It occurs to me that a weak case can be made that the likes of Elliot Rodger can learn something valuable from the works of H P Lovecraft and other writings on the subject of “cosmic horror.” For those unfamiliar with HPL, the basic idea behind a lot of his stories was this: humans are just tiny motes in a vast universe filled with far bigger, older, more powerful forces. These Outer Forces From Beyond are seen as malevolent, since they wreak so much devastation and can often drive men mad at a single glance; but for the most part the problem humans have with them is that they just don’t care about us. We are simply beneath their notice.
It seems that Elliot’s perceived problem was that he was beneath the notice of womenfolk. Or at least hot blond womenfolk, which is apparently all he was interested in.
In Lovecraftian lore, regular humans on occasion come across a Cosmic Horror. There are, I believe, four ways in which these humans respond to this sort of thing:
1) Fall into darkness (join a cult, go on a murder spree, etc.)
2) Go gibberingly insane, wind up killing themselves or in a nuthouse
3) Do what they can to oppose the cosmic horror
4) Just… go on with their lives, knowing sadly that It’s All For Nothing, and making efforts to avoid said cosmic horror.
The first two are obviously not very helpful. The latter two are much better responses. Now, to be useful in #3, the person has to put some effort behind it… study arcane lore (which runs the risk of driving you buggo) or advanced science/math. But if this is done, Lovecraft shows that a dedicated and prepared person *can* make a difference, and use science and/or magic to drive the cosmic horror away or lock it back in its box. But to be successful here takes a *lot* of effort and runs the risk of failure. Option #4 is likely the best one for most people. Just get on with it, make the best of what you’ve got.
But Elliot Rodger, when faced with the cosmic horror that is “interpersonal relationships,” chose a combo of #1 and #2. He went nuts, kinda joined what was kind of a cult (other likeminded misandrists and misogynists), and went on a killing spree, killing himself at the end.
Had he read HPL and learned the lessons, a lot of trouble could have been saved. In his case, and, lets face it, in a lot of guys cases, his “Cosmic Horror” was “getting a girl to like him.” Because… he simply didn’t have what it takes. Sure, he had money and connections, and I gather was considered good looking by a lot of women (to me he looked like a freakshow, but who am I to judge); but his personality was just not Girl Gettin’ Material. So… what *should* he have done? He had options 3 and 4.
#3: He could have studied the arcane lore of what it takes to not be a fricken’ weirdo. To successfully incorporate that would have probably involved a full undergrad and graduate degree series from Miskatonic U, would have done much towards burning him out, and there’s every chance he would’ve failed anyway. And at best it would have led to a stalemate… you just can’t defeat cosmic horrors. Hell, you can’t even understand them. But even if years of effort led to naught there’d’ve been option…
#4: Accept it. Look, you’re a loser. Lots of guys are. You don’t have what it takes to attract the womenfolk or to fight off Yog Sothoth. So… do something else with your life. Yes, you’ll forever be sad that there’s this thing hanging over your head that you can’t get out from under, but you can learn to at least kinda ignore it. Live a life of some kind of honor and just try to avoid that Cosmic Horror of yours and die with some dignity. You know how when you were a kid and you wanted to grow up to be a King or an astronaut or a cowboy or a Ghostbuster or a squirrel or the President or the Pope or something? Well, at some point you realized that that simply wasn’t going to happen and *that* didn’t drive you nuts.
And for Cthulhu’s sake… don’t tell anybody. If you’ve read many discussion threads about Rodgers in the last week, you will almost certainly have seen some guy pop up and say something to the effect that “hey, I’m a decent guy, but girls don’t seem to like me and this makes me sad (but I’m not going to go on a killing spree).” This has had pretty much the same result of someone popping up and saying “hey, this eldritch horror took over my fridge last night; it’s a collection of four-dimensional bubbles that glow in a color never before seen by human eyes.” In other words… people don’t believe ’em, and think that they are either nuts or lying… and nobody likes a whiner. Admitting that you have a problem is just opening a door for more problems to come pouring through, like a hallway full of shoggoths. Take THIS piece, for example. Check out the comments. I’ve seen far worse vitriol spewed out at the self-pitying male loser of late. It’s not helpful, so don’t open that door.
So if you’ve got no skill with the ladies… just shut the hell up about it, and get yourself a hobby. (No, “killing sprees” are not good hobbies.)