Random Thought
I was talking to folks about DIWC last night, and something came up that I wanted to mention to you guys that had read it. If these incidents -- both the fair AND Holmes' spree -- were to happen in a different period of time, how would they be different? If Holmes' was 'working' today, would he be more or less successful? Is he different from modern serial killers in any way that you noticed? Ditto on the fair thing: Do you think today's World Fair committees have the same issues? What do planners of today's fairs have to do to dazzle folks?
posted by JenniNapa at
8:47 AM
3 Comments:
I'm certain there is much disagreement about the best way to handle today's fairs. Who got to decide which robots would be displayed in Aichi in 2005? Somebody was pissed about not being included, guranteed. While today's fairs are obviously intensly prepared and extremely detailed, they are not as widely publicized as they once were (I didn't know until Kellie told us that they were still being executed) and I wonder if the need to dazzle is gone. The themes seem to be geared to smaller groups of people and perhaps, while still well attended, tend to draw international attendees from certain fields rather than the public at large.
As far as Holmes goes, I think that a man so incorrectly wired - I'm not out on a limb here, I don't think, to call him more than a little crazy - would have found a way to be, uh, "successful" in any time period. While it might have been more difficult to build an entire building that was outfitted for such horrific acts, access to materials to equip say a basement are easier than ever to get in the "big-box" hareware stores. Interesting question, Jenni. I think I'll post a couple of my own...
By
MamaChristy, at 8:05 PM
Yup, what she said... I agree. :)
I didn't know they were still around either until I checked wikipedia. I wonder why there's no publicity anymore.
By
mamashine, at 8:19 PM
See, I was thinking that if, next week or something, someone built a life-size city of the world's greatest buildings, I would want to go. Wouldn't that be cool? But by the same token, I would be very likely to drive a few hours to see it, but not so likely to catch a flight somewhere. That was one thing that fascinated me about the DIWC World's Fair -- that, in a time when travel was very difficult, people came from so far away.
As for Holmes, I, too, think he would be plying his 'trade,' shall we say? I was thinking about how he would do it differently -- I don't think it would be as easy to skip on creditors or establish identity fronts now. But maybe so. I do think it's harder for people to get lost unintentionally. With cell phones and everything else, I think people know pretty quickly when someone's gone. They may not know where they are, but we don't have the lag in time that helped Holmes. (The weeks for the mail to come and go and the patience that brought, versus today when people will call your cell phone every hour on the hour wondering why you haven't called them back...)
I wonder if there are studies on if today's serial killers are drawn to big events like the Olympics (which someone mentioned). Or the Super Bowl or World’s Cup. It would seem to be a good territory for getting people off their normal turf -- and lots of people to choose from. I think I read somewhere once that serial killers chose based on ease, more than type. (Though a confluence of the two is their dream.) Yech.
MamaC, I hadn't thought about how much easier it would be to get that stuff at Home Depot now. Ewwwww!! Now everytime I go to the hardware store, I'm going to think that solemn man in the paint department is a serial killer. (Insert Jaws theme here...)
By
JenniNapa, at 11:00 AM
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