More often than not, my reaction after reading the editorial pieces on Accordion City local alt-weekly rag NOW Magazine is to respond with one of my favourite retorts: “Wow. I’ve seen better paper after wiping my ass.”
I have to react that way again after Doug sent me the link to NOW’s editorial piece on Kimveer Gill, the gunman in the recent school shooting at Montreal’s Dawson College. In the faux-intellectual it’s-someone-else’s-fault posturing that passes for cognition at NOW, news hack Carolyn Bennett perpetuates stereotypes about Montreal and Toronto, waxes nostaglic about vandalism and worst of all, pins the blame not on poor lil’ Kimveer Gill, but TEH INTARWEB:
Too bad this seething, hateful young man couldn’t experience the academic society he despised. Too bad he targeted an institution that might have brought him inspiration. Too bad he preferred the false intimacy of the Internet.
Too bad one of the other Vampire Freaks on the Web didn’t stir from his or her tortured swamp of self, have the objectivity to read Gill’s blog and reply with an “Are you okay? Wanna go for tea and talk about it?”
Too bad.
No one really posts blogs to share. People post blogs because they hope for an audience. Kimveer Gill posed for the camera. Posed. Too bad he didn’t have a good friend instead of an online “community.” Too bad he didn’t have a teacher to steer him in a constructive direction.
My experience has shown that you can build healthy, supportive communities and friendships online, and that you can build screwed-in-the-head, dysfunctional rabbles in face-to-face meetings (the NOW editorial board comes to mind), which is the way it’s been done for the millennia preceding the ‘net. Blaming the internet for the homicidal spree of a young maladroit is a facile writer’s crutch; it’s sloppy thinking.
As Doug said to me via IM: “Man, why didn’t anyone tell me that NOW pays good money for disjointed ramblings on topics I know nothing about?”
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I'd like to stop seeing the stupid guy's name plastered everywhere. He should be known as "Anastasia de Souza's killer", or "The guy who shot up Dawson College". Giving him any recognition is objectionable.
The weirdest misnomer in the press is the "violent goth" image. The cliches for goths I knew in high school (ok, this was a while ago) was that the only violence ever fetishized was self-inflicted. Writes poetry. Draws pictures of spiders on his doc martins. Self identifies as bisexual. Reads sci fi/fantasy and keeps a pet rat.
About the only way this could be better is if the hack in question was the MP who just dropped out of the Liberal leadership race. But noooooo. Two different people, or as the elected one would say on her blog, "two different people !!!"
I just can't have nice things.
-Doug
Hey Joey,
Are you okay? Wanna go for tea and talk about it?
I'm reaching out...
I'm doing fine. I just hated the editorial, that's all. But I'm always up for a nice hot beverage and further discussion.
I'm the hack in question.
Thanks for the discussion.
Let's have tea and a chat sometime!
cb
I'd be happy to -- the email address is accordionguy@gmail.com.