{"id":10080,"date":"2025-06-03T03:34:37","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T10:34:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/?page_id=10080"},"modified":"2025-06-03T03:34:39","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T10:34:39","slug":"conventional-wisdom-on-littleton-falls-short","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/behind-the-basketball-diaries\/the-basketball-diaries-controversies\/conventional-wisdom-on-littleton-falls-short\/","title":{"rendered":"Conventional Wisdom on Littleton Falls Short"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Howard Rosenberg
Los Angeles Times, 3 May 1999 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something called ‘CW’ is enduring on television and elsewhere in the aftermath of the the killings in Littleton, CO. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his book Fooling America<\/em>, Robert Parry lamented a phenomenon that he identified as CW – short for Conventional Wisdom. He wrote in 1992: ‘The CW is neither Republican nor Democrat, neither liberal nor conservative; rather, it enforces the dominant…attitudes of the moment.’ <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, CW is what everybody simply ‘knows’ to be true, and the more it is repeated by TV pundits and others, the wider its acceptance as sacred. Although Parry was writing essentially about CW spun by ‘Washington insiders’ as a way of narrowly framing media coverage, it extends also to other ‘attitudes of the moment,’ including scattershot charges emerging from the Littleton massacre. For example: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is the face that launched a hail of bombs and bullets at Columbine High School. It’s the face of Leonardo DiCaprio in The Basketball Diaries<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet try this:
On the screen, a sexy young Hollywood icon.
Girls love him.
Boys imitate him.
Yes, Leonardo DiCaprio.
Amid mayhem.
In a movie where there’s violence.
Bodies to the left.
Bodies to the right.
Bodies to the rear.
Even surrounded by death, he retains his romantic glow.
Retains his charisma.
Mouth resolute.
Jaw determined.
Focusing forward like a laser. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here in this atmosphere of turbulence and lives aborted, he endures as a powerful role model for teenagers, who can be expected to make his values – that is, those of his movie character – their values. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, Americans searching for answers to the tragedy of Littleton are justified in their outrage over what their children are exposed to by the entertainment industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Basketball Diaries<\/em>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, Titanic<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same Titanic<\/em> whose enormous theatrical exposure has been expanded through multiple showings to TV audiences on HBO. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this is a long-winded way of wondering this: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is DiCaprio’s dreamlike murder binge in that relatively obscure 1995 film The Basketball Diaries<\/em> thought by some to have driven Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold to commit a massacre, when DiCaprio’s selfless heroism in the hugely watched Titanic<\/em> is not credited for inspiring young Americans toward righteous acts on behalf of others? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is DiCaprio’s glamorization of goodness in Oscar-winning Titanic<\/em> held in many circles to be less persuasive than his glamorization of violence in The Basketball Diaries<\/em>? How can that be when box office figures for ‘The Basketball Diaries’ were barely a blip compared with the blockbuster success of Titanic<\/em>? And that doesn’t count Titanic<\/em>s’ substantial video sales and its audience on HBO, which says the movie was its highest rated theatrical premiere – with 8.6 million viewers – and is expected to become its most watched theatrical feature after 16 plays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does anyone know if Harris and Klebold also saw Titanic<\/em>? If so, shouldn’t they have been impressed by DiCaprio’s courage and life-giving benevolence as Jack? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you sat the same 10 teenage boys before each movie, which would influence them most? How many would be turned on by DiCaprio the gunner in The Basketball Diaries<\/em> and how many by DiCaprio the sympathetic rebel nobly sacrificing himself to keep his beloved afloat in Titanic<\/em>‘s icy waters? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the savage DiCaprio of The Basketball Diaries<\/em> does supersede the virtuous DiCaprio of Titanic<\/em> in the eyes of many youths, doesn’t it mean that the concept of contructive role modeling – of influencing by positive example – is largely a sham? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or is it that those titillated by DiCaprio blasting away in The Basketball Diaries<\/em> haven’t come to it with a clean slate? Specifically, that Harris and Klebold, for deep psychological reasons not understood, were predisposed to murder, and that blaming their evil deeds on their exposure to this movie and other segments of the media is a convenient cop-out? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Submitted by Mica<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Howard RosenbergLos Angeles Times, 3 May 1999  Something called ‘CW’ is enduring on television and elsewhere in the aftermath of the the killings in Littleton, CO.  In his book Fooling America, Robert Parry lamented a phenomenon that he identified as CW – short for Conventional Wisdom. He wrote in 1992: ‘The CW is neither Republican nor … Continue reading Conventional Wisdom on Littleton Falls Short<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":4701,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"folder":[],"class_list":["post-10080","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P9VlUH-2CA","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4701,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/behind-the-basketball-diaries\/the-basketball-diaries-controversies\/","url_meta":{"origin":10080,"position":0},"title":"The Basketball Diaries: Controversies","author":"catholicboy.com","date":"January 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Film and Book Blamed for Colorado Shootings Carroll's interview on NBC's Today show (5\/6\/99): https:\/\/youtu.be\/fV8zfL5DGhk?si=EYLaiEEiqZRbR2-J Carroll's appearance on Politically Incorrect (6\/8\/99) Complete transcript Linking of 'Basketball Diaries,' Columbine Shootings Upsets Author (5\/6\/99)By Nick Carter, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Jim Carroll Website Editorial (May 1999)by Cassie Carter, webmaster Columbine: Whose Fault Is\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/fV8zfL5DGhk\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10074,"url":"https:\/\/www.catholicboy.com\/WP\/background\/behind-the-basketball-diaries\/the-basketball-diaries-controversies\/making-media-a-familiar-scapegoat\/","url_meta":{"origin":10080,"position":1},"title":"Making Media a Familiar Scapegoat","author":"Cassie Carter","date":"June 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Howard RosenbergLos Angeles Times, 23 April 1999 After presenting Terror in Littleton like a blockbuster ratings-sweeps production, TV has become one of its casualties. 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