Should a Video of VTech Shooters Play be Online?
follow up from the OP Although we touched on a number of points in discussing doing this and putting it online, the most obvious one was that if we didn’t do this, then other people would, and could we do this “better” than others would. By better, I mean more likely to make posting the video into a positive experience. Below, is a copy of the message that ran at the end of the video, and also a copy of the video info posted on the youtube page, that I think provides more context in evaluating our actions… We put this movie online for a couple of reasons. Some of those reasons are mentioned in the article from AOL news where I saw the script for this play, which is linked to the right. Like many of the people who have been reading the play online, we were curious about what motivates someone to do such a terrible thing, and with so little information available, we looked to his writings for any answers we could find about the person responsible for the shooting. We have placed this v
Whatever the intent, it was a bad idea to put it online. People could have already “further understood the tragedy” by just reading the play. If he sent a video manifesto directly to the NBC, he clearly wanted to develop a cult of personality for his violent ideas and actions in this twisted way. Making an easily-digestible YouTube version of the play wouldn’t seem to help anything, from my perspective. Even if you intend the play as insight, people will probably misinterpret the intent en masse, and a majority will almost certainly find it in bad taste, however it’s presented. The image of the video would/will probably overtake the actual content or intent. That happens a lot these days. As for the video spreading, being downloaded, being reposted, as people have said, there are a number of websites and utilities that can download video from YouTube, as well as media players that can play the files (including in media-friendly fullscreen modes) and programs that convert the Flash vide
