gor[b] Paul Gorbould: Words and Pictures

Eric Draven sends his regards

Like you, I was horrified and disgusted by the shooting spree that took place in Montreal on Wednesday.

And let me also state for the record that I'm irritated and bored by the boilerplate efforts to pin the killer's actions on some cultural phenomenon: Goth made him do it, or video games, or the media, or blogs, or websites, or gun control, or the lack of gun control, or poor gun control.

No, don't blame politics or pop culture. I'm inclined to agree with Rosie DiManno: Kimveer Gill was just a jerk.

That said, I was a little freaked to flip channels last night and see A-Channel airing The Crow - the most iconic Goth movie I know, about a creepy guy dressed in black who goes around killing people. No knock on the film itself - but the timing was unfortunate and insensitive.

But it wasn't unusual, either. Here's a snapshot of last night's TV schedule:

I'm the last one to blame the media, and I'm not saying the items circled in red are any worse than "Survivor: Race Wars" or "My Name is Trash" (aww heck, I'll admit I watched both those shows.)

But the theme is certainly pervasive, no?