls, and I hated everyone just for knowing it.” (Manifesto, Epilogue)
Elliot Rodger stabbed three boys to death prior to his shooting rampage. His hatred of men whom he felt were inferior is similar to his hatred of the beautiful women who had rejected him, “the stupid, degenerate obnoxious men.” Those undeserving inferiors received all the affection in Elliot’s world because women were blind to his magnificence.
“They think like beasts and in turn they are beasts. Women are incapable of having morals or thinking rationally. They are completely controlled by their depraved emotions and vile sexual impulses… The most beautiful of women choose to mate with the most brutal of men, instead of magnificent gentlemen like myself.”
On the day of the rampage that loose screw finally fell right out. Whether any mental health treatment could have affected Elliot Rodger or not, we’ll never know. Whether there was enough evidence to hold him in custody, we can’t be certain. His manifesto, My Twisted World, was emailed out just prior to the spree. It would be read too late to affect the outcome.
Near the end, we find the true depth of Elliot Rodger’s psychosis…
“In order to completely abolish sex, women themselves would have to be abolished. All women must be quarantined like the plague they are, so that they can be used in a manner that actually benefits a civilized society. In order to carry this out there must exist a new and powerful type of government, under the control of one divine ruler, such as myself. The ruler that establishes this new order would have complete control over every aspect of society… The first strike against women will be to quarantine all of them in concentration camps. At these camps, the vast majority of the female population will be deliberately starved to death… I would take great pleasure and satisfaction condemning every single woman on earth to starve to death… It is the only way to purify the world.”
-Elliot Rodger, infamous Isla Vista psycho killer
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