When the Columbine documents were released, the mutant reaction was one of apathy. Most of the reactions went along the lines of “Well it’s bad that Eric Harris was a racist and a homophobe but look at how cute Dylan Klebold was for writing love letters”. I think this article has a much more realistic perspective…
We don’t know whether Klebold ever summoned the nerve to deliver the love letter. We just know that, mixed in with the grotesque torments that impelled Klebold and Harris to slaughter their schoolmates, there dwelt (within Klebold, at least; experts now believe Harris was more clearly psychopathic) recognizably human torments more typical of the adolescent male. To some, this may make Klebold seem more sympathetic. To me, it makes the very notion of love, or at least teenage infatuation, seem much darker and creepier. This is not to say that I would recommend that school officials across the country mobilize en masse to expel all young swains who declare their love to unsuspecting schoolgirls. (The high schools would be emptied within a week.) Judging from the text of Klebold’s letter, it shouldn’t be as difficult as many suppose to spot the distinct warning signs that a young man is seriously deranged. Still, I’m not sure I’ll ever think the same way about what it means to have a secret admirer.
Even monsters are capable of love, but it never stops them from killing the villagers.
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