"Why Do Girls Hate Me So Much?" Elliot Rodger UCSB Murders

[nina]

Authorities said 22-year-old Elliot Rodger stabbed three people to death at his apartment building in Isla Vista, Calif.; opened fire on women standing outside a sorority, killing two; and then fatally shot someone at a nearby deli. After a gun battle with deputies, he was found dead in his BMW with what officials believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His videos creep me out, but mostly because, other than the fact that he's obviously narcissistic and a bit confused...he appears pretty normal and not even unattractive. From reading his manifesto it just seems like he doesn't understand how to socialize, but hell I'm sure lots of people can see themselves in his words, I know I can. Is it wrong to discuss this...since this is exactly what he was trying to achieve? Maybe, but I still find it interesting to know how a person is driven to do such a tragic thing. Link to 137 page manifesto Rodger's youtube channel

[Alric]

I would agree that he probably wasn't good at socializing, and the reason he probably never had a girlfriend was because he probably never really approached any. Instead he kind of sat in the background and resented them instead. I think we should have sympathy for people like that since this situation could of been avoided if we had better mental health services available to everyone. It is a real shame since he did see people for help, but for whatever reason he didn't get the help he needed to resolve his issues. Though a part of it is that we often don't know a lot about many mental illnesses that can effect human behavior, but if we want to stop thing like this in the future we need to get better as a society at dealing with mental health issues.

[Universal Mind]

He sounds in his videos like a spoiled brat with a sense of entitlement. Modern parents and schools are unleashing those onto society all over the place these days. This guy really seemed to think that he was entitled to women he thought were hot and that if they didn't want him, it was their fault and they deserved to die, as if being attracted to somebody is a choice. It didn't dawn on him that maybe he needed to change things about himself to get the women he wanted. He didn't get his way, so he had a temper tantrum and killed people.

[DeletePlease]

In addition to being mentally ill, imo, he was also an entitled twat who placed far too much value on dating and sex. Call me ignorant, but I've no sympathy for the fool other than the base amount that is owed when a life is snuffed out of existence - be it a blade of grass or Hitler. That being said, I agree that we need better systems and strategies in place to care for the mentally ill. Society as a whole also needs to get it's priorities and value systems straightened out. This guy needed help in both regards. EDIT: Should have refreshed the page, I didn't see Universal's post.

[ChrissyMaria]

He is simply a psychopath, he believes that women should just give him sex because he says so, and he comes off as a very delusional and arrogant little prick who did not deserve affection from anyone. Maybe if he developed a real personality and socialized and did not become violent all of this horrible murder could of been prevented. I feel so bad for the families of those victims, their children taken from them prematurely and for what? Some punk and his lonely delusions, I think if he would of just jumped off a bridge and killed only himself the world would today be a better place. what a sick sick guy, unfortunately for us there are more people out there like him just waiting to snap and commit similar crimes, I would hope they find help or that the people in their lives recognize the person for what they really are.

[LucidProdigy]

Yes, the guy was delusional in thinking that sex should be abolished just because he wasn't getting any...and inflicting pain on others just because of his insecurities. His actions were unacceptable. But I'd like to focus on another aspect of the situation. I read quite a bit of his personal manifesto, and I was actually pretty enraged at the prevalence of bullying. People who inflict emotional and physical pain on someone else just because they're different from societal norms are the lowest. I've personally encountered many people like that in my life...and I'll rush to defend the victim even if I don't know them. You won't believe how many lives have been changed by simple intervention. But how often does intervention occur? How many times have you seen cases like this, and you meekly shy away not wanting to be judged by society? This kid's life could've been drastically changed with a simple kind and brave intervention from a single individual. In no way am I trying to justify his actions, but others in this story are definitely not blameless. There are several other negative motifs I could touch on...proper parental guidance, effects of virtual reality on adolescents, etc. He wasn't mentally ill, this case is just a prime example of the coalescence of negative attributes on an adolescent...attributes which may I add could've all been avoided given individuals who simply were brave enough to care.

[Ginsan]

I think the thing that makes you a psychopath murderer is exactly the same as what makes you a hero, an inspiration or a genius. It's vision with a load of emotion behind it and if you can't fulfill it you go crazy, depressed, and in an attempt to get rid of all that emotion you go out murdering people. If you can do it, however, you single-mindedly dedicate yourself to that purpose. But while thinking this I think, but one comes from amazing strength and the other from amazing weakness. So maybe it's not the same thing. I don't know... Human psychology is a really really complex thing and almost impossible to grasp. Unfortunately it only comes up when people get murdered, raped, abused. If everyone would think about these things a little more, maybe everybody would be a little more aware of how fragile life is, people, how sensitive humans can be and how powerful actions can be. If someone had just befriended this young man, maybe if his parents would go to paces with him. Like family or friends, he wouldn't have to be so lonely. When you take into account how strongly things can be influenced by certain things, you really don't know anymore who is guilty and who is the victim. It's tempting to look at this guy and see what a cold-blooded, sick murdering basterd he is. But you can look a little further and maybe be reminded about the fragility of humans. PS: After writing this I reloaded the page and I agree with LucidProdigy

[Universal Mind]

The hoax theory has already hit YouTube. I am not convinced of that. The guy didn't sound fuming pissed in his videos, but he did sound like a cold narcissist who felt like he didn't get what he was entitled to having. Not all murderers act extremely angry. Ted Bundy acted like a lovable politician. As for the glass arriving "early," don't stores need back up glass in case a window breaks? Maybe it was a hoax. Those do happen, but I have not seen strong evidence that the Santa Barbara shooting spree was a hoax. Maybe I will later.

[DeletePlease]

The hoax theory has already hit YouTube. I am not convinced of that. The guy didn't sound fuming pissed in his videos, but he did sound like a cold narcissist who felt like he didn't get what he was entitled to having. Not all murderers act extremely angry. Ted Bundy acted like a lovable politician. As for the glass arriving "early," don't stores need back up glass in case a window breaks? Maybe it was a hoax. Those do happen, but I have not seen strong evidence that the Santa Barbara shooting spree was a hoax. Maybe I will later. Of all the hoax theories out there, this one is the most ridiculous. It's one thing to be to be wary of the government, it's another to be a weasily little armchair-revolutionary like the uploader of that video.

[Alric]

I wouldn't say he is just some spoiled brat, he clearly has some kind of narcissistic personality disorder and you don't want to downplay a serious mental illness to "Oh he was just spoiled". Spoiled people don't go around killing people.

[cmind]

Video proof that Elliott Rodger was a student of Sandy Hook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TImCVU79PXQ

[ChrissyMaria]

UM i respect you and all but the person who made that so called 100% proof video sounds like another mass shooter to me who needs to assert his so called proof positive views over anyone else s opinion and does not even open himself to outside opinions, all he does is shout the whole video and curse and thinks that is how an intelligent discussion begins. I am however aware of certain events that do have very unusual circumstances such as the movie theater shooting when the dark knight rises was released, but do people ever stop to think....hmmm maybe there are absolute psychos out there who do act alone? Is that such an impossibility? So they come up with complicated explanations for such a simple crime. Not everything is a damn conspiracy from the government, when people start believing everything is they lose credibility in my eyes. But then again I can be proved wrong because I do not know anything and to assert an opinion as a fact would be stupid of me or that video maker.

[Universal Mind]

I wouldn't say he is just some spoiled brat, he clearly has some kind of narcissistic personality disorder and you don't want to downplay a serious mental illness to "Oh he was just spoiled". Spoiled people don't go around killing people. It does take more than being a spoiled brat. I was just saying that he was one. Of course he was a psycho. The guy had Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder. Not everybody who has those goes on killing sprees, but a lot of people who go on killing sprees have only those two disorders. As far as we know, those are all Ted Bundy had. A lot of mass murderers only have Antisocial Personality Disorder. Narcissistic Personality Disorder Antisocial Personality Disorder Symptoms | Psych Central UM i respect you and all but the person who made that so called 100% proof video sounds like another mass shooter to me who needs to assert his so called proof positive views over anyone else s opinion and does not even open himself to outside opinions, all he does is shout the whole video and curse and thinks that is how an intelligent discussion begins. I am however aware of certain events that do have very unusual circumstances such as the movie theater shooting when the dark knight rises was released, but do people ever stop to think....hmmm maybe there are absolute psychos out there who do act alone? Is that such an impossibility? So they come up with complicated explanations for such a simple crime. Not everything is a damn conspiracy from the government, when people start believing everything is they lose credibility in my eyes. But then again I can be proved wrong because I do not know anything and to assert an opinion as a fact would be stupid of me or that video maker. Did you see what I wrote about it? I don't agree with the video. I just posted it to show how fast conspiracy theories hit the internet. I do believe that there have been shooting hoaxes, such as Sandy Hook, but it is true that there are psychos out there who act alone and go on murder sprees. Video proof that Elliott Rodger was a student of Sandy Hook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TImCVU79PXQ I get your joke, but that happens to be a Hell of a good documentary you posted. Apparently it was a reposting. The real name of the documentary is Sofia Smallstorm: Unraveling Sandy Hook.

[ChrissyMaria]

Did you see what I wrote about it? I don't agree with the video. I just posted it to show how fast conspiracy theories hit the internet. I do believe that there have been shooting hoaxes, such as Sandy Hook, but it is true that there are psychos out there who act alone and go on murder sprees.[/I]. Yes I did and i'm sorry if it came off as mean to you, I didn't mean it that way I am just so angered by this shooting and the fools on youtube who think they cracked it and are some sort of investigators because they post videos on youtube. Again I did not mean to direct that anger at you more toward the guy who made that video, sorry for the misunderstanding. (I still <3 you UM)

[Universal Mind]

Ha ha, no worries. I was just making sure you knew I didn't agree with the video. The guy who made it was being ridiculous. I'm not saying the shooting definitely wasn't a hoax. I just don't think that a new shipment of glass at a store proves anything. Stores need back up glass. The guy who posted the video definitely put much more emphasis on emotions and pressure than he did on logic. I always presume that people are being manipulative and don't have much logic to work with when they do that. It's interesting that the large crowd of conspiracy theorists we had here last decade are gone now and haven't been replaced. I was the main person arguing against 9/11 inside job while there were dozens of people arguing for it. I wish they would come back and give their thoughts on Sandy Hook.

[ChrissyMaria]

Yea I know right what the hell happened to everyone? I used to be so much like that myself until I had a realization that it was doing nothing but making my life depressing and miserable and it was out of my control, I have enough misery in my life I don't need to keep being re-depressed by conspiracy theories about the end of the world or the end of freedom etc.. Such depressing crap at the end of the day it does nobody any good unless it suddenly made 1 million people stand up and do something about it rather then moping around everyday depressed about how life will one day become like the book 1984 or worse. Screw it all I say, I want to live my life for my own personal happiness and not to be in a constant state of depression. Anyways back on topic I'm sorry..... I thought this video was a spot on critique of this shooters supporters, how the fuck can anyone support this 22 year old monster of a human being? www.youtube.com/embed/g3w-5-b4mhM

[Rozollo]

It does take more than being a spoiled brat. I was just saying that he was one. Of course he was a psycho. The guy had Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder. Not everybody who has those goes on killing sprees, but a lot of people who go on killing sprees have only those two disorders. As far as we know, those are all Ted Bundy had. A lot of mass murderers only have Antisocial Personality Disorder. The naming convention is very confusing right now. Robert Hare contests that Psychopathy is a whole different thing from sociopathy which is a different thing from antisocial personality disorder. Others, including the DSM-5, disagree. Psychopaths are actually fairly common, and don't usually kill. The key to a psychopath is lacking empathy for your actions. Most narcasstic personality disorder cases go undiagnosed because the narcassist doesn't believe anything is wrong with him or her. They are usually discovered after they are arrested since narcassistic types tend to devalue people. Reading his manifesto, he hits A LOT of symptoms of it. The video where he films his reaction to a couple kissing really shows the issue: he sees everyone else as lesser than he is, so he should get what he wants. It's a sad story that further adds to the need to address the mental health issue int his country.

[Xox]

This guy obviously had a very serious mental illness...^agree with what Tiresias said. I'm hoping this sheds some light into the really sad state of mental health basically anywhere. I personally felt a lot of sympathy for him because his train of thoughts and general thought patterns/logic reminded me of some mental patients that I know (some of them being perfectly "good" people who wouldn't kill anyone, a lot of them being this way as a result of the events in their life that caused them trauma, usually in childhood). When I saw the video I felt ill for him. Even some of his behaviors (the laughing, the way he looks around, facial expressions etc) I can link to what I have seen in the past with insecure, defensive individuals who are by no means dangerous. It was just on another level, the worst level the human brain can reach I guess..

[Darkmatters]

Not sure if this has been mentioned in here, but apparently he was on Xanax and Risperdal - these kinds of anti-depressants are the common link between all the mass shootings as I understand it. Here's an article. Oh, and that insecure, defensive behavior mentioned in the previous post - that's not something you see in narcissists, at least none of the ones I've known. They tend to be extremely outgoing and confident. Edit - here's a website dedicated SSRI stories, about people on antidepressants who committed murders and suicides. I haven't looked through it much, but it seems like a good resource for looking into this claim. The page I linked to deals entirely with mass shootings and antidepressants.

[Universal Mind]

Narcissism is paradoxical because it is pathological arrogance on a conscious level but it is a defense mechanism used for dealing with extreme insecurity and low self esteem on a subconscious level. Narcissism is a show somebody is putting on for others but mainly for himself.

[nina]

He never mentions anything about SSRIs. Xanax is not a SSRI. Neither is Vicodin. He had the medication because he had recently had surgery. It seems like everyone is quick to jump to the SSRI = murderer conclusion these days and I'm wondering if this is because it is being perpetrated by the news or what? I also noticed how the media is quick to vilify WoW because he mentions it in his manifesto, even though it seems to have nothing what so ever to do with the reasons he committed this massacre. Xanax is a benzodiazepine, Vicodin is a pain killer. These are not antidepressants. Darkmatters you mention Risperdal but I can't find that anywhere in the article you linked to? Nor can I find any mention of drugs in his manifesto except when mentioning that he will take xanax/vicodin before shooting himself in the head with two guns. edit: The doctor ended up dismissing it by prescribing me a controversial medication, Risperidone. After researching this medication, I found that it was the absolute wrong thing for me to take. I refused to take it, and I never saw Dr. Sophy again after that. edit edit: is DV extremely laggy for anyone else or is it just me?

[Darkmatters]

I had originally heard about risperdal from a different article, don't remember where that one was. He says he never took it, but then he also says ad infinitum that he wants a girl, and then proceeds to call himself fabulous, gorgeous, and many other terms that straight guys just never use to describe themselves. Could it be he was gay and in extreme denial? I wouldn't take anything in his manifesto or that he said in his videos too seriously - keep in mind he was suicidal and these are things he did toward the end when he was probably already planning to kill himself - quite likely he was preparing statements the way he wanted to be remembered, and may well have been lying through his teeth. He was also bullied brutally apparently. Is that another link between all or many of the mass shooters? Oh, plus of course the fact that he was prescribed Risperdal means he was psychotic, or dangerously close to it, right? It's an anti-psychotic. Unless that word does't mean what I think it means… Yeah, it sounds like he had a whole massive cocktail of problems; the kind that create mass shooters.

[Universal Mind]

Edit: It was a victim's father who got on television and blamed the gun. That makes me suspicious. People' grieving over murder tend to blame the murderers, not the tools they used.

[Darkmatters]

Narcissism is paradoxical because it is pathological arrogance on a conscious level but it is a defense mechanism used for dealing with extreme insecurity and low self esteem on a subconscious level. Narcissism is a show somebody is putting on for others but mainly for himself. Yeah, you can never really pin anybody down to a diagnosis - people are all individuals, and can be wildly different from how somebody with their disorder (or what have you) are supposed to act. A shy narcissist? It seems to be completely contradictory, but I suppose it could happen, especially if there are other strong factor to consider. Plus he was young enough that if he was a narcissist it wouldn't have really taken him over yet. At high school age it's usually just starting to really assert itself (though there are definitely symptoms even from early childhood). From what I've seen (and also read), self-doubt can still be there in high school and a few years beyond.

[Rozollo]

Yeah, you can never really pin anybody down to a diagnosis - people are all individuals, and can be wildly different from how somebody with their disorder (or what have you) are supposed to act. A shy narcissist? It seems to be completely contradictory, but I suppose it could happen, especially if there are other strong factor to consider. Plus he was young enough that if he was a narcissist it wouldn't have really taken him over yet. At high school age it's usually just starting to really assert itself (though there are definitely symptoms even from early childhood). From what I've seen (and also read), self-doubt can still be there in high school and a few years beyond. He refers to himself as a god and being divine. Outwardly displaying narcissistic tendencies isn't the only expression. The fact the thoughts were there is enough. He just didn't have the real charisma he believed he did. He believed he was so important and great that everyone would listen and give him attention when he demanded it. The fact they didn't and he still was so self-centered, just justifies that further. At UM: His father blaming an external force is very likely since personality disorders can be inherited and taught.