The "multimedia package" Cho left behind played into the stereotype. He had watched the South Korean movie "Oldboy," with violent themes of obsession and revenge. Its protagonist was shown pointing a gun to his head, as Cho did in the video he made before his rampage. But Korean moviemakers have nothing to teach American moviemakers about sordid and gratuitous violence.
Nevertheless, the Rev. Peter Chin, the pastor of Open Door Presbyterian Church in Herndon, Va., five miles from the suburban town where Cho grew up, noted that hateful comments aimed at Koreans were posted on Facebook.com, a site popular with young people. Such websites also carried warnings against prejudice and sought communal solace.
The Europeans, addicted to anti-American venom, served up most of the early stereotypes, citing Western and gangster movies as if Cho were a runaway "ride 'em, shoot 'em" cowboy, or a remorseless Clyde without Bonnie. Some of the editorialists called Charlton Heston our national hero, and naturally linked him with George Bush and John Wayne, eager for a shootout.
Germany's Stuttgarter Zeitung described the killer as living in "a society in which weapons are idolized as emblems of freedom and manliness . . . a country where the masses cheer when aging actor Charlton Heston raises a musket in his shaky hand and bellows that nobody will ever be able to take his weapon from him unless they 'pry it from my dead, cold hands.'"
The European moralizers mostly exposed their ignorance of the real, as opposed to the celluloid, America. Virginia Tech is a gun-free campus, mandated by law. Since they brought it up, the Germans should be reminded that Hitler first deprived Germans of their arms and then of personal and civil liberties. Only later, the good ol' boys from Virginia and the West and a lot of points between, having been brought up to use and respect guns, had to ride to the rescue of Europe. Speaking of stereotypes.