Back to Part I

Jacob Delashmutt, one of the convicted killers recently told the Washington Post that the music had nothing to do with the murder, " She was murdered because Joe [Fiorella (one of the other convicted murders)] was obsessed with her, and obsessed with killing her." 

So we see all of these cases where music was said to influence the behavior of fans. In the case of the West Memphis Three the fact that the accused listened to heavy metal made them instant suspects. In the other cases, where people are trying to pin the blame on the music, they totally ignore the other facts surrounding these cases. These appear classic cases of the blame game, where faced with the reality that it might possibly have been other factors like drug abuse, mental illness or poor parenting that played the crucial role in these tragedies, people close to the victims instead choose to take the easy route and blame it all on the music. 

In almost all of these cases drugs and alcohol were involved. Alcohol is classified as a depressant, so when abused it very well may lead to depression. Add in the equation drugs, which only intensify the psychological effects, it is an easier leap of faith to blame the suicides on the effects of drug and alcohol abuse rather than the music. But then you have to examine why these teens turned to mind altering substances in the first place. That will most likely point to unhappy lives or other psychological problems. To simply blame it on the music is asinine! The person who may be susceptible to messages in music would have to start out with some kind of warped perception to begin with. Millions of other fans listen to the very same songs, and do not commit murder or suicide. So it appears the problems lies with the individuals not the music. 

I had a roommate a few years back that went over the deep end one day and beat his wife to death and then attempted suicide by driving his car off of a cliff, killing his baby son and injuring himself. What went wrong with him? Was it the music? His favorite band was "The Eagles" so if that's the case we should  begin scouring their records for hidden messages. Or could it have been that he grew up neglected and abused, and carried the behavior he learned as a kid into his role as father and husband? Or was he simply an evil person capable of murderous anger? Add to the fact that he was an alcoholic and you would have to really have your head in the sand to conclude that "Witchy Woman" drove him to murder and attempted suicide. 

I grew up listening to heavy metal and watching violence in movies and TV. I have yet to commit murder or suicide. None of the friends I hung around with growing up, who listened to the same bands, have gone on to murder or kill themselves. In fact, almost all of them are living normal productive lives. 

Can a rational person buy into the allegations that music influenced these tragedies? If we as a society were to buy into this argument, then we would have to take it one step further and blame youth violence on cartoons and movies. Do we blame the actors Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster, Director Martin Scorsese or screenwriter Paul Schrader for John Hinckley, Jr.'s attempted assignation of President Reagan? Do we blame AC/DC for Richard Ramirez's brutal "Night Stalker" killings? Will we soon hear "Bugs Bunny" made me do it!," come from a killer's lips? With the breakdown of the family and a generation of parents influenced by touchy feely pop psychology influenced parental ideals, it would be easy to place the blame on entertainment. It's always easier to point the finger at others, instead of looking at yourself to see if you had a part in it. It might be well to remember that when you point the finger at someone else you have three fingers pointing right back at you.

So we are left with a society that finds it easier to blame music for tragic behaviors, label kids who act up in class ADD and put them on drugs instead of disciplining them for doing wrong, a nation of victims who would rather pin the blame on others then taking a close look at their own failings and taking responsibility for their own actions. It is no surprise, that some people would try to blame music for these tragedies, it is much easier than facing the truth that hits closer to home that drug abuse, mental problems and perhaps bad parenting played the significant role in these tragedies.