Politics and the Media

[tikiera]

If a man kills his five children and then himself, I don't give a flying fuck if his wife was leaving him.

It's isn't relevant.  It's not a excuse.  It is just an attempt to make a villain out of the woman and give you sympathy for the man.

And it makes me physically sick. 

Comments

[diabhol.livejournal.com]

I think you're overstating the case. Who would have interest in providing sympathy to some psycho? Especially in this culture that pretty much worships children.

[tikiera.livejournal.com]

There is a guy who killed his five kids and then himself. I am avoiding my news aggregators because the newspapers are making a big deal about how his wife was leaving him.

Here are the headlines:
Police: Dad killed 5 kids because wife was leaving
The Associated Press - ‎Apr 6, 2009‎
Father's deadly rage ignited by breakup
Seattle Times - ‎Apr 6, 2009‎
They argued, then he killed
TheNewsTribune.com - ‎Apr 7, 2009‎
'Break-up' dad kills his 5 kids
The Sun - ‎Apr 5, 2009‎


And the stories themselves:

Why dad slaughtered kids
The Standard - ‎Apr 6, 2009‎
Relatives are portraying a father who killed his five children and then himself as a jealous husband driven to rage by another man...

[diabhol.livejournal.com]

Yep. Dude was, at best, a psycho. I wouldn't know where to find a person who wouldn't think so (even in prison).

[illuminanation.livejournal.com]

I see your point. I really do.

There is a theory that women are likely to be murdered by their spouses or once spouses. The window of time being three years from the point they start to leave.

I think when a man kills his wife and children, readers are horrified and in the case of any murder, especially one so touching as the murder of a family, a reader seeks any answer to make them feel better and understand that they are safe from such horrors in their personal life.

I think it is for this very reason that the headlines are advertising - horrific crime and an explanation. It's like saying go ahead and read, we promise you'll be satisfied to know there is a justification and you can feel bad and then release it from your mind, knowing there is a logic there about why she died.

It helps people dismiss the crime. Just like a horror movie can be cathartic, knowing the evil serial killer is evil because of x, y, and z. So we're assured we don't live in a world where random acts of family killing happen out of the blue.