Study This with Dr. Brian: "Horrorcore" Killer

By • on September 28, 2009

First, an update:  The director of the Washington mental institution that houses the psycho killer who was allowed to go on a “field trip” to a county fair during which he escaped for three days last week has tendered his resignation.  The inmate, now back in the asylum, says he didn’t plan the escape and just seized an opportunity “to get some sun.”  Right.

Now, speaking of psycho killers, how about the “horrorcore” rapper who allegedly bludgeoned his girlfriend, her mother and stepfather, and one of her friends to death in Virginia?  “Horrorcore” music, as I understand it, consists of graphically, grotesquely-violent lyrics superimposed over rap beats.  This guy in particular reportedly rapped about the “joys” of killing numerous people.  What makes it even crazier is that the teenage girlfriend’s mother reportedly took her to a therapist out of concern about the girl’s interest in this genre of music but simultaneously continued to allow her to see the boyfriend and even took the girl to “horrorcore” concerts.  I wrote about a similar case back on May 26, 2009 involving the vile music of “artist” Marilyn Manson, and since it’s been a few months, I think my bottom line bears repeating:  A person who enjoys graphically, grotesquely-violent music and imagery is, in my opinion, psychologically-bizarre at best and downright dangerous at worst, and I think it’s reasonable for a parent to worry that a person (whether it’s his or her own child or someone with whom his or her child associates) who not only enjoys but creates such imagery is at the dangerous end of that spectrum.  I think the therapy idea was a good one, but along with that, for as long as she could, I wish the mother would’ve kept the girl away from that music and away from that guy.  If she had, four people might be alive today.  Instead, it sounds like some creep will be sitting in jail writing another song about how much “fun” it was to kill them.  It’s another sad illustration of the “cultural chaos” that I think is behind an uptick in the frequency of grotesquely-violent crimes in the U.S.A., and I’ll be discussing that in detail in an upcoming column, so stay tuned..

Study this: A new study suggests that spanking makes kids less intelligent.  The study looked at several hundred children and found that the IQ’s of the kids who’d been spanked in the previous four years averaged a few points below the IQ’s of the kids who hadn’t been spanked.  So, the researchers essentially concluded that spanking makes kids stupid.  Hmmm, how would that work exactly?  I mean, unless the spankings were to the kids’ heads, it seems to me like there’s a much more plausible interpretation of this finding (if it’s even accurate — it’s a relatively small IQ difference among relatively small groups of kids).  What if less-intelligent parents happen to spank their kids more often than more-intelligent parents do?  Wouldn’t it then make sense that the kids of the parents who spanked frequently might have just inherited some less-intelligent genes?  That seems to me like it would account for the observed IQ differences more clearly than the spanking.  (And by the way, I’m not saying that it’s stupid to ever spank kids, nor am I saying that spanking never has detrimental effects.  Physical discipline isn’t my recommended “Plan A” for parents, but I still believe there are times when it can make sense — i.e. prevent more harm than it causes — like when a kid who’s too young to be reasoned with needs to learn not to run into the street or not to put his/her hands on the stove.  If it’s overdone, however — i.e. used when non-physical techniques would be equally effective — then I think it can certainly cause problems, maybe not stupidity but other undesirable outcomes like anxiety, low self-esteem, and aggression.)

By Dr. Brian Russell

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    By James on October 7th, 2009 at 6:23 am

    Hi Jane,

    I’ve read your post here and I’ve been following the tragic story of the “horrorcore” rapper who murdered 4 people.

    I see what you’re saying and most people are probably going to agree with everything you’ve said hands down. But, concerning music/entertainment influence on young people, I think the issue is not as black and white as you think:

    “I think my bottom line bears repeating: A person who enjoys graphically, grotesquely-violent music and imagery is, in my opinion, psychologically-bizarre at best and downright dangerous at worst…”

    I have some things to say about this. I listen to Marilyn Manson’s music now, but I used to think he was just some kind of freak whose songs I didn’t understand. He dressed strange, seemed weirdly sexual, was the center of lots of terrible rumors, etc. My opinion was that he was, as you put it, “psychologically-bizarre at best and downright dangerous at worst.” My opinion has changed. My earlier opinion of him was based on rumor. I had know idea who he was or what he sang about. So, I was curious and looked into it one day. I started listening to some of his songs — tried to make out what they might mean. It’s important to me that the music I listen to isn’t senseless noise and actually has a point. I cannot like music if I judge it to be morally flawed. You’re right, Marilyn Manson is graphically grotesque and some songs have violent subject matter. But that’s not enough to dismiss the music as “bad.” You must look into the meaning of music and grotesque images. If you don’t know what they mean (or what the intended meaning is), then on what basis do you judge them good or bad?

    If you’re following me, here’s the big point I’m trying to make: If something is to be deemed bad, there’s should be a good reason why. I honestly see merit in Marilyn Manson and meaning in a lot of his work (some things I still don’t understand). To some extent I have to interpret what I know and hear of him, but I’ve gathered a good perspective of him now from sources like his music, his interviews, and his writing. It’s often hard to tell who someone is at first glimpse. So, figuratively speaking, I’ve done some intense observation.

    I would recommend you do the same. There are plenty of youtube videos of him in interviews. Watch them — I think it’s important to understand an issue well before you argue about it.

    If you care to understand anything about Manson here are some videos of him talking in interviews:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkxomNoPN-Q
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY1x7o7WjB4

    Now an even bigger point to all of this is that if we were more willing to make an effort at understanding each other (and things that are strange to us) instead of being dismissive, I think our society, our culture, would be a healthier one. Some people don’t feel like they fit into society, and at the same time can’t leave society. We’ve all felt this way in a small scale situation, e.g. at school or in a new place. If you ignore and distance yourself from “mis-fits” and make no effort to understand…what else is there for a “mis-fit” but to spiral further and further into deviancy (being different). Why would a social deviant try to become part of a society that ignores, looks down on, makes fun of, pre-judges, and cares nothing to understand him/her? If people communicate and try to understand each other I believe we would see less violently extreme behavior. That’s my theory anyway. And that’s why it’s important not to throw all weird, mysterious, shocking things into one category: BAD. It is necessary to understand more than what appears on the surface.

    Thanks for hearing me out. Please reply if you feel like doing so.

    Cheers,

    James

    By Editor Jane on October 11th, 2009 at 9:11 pm

    Thank you for you comments James!
    We passed your comments Dr. Brian Russell, the author of this article.

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