I’m sure you’ve heard all of the catchphrases like “Do you feel lucky punk?” Or maybe “Make my day!” And those were just from Dirty Harry. Hollywood has made a fortune on the virtues of the “White Righteous Male Protector.” Just ask Bruce Willis, Stallone, and Dirty Harry himself, Clint Eastwood, they all got rich portraying basically the same character. All, the righteous white male protector of white “Maledom” of one sort or another.
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And why the AR-15? Well, as movie hero Ronald Reagan might say, no matter how nature endowed this white male, with an AR-15, he is a porn star. Sadly, I think it’s more or less just that simple. It’s a 15-round magic phallus symbol! No one ever says no to their gun!
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We have seen it throughout our history, manhood must be taken through violence. It has been the theme of how many movies? Hundreds, thousands? They reinforce the role of violence in our lives. How a gun makes us important, the decider of who lives and who dies. No wonder, we’re so screwed up!
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We have based our military on such concepts, of the righteous male with a weapon killing the enemy. That’s why they for so long fought women and minorities in the military. Along with the idea that there might be a need for an intelligent approach to warfare. Why video games have such a draw to budding macho males, to get the feel of killing without the blood and gore.
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There is a rationale of the protection of others, which drives the righteous protectors. It has at times driven true heroism and at times driven true evil. Many times, the line crossed is difficult to see in the excitement of the moment. Like what happened on the subway in New York a couple of days ago. In a moment, a righteous white male makes a life-and-death decision, based on the righteous protection of others. Sadly, a street performer died, in what seems from the outside a situation that didn’t reach the threshold of needing protection. I don’t want to make a judgment there, that’s up to a jury but that was the same rationale used to lynch many black-skinned Americans in the South.
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There is a national mental illness focused around guns. Some see them as a giant penis of death, when they can’t get their way. Screw you!!! Bang, bang, and bang. And yet, we play this game, encouraging this insanity, making sure they have the best of murder tools, and an adoring audience of fellow crazies, waiting their turn for their 5 minutes of fame and their moment with the 15-round phallus. Killing those even more helpless than them. This is the sadness that haunts this nation!
RC Romine