(Video from BBC News)
There is a new movie coming out soon called The Killing of John Lennon. It's a psychological study into the sick, twisted mind of Mark David Chapman, the assassin who gunned down Lennon in front of his New York City apartment building in 1980.
In many ways, Lennon's shooting was a precursor to the school shootings and other horrible murders that now blanket the American landscape. Many of these killers were motiviated to commit their crimes in order to experience the fame that goes along with being a notorious criminal (even if they didn't survive to see it). Most of them had, no doubt, been living desperate lives with no real joy or purpose. Chapman was quoted as saying, after he shot Lennon, "I was nobody until I killed the biggest somebody on earth."
The question I have is, regardless of the merits of this movie, will it inspire other Mark David Chapmans to seek out their own moments of fame? I suppose there is value to be had in trying to understand what was happening in Chapman's sick mind, but I think I'd rather see a movie that celebrates the joy and wisdom of John Lennon, one of the true visionary musical geniuses of our time.
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