Karla from Downey here…
In the three weeks since the shooting occurred in Aurora, Colorado, where suspected killer James Holmes left 12 people dead and 58 wounded, outpourings of support, well wishes, and prayers have helped the victims and others affected begin to heal from the tragedy. Now, it seems the opposite side of the spectrum wants to have its say. More than two dozen pages have started popping up on Tumblr’s website in support of James Holmes with supporters dubbing themselves “Holmies.” Supporters are using the suspect’s pictures in avatars. Most of the bloggers are teenagers, sharing, and forwarding mug shots and signs that say “I Love The Holmies.”
Holmes, 24, was charged with a total of 142 criminal counts including 24 counts of first-degree murder on Monday. He was arrested on July 20th, after allegedly killing 12 people and wounding 58 at a local midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises.”
Tumblr users such as Free Holmes urge fans to write to Holmes — included in the page is a link to the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office inmate mail procedures. The blog’s subhead reads, “This is going to be 90% pictures and I must admit I’m on James side.” On the page, there’s a collection of James Holmes GIFs, caricatures, and fan-made comics.
One supporter, who calls herself, JamesHolmesLover86 had this to say about participation in the trend: “As a James Holmes supporter, I do not support what he did. I support him in the sense that I feel bad for him and that his mental state was not in the right place. People are so quick to judge him when there’s probably a lot more going on than what we know about.”
From what I understand, the majority of these “Holmies” are teenage girls who think they can hug the crazy out of him. Some of the posts, have pictures of Holmes photoshopped onto cute images of kittens and Teletubbies. Some are original pieces of art casting him in a sympathetic light with big haunting eyes. One post actually has aerial views of the exit door Holmes used with large amounts of blood and then goes on to blame the theater for not having an alarm on the door. They are unapologetic about their support for a mass murderer. They want to find a reason and thus a solution. Once a solution is found, they can marry their poor misunderstood James and go up to their castle in the sky.
Every prolific killer on death row has their followers, but this has been taken to fan girl status. Mental disease is not something that can be understood or healed through posting cute pictures and proclaiming your undying love and support. The support benefits the supporter more than the guy locked up and facing charges. Loving the bad boy is only romantic on television and in movies.
Everybody is entitled to their opinion and can say whatever they want across optic fiber and wifi. So I’m asking all my fellow nerds out there to take to their own blogs on Tumblr, Facebook, youtube, and Twitter and show your support to those that truly deserve it; the victims, their families, and the citizens of Aurora, Colorado.
Source: Mashable.com