Virginia Tech and the Implications of “Normality”

While I don’t want to continue beating a dead horse, or I suppose 33 of them (too soon?), I felt it was my responsibility to chime in on the so-called “Virginia Tech Massacre.” Though I completely agree with Mark’s assessment about the incident, I feel that there is another significant problem following in the wake of this undoubtedly brutal crime. The tension and nervousness felt around college campuses is giving way to a growing discourse on “normality.” I just received a rather irritating e-mail from my own university that contained the following line:

While University Housing and the University work very diligently to make our on-campus housing and campus environment as safe as possible, we also want to remind you of the most important actions you can take to enhance your own safety and security and the safety of your fellow residents: - Always close and lock your room or apartment door even when you will only be gone for a few minutes
- Don’t allow people you don’t know to tailgate behind you when you go into your residence hall
- Be alert for suspicious behavior or something going on that causes you to be uncomfortable; report suspicious activity to DPS immediately at 3-1131.

The part I bolded is what I want to delve into. While the death of these young men and women is a tragedy, the fascist and voyeuristic reaction to it is even more alarming. Vague terminology like “suspicious behavior” seems to inherently promote students spying on other students. The term also brings into focus the question of what is considered “suspicious” or, perhaps more importantly, what is considered “normal behavior.” Does this mean that if one prefers to stay in the dorm and watch a movie alone to venturing to a frat house one is a “loner”? Does this mean that if one enjoys hunting they have a proclivity towards violence? Does this mean that if you don’t have as many friends as the people who live near you, that you’ve suddenly found yourself as the “other”? Already, high schools and universities around the nation have begun the process of responding to the heightened fear of the “other.” A high school student in Bogalusa, La. has already been arrested for writing a suspicious and threatening note. At the University of Tennessee, buildings have been evacuated for suspected bomb threats. At St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, buildings were also evacuated and school cancelled because of a suspicious phone call.

The truth is that we’re all the other. There was not anything particularly special or disturbing about the young man who went on a shooting rampage a few days ago, though articles such as “Gunman Showed Signs of Anger” and “Va. Tech Gunman Had Mental Problems” or “Roommates Describe Gunman as Loner” will attempt to suggest otherwise. There exists a disturbingly fragile layer between love and hate in the human psyche and, though we’d like to believe otherwise, it is easily capable of breaking at any moment, so long as the conditions exist for this to happen. Moreover, how can we possibly render an ad hoc psychoanalytic conclusion about someone? What’s even the purpose of this, except to give clues to other people on how to root out those suspicious individuals who exhibit frightening characteristics like “showing signs of anger.” If we can’t even understand ourselves (this is what we pay therapists for), how can we possibly delve into the mind of someone else? Are we now all miniature-Freudian psychoactualists rendering judgments on people we don’t even know?

Someone going on a shooting spree doesn’t shock or upset me. Rather, it confirms my belief that the world is an insane, chaotic and disturbing place. I’ll reserve my shock for when I hear something great: a cure for cancer, solving the issue of global warming, ending genocide in impoverished countries, etc. I’ll also reserve my anger for when I see these types of hypocritical reactions to the tragic and inevitable outcomes of the drama of human emotion. What better way to incite another shooting than to alienate those around you who appear to be suspicious? We’re all unique and fragile people, but there isn’t that much that sets us apart from one another. Perhaps the questions that we should be asking (like, does the senseless shooting of 33 people seem to mirror our own proclivity towards violence as a nation) are too frightening; too revealing about our own senseless nature.