Comments on Obsolete: The creation of an anti-hero.

There's more than a smidgen of that, certainly...

2010-07-14T21:40:49.897+01:00

There's more than a smidgen of that, certainly, although how isolated Harris and Klebold were is disputed. Yet even now as they condemn the supposed tributes to Moat the Sun and ITV news are publicising tapes which were given to them by a friend of Moat who "wanted people to see a different picture of the father of three", i.e. presumably one of him as vulnerable and tragic, as that's he how comes across, as well as paranoid and pathetic.

There'll always be sympathy from some quarters, simply because he died while facing down the police, taking matters into his own hands, not giving in. It's more than that though, it's through dedicating such extensive coverage that you start hooking people in, leaving some to almost identify with them or at least put themselves in their shoes. It's the sheer hypocrisy of it which always gets me: condemning and denouncing with one hand while giving grist to the mill on the other, to slip into a cliché.

The media's certainly made him look like a fug...

2010-07-14T18:49:07.610+01:00

The media's certainly made him look like a fugitive from the State, which has a certain attraction. But I think there's a clear difference between Moat and Harris & Klebold. They'd been isolated at school, which is something that happens to a lot of people - Moat's circumstances were relatively uncommon. I'd expect those who are idolising Moat are doing so because he was on the run for a week from the police, rather than his actions themselves.

Glad you've written about this. The transform...

2010-07-14T12:37:48.101+01:00

Glad you've written about this.

The transformation of the murderer into a hero is bizarre to say the least and yes, you have certainly unpicked the reasons why.

The media also seems to be siding with this narrative, with obsessions over whether anything more could've been done and how the police managed to acquire those larger tasers and whatnot.

It is maddening.

The police did their job and this shifting of the weight towards the deification of Raoul is a vile episode.