An offer to Dave Cullen

Okay, Dave, I'll lay it on the line:

I will grant you everything, except the following:

* Eric had at least as much self-hatred as Dylan, if not more so. He was at or near the bottom of the social pyramid of Columbine High School. He wanted to make it with a girl, but he never managed to do so. His feelings of social alienation and sexual frustration fueled the rage that he directed toward his ostensible peers, who consigned him to the rank of unfuckable loser.
* Dylan was no higher on the pyramid than Eric.

There is no way that you are going to convince me that Eric's immense anger did not stem from his lack of social status, that he did not harbor vast amounts of envy and resentment toward the boys who had girlfriends, and that he did not yearn to punish the girls who had rejected him. (Note that I'm not discounting the idea that some kind of mental illness or personality disorder led him to overreact to the various humiliations that life forced him to endure. Like you've said, lots of kids are social misfits, but very few try to kill hundreds of people.)

I can forgive - not condone, or excuse, but forgive - all of the other bullshit in your book, but I will ignore it if you will concede that you got Eric totally wrong.

Do we have a deal?

Don't hold your breath LPorter.I think someone with an ego that size would rather walk 10 miles over broken glass than admit any mistake or fault.

In some ways, it is possible to be place in a difficult environment and interpret it in a way that is different than someone else who is placed in that same position. Perception is reality.

PaintItBlack wrote:

Don't hold your breath LPorter.I think someone with an ego that size would rather walk 10 miles over broken glass than admit any mistake or fault.

It's an idea.

philosopher_king wrote:

In some ways, it is possible to be place in a difficult environment and interpret it in a way that is different than someone else who is placed in that same position. Perception is reality.

Yes.

Have you ever heard of George Sodini? Sometimes I see parallels between his journal entries and Eric's:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Eric Harris wrote:

Everyone is always making fun of me because of how I look, how fucking weak I am and shit, well I will get you all back: ultimate fucking revenge here. you people could have shown more respect, treated me better, asked for my knowledge or guidence more, treated me more like senior, and maybe I wouldn't have been as ready to tear your fucking heads off. then again, I have always hated how I looked, I make fun of people who look like me, sometimes without even thinking sometimes just because I want to rip on myself. Thats where a lot of my hate grows from, the fact that I have practically no selfesteem, especially concerning girls and looks and such. therefore people make fun of me... constantly... therefore I get no respect and therefore I get fucking PISSED.

George Sodini wrote:

I guess some of us were simply meant to walk a lonely path. I have slept alone for over 20 years. Last time I slept all night with a girlfriend it was 1982. Proof I am a total malfunction. Girls and women don’t even give me a second look ANYWHERE. There is something BLATANTLY wrong with me that NO goddam person will tell me what it is. Every person just wants to be fucking nice and say nice things to me. Flattery. Oh yeah, I am sure you can get a date anytime. You look good, etc. Pussies.

See, it's an interesting counterpoint:

Eric had no self-esteem about his looks, and he felt that he was an unfuckable loser.
George had no self-esteem, period - people would compliment him, but he would say, "What's the use? I'm still an unfuckable loser."

The bottom line is that Eric was an unfuckable loser who wanted to get laid. That does not explain his actions, but we cannot construct a coherent explanation without taking note of that fact.

I love all your created threads LPorter101. You are keeping this forum active.   

Juicy Jazzy wrote:

I love all your created threads LPorter101. You are keeping this forum active.   

I'm glad you like them.

I just hope that Dave Cullen doesn't end up putting a curse on my house for ten generations, or something like that...

[quote="LPorter101"]

philosopher_king wrote:

In some ways, it is possible to be place in a difficult environment and interpret it in a way that is different than someone else who is placed in that same position. Perception is reality.

Yes.

Have you ever heard of George Sodini? Sometimes I see parallels between his journal entries and Eric's:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Eric Harris wrote:

Everyone is always making fun of me because of how I look, how fucking weak I am and shit, well I will get you all back: ultimate fucking revenge here. you people could have shown more respect, treated me better, asked for my knowledge or guidence more, treated me more like senior, and maybe I wouldn't have been as ready to tear your fucking heads off. then again, I have always hated how I looked, I make fun of people who look like me, sometimes without even thinking sometimes just because I want to rip on myself. Thats where a lot of my hate grows from, the fact that I have practically no selfesteem, especially concerning girls and looks and such. therefore people make fun of me... constantly... therefore I get no respect and therefore I get fucking PISSED.

George Sodini wrote:

I guess some of us were simply meant to walk a lonely path. I have slept alone for over 20 years. Last time I slept all night with a girlfriend it was 1982. Proof I am a total malfunction. Girls and women don’t even give me a second look ANYWHERE. There is something BLATANTLY wrong with me that NO goddam person will tell me what it is. Every person just wants to be fucking nice and say nice things to me. Flattery. Oh yeah, I am sure you can get a date anytime. You look good, etc. Pussies.

I have never heard of George Sodini at all, but I do remember the shooting he caused.  He does look like Dave Cullen.

There are people who think that way, yet never dare to pick up a gun or any weapon to attack someone. For Eric who declared himself unfuckable, he did date many girls. There were young women that gave him a chance, but for some reason they all ended.  I don’t think many lasted very long. Those experiences with each one can probably make him feel rejected, but I am not sure what the goal of those relationships were. Was he dating to find a woman he could marry in the future or just to hook up and have fun.