December 17, 2004

Bowling for Calvin "From Calvin and Hobbes to Eric and Dylan: some visual cues" explores similarities between the Columbine school shootings and Bill Watterson's "Calvin and Hobbes."

An offhand reference in a review of Fantagraphics' new "Locas" collection of Jaime Hernandez' "Love and Rockets" comics led to my googling "final calvin hobbes strip watterson" because I never did see the last "Calvin and Hobbes" strip. Now I have, via a profoundly weird (and not a little creepy) web page which finds similarities between "Calvin and Hobbes" and the Columbine school shootings. The fine line between the post-modern and the delusional blurs a little further. Apophenia, anyone?

posted by upasakabrian 20 years ago
  • Crazy.
  • Did you know that the prime number 23 can be found everywhere? Two to the third power is eight, four eights make 32 (which is 23 in reverse, by the way) and four is two squared. Two plus three is five, and three plus five is again eight... The magic of 23 is immense.
  • The Columbine kids were imitating Billy, from Beverly Hills Cop. He was the first member of the TrenchCoat Mafia. His black trench is were they got the idea. And the dude had so many guns, it's obviously his influence that made those kids lose it. Don't let your kids watch Beverly Hills Cop unless you want them to shoot up their school.
  • Did any of you guys actually read the articles? I'm only through two of them so far, but he doesn't seem to be claiming Calvin & Hobbes and the Columbine shooters have anything whatsoever to do with each other, so all the above snarky comments totally miss the point. As far as I can tell so far, the author's thesis is that human beings are complicated, with difficult complex motivations that we all share, from the most seemingly innocent (Calvin & Hobbes) to the most seemingly guilty (the Columbine shooters). He seems to be trying to re-humanize Harris and Klebold, and as far as I'm concerned, that's all for the good.
  • BTW, I have found myself strangely thankful to Harris and Klebold for the ripples that their horrible, horrible act has produced. Because of Harris and Klebold my son's school teaches social skills (including anger management, impulse control, relaxation techniques, & the "golden rule") as a regular part of the curriculum during his "Health" block. It has a strict no-teasing policy, and a zero-tolerence for violence policy. Yes, I've read about situations where policies of this nature have gone too far. But from the perspective of a mom whose child is almost certain to be the target of bullies if they are allowed to flourish, I'll be eternally grateful (in a way that mankes me feel squeemish and guilty) that Harris and Klebold's terrible act makes it less likely my own flesh and blood will ever be pushed to do something similar.
  • I hear ya, krebs.
  • and also: "Other school shooters on antidepressants at the time of their attacks include 15-year-old Elizabeth Bush, on "antidepressants" when she wounded one student at Bishop Neumann High School in Williamsport, Pa.; and 18-year-old Jason Hoffman, on Effexor and Celexa when he wounded one teacher and three students at Granite Hills High School in El Cajon, Calif."
  • This is absolutely brilliant.
  • I should also like to add that this indicates that our current understanding of personality is insufficient and if one was to spend the time and dig deeper we could probably define some very vivid insights into destiny. Especially among the thoughtful. If pressed, I would argue that the similarity here is not chance, it is by definition. On this page it is written that: "[these are] Kids whose intelligence, complexity, and sensitivity were -- from my perspective -- etched in their faces." I am very happy to see someone else recognizes this issue. I have never understood why Rachel Scott and Daniel Mauser were killed, this does not seem to be a resolutive massacre. I think this is an absolutely excellent exploration.
  • That was a really amazing read. Thanks.
  • The writing is a little strangely obsessive at times, which adds to its fascination, perhaps. At any rate, I absolutely agree that at heart the author is trying to humanize Eric and Dylan, and I agree that this is extremely important. I wonder what folks thing of Gus Van Sant's "Elephant?"
  • I'm all for humanizing Eric & Dylan, but the sort of hyperanalytical mental masturbation aimed at Calvin & Hobbes is just grotesque. (NB: I say this as a BA in literature who spends much of his time reading dense literary criticism.)