My writing is a reflection of me, or someone I know well enough to step into their mind. I've never had a desire to write about horror, evil or depression, since I never think about those things.
Are You What You Write?
- Thread starter Tish Davidson
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I've read this guy's plays. Aside from them being poorly written, they are no worse than anything a horror movie fan would come up with. I'm sure the guys anti-social behavior came into play when the teacher decided to go to the campus police.
Your comment is interesting. It flies in the face of much of the press reports, and certainly the writing teachers' statements. If this opinion was shared by many, then it adds 'another dimension' to the significance of his writing and what could or should not be read into it.
When you say anti-social, I am not sure of its meaning in this context. He apparently had no prior record of physical violence against any person or animal. His only 'crime' was that many colleagues around him tended to regard him as 'creepy' and that his attempts at e-mail contact with girls on campus warranted the girls branding him as 'annoying' and not pressing charges when these girls reported him to the police. Where is the
anti-social behaviour?
Out of mere curiosity, how and where did you manage to find his plays?
He didn't speak, rarely made eye contact and avoided contact with both students and teachers outside of what was required. He also took pictures of people without their permission. His teacher mentioned that he took them under the desk frequently. That is anti-social behavior as far as I can tell.
What is funny is that the reluctance to interact with others is what I think of as antisocial behavior, but apparantly that isn't the definition.
http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/mentalemotionalhealth/ment4781.html
Okay, here are links to the plays.
http://news.aol.com/virginia-tech-s...ichard-mcbeef-cover-page/20070417134109990001
http://news.aol.com/virginia-tech-s...mr-brownstone-title-page/20070417141309990001
What is funny is that the reluctance to interact with others is what I think of as antisocial behavior, but apparantly that isn't the definition.
http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/mentalemotionalhealth/ment4781.html
Okay, here are links to the plays.
http://news.aol.com/virginia-tech-s...ichard-mcbeef-cover-page/20070417134109990001
http://news.aol.com/virginia-tech-s...mr-brownstone-title-page/20070417141309990001
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Bottom line...guy was a friggin nut. I write violent shit, that doesn't make one a nutjob...having a malfunctioning brain makes one a nut...end of story.
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I see antisocial people like that all the time. And people taking pictures of others without permission? That's common. I doubt that any of those people are going to commit mass murders and I doubt anyone would advocate send them to a mental institute. Cho Seung-Hui was mentally ill and he snapped, thinking he would become a martyr like his heroes at Columbine.
Unfortunately, there really is no good way to know until, sometimes, it's too late.
I really do think it's a combination of things -- behavior, attitude, expression, thoughts, etc. Then again, many of those people we deem "dangerous to themselves or others" never really do anything. But back to the OP's question: No, I really don't think you can judge a writer by what he or she writes alone. Our writings do reveal certain things about us -- either through attitude, word choices, underlying philosophy, themes, etc. but again, they are often not conclusive.
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Recently I read for the first time "The Story of O", and I found myself reflecting a lot on how it affected me. Most people would have heard of the book, basically a beautiful woman's total giving of herself into sexual, physical and psychological slavery to her lover, and in turn to many others.
One part of my psyche, or whatever you want to call it, found it incredibly erotic, to be quite blunt damned horney. At the same time I was repelled by the total objectification of O, her total abasement. I had a growing feeling that I would have saved her from herself if possible.
I think I can consider myself sane on the basis that I was able to understand both the complexities of fantasy and the reality of suffering. I guess it's a bit like women having rape fantasies which I think is reasonably common... do they actually want to be raped by a stranger or would they wish it on another woman? No of course not, it is clearly an act of evil that causes untold suffering.
I think you'd have to observe someone and their habits to pick up signs that they lack that ability to differentiate. For example, if I began accumulating a library of certain books, AND I was withdrawn from people around me AND I began cruising streets to observe strangers from afar... etc. And in the case of this guy, given all of the concerns that various people had expressed, his writing combined with everything else was giving off big warning bells.
Good questions. I was trying to figure out how to answer this regarding my fiction and non-fiction and wasn't sure.
So then I was thinking about the greeting card writing I've done over the years. I've written a range of types of cards from serious, sentimental, mushy stuff to humorous to x-rated to religious. All types of cards with all types of sentiments for all different sending situations. I wrote religious cards even though I am not a religious person. I wrote on behalf of the sender. My beliefs had nothing to do with what was being expressed.
The point is that a writer sits down to write something and goes outside of himself/herself to write the piece. If the same person who writes x-rated cards also writes very serious, solemn, religious cards--how would anyone know who that person really is in real life?
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But see, the point is the person could also be NEITHER one type of person nor the other.
I wrote whatever I was called upon to write. I've written Jewish holiday cards even though I'm not Jewish. I've written Kwanzaa cards even though I'm not Black. What I had to do was research these holidays and then write my sentiments based on what I learned. So I was "stepping into" someone else's skin for that amount of time rather like an actor steps into the role he's playing.
And this brings up another point. Actors and actresses are also called upon to portray killers, rapists, mentally unstable people even though they may be quite sane themselves. They're "pretending" to be something they're not just for the sake of the role. If they do it well and the audience hates the character they're portraying, we say that actor is very talented.
A talented writer can write about things beyond his or her own experience.
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But that's the thing, a good actor always instill part of himself and his personality into the role. Anthony Hopkins was so good as Hannibal Lecter because he puts part of himself in it. He became Lecter, and we in turn believe in him and even like him even though he's a monster... Same with villains. It's not the 2-dimensional "good" vs. "evil" that makes us care or hate about a character.. it's the 3-dimensional humility that goes with it. And an actor can't really portray a villain (such as Lecter) well unless he can put himself in it.
A good writer can write things beyond his or her own experiences or personalities, but he or she must put part of herself into -- emotions, philosophy, thoughts... otherwise, the work would be soulless.
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