The recent killing spree perpetrated by a 25-year-old auto factory worker in Japan, where he ploughed a 2-ton truck into what is known as ‘geek central’ in Central Tokyo and, upon alighting, went into a stabbing spree, killing seven people and injuring several others, reminded me of a Michael Douglas movie, “Falling Down”. In the movie, Douglas was recently fired from his job and had marital problems. This sent him spiraling into a self-destruct mode that saw him critical of everything around him, shooting people and eventually getting killed in the end.
This is probably what went through the mind of this comic-book reading, video game playing aficionado, punctuated by his statement to the police that he was tired of living. It is debatable that his passion for comics and video games contributed to his actions and mindset. But it is clear that he knew who his targets would be. Akihabara is the hub of Japan’s nerds and geeks, where unique stores and cafes with waitresses dressed in famous anime characters dot the neighborhood. He probably vented his desperation on people he identified very much with.
But the issue here is something else. It is losing it. Losing your sanity, losing your control over yourself, losing touch with reality. And in these days of intense competition, where the gap between success and failure had become even wider, the statistics bear it out — more people are losing it. In a world of open doors the viruses are easier to catch. Today the world shares a common crisis in food and oil and, as victories against nuclear or against the avian flu or against racism or against global warming are commonly shared, the higher cost of living and scarcity in essential resources is as well globalized.
It is inescapable and even more hard-felt in a country like the Philippines. Chances to make an honest living has become almost unreachable. It is easy to no longer see hope but despair. This may easily lead to self-termination or to rage. We’ve recently seen a series of suicides due to a variety of problems, mostly financial. And the stabbing spree in Japan may be seen as the ‘postal worker syndrome’, with several school shootings in the US as examples. Japan has the highest suicide rate in the world. This is probably aggravated by a culture set on perfection and stress, further fueled by the so-called suicide websites and forums that are too accessible, especially to the youth. The stabber may not have killed himself but definitely killed any semblance of a normal life.
My work producing a show like Rated K — where we witness how people with nothing make something of what they find and now have what the world might describe as everything. A mother without arms rocks her baby to sleep with her feet. Children walk four miles everyday just to get to school for an education. A battered wife treated as a slave by her husband escaped and worked in the local market until she became the owner of two malls, three subdivisions and several buildings as one of the wealthiest businesswomen in Nueva Ecija today. A maid worked for her education and became mayor of her town. I then ask, who are we to complain?
Some people become depressed when it rains. While for others, rain represents cleansing. It is how we perceive what comes our way that molds us into what we are, how we deal with things and who we become. In reality, it is — and will never be — easy. The bottom line is life is what we make it. The silver lining is we still have that choice what to make of the lemons. In the end we only have ourselves to blame or to credit.