The disturbing massacre at a Connecticut elementary school yesterday, by a troubled 20-year old son of a substitute teacher, Adam Lanza, has left the media and police and FBI investigators scrambling for answers. Lanza apparently had a form of autism called Asperger Syndrome.
Lanza showed up at the Sandy Hook elementary school dressed all in black, with body armor. He killed twenty children and several adults before taking his own life.
While media pundits and some politicians are now calling for more gun control Lanza’s actions are eerily familiar to Star Wars fans. In Star Wars Episode 3, Anakin Skywalker shows up at the Jedi Temple, dressed all in black, and proceeds to kill many if not most of the young Jedi students.
According to media reports Lanza was a withdrawn geek and “spent free periods playing video games at the school’s television station studio,” according to a news report. There are in fact Star Wars video games that include Anakin’s attack on the Jedi Temple. Fans can recreate the massacre of the young Jedi students over and over.
Was the disturbed Lanza inspired by the attack on the Jedi Temple in Star Wars, Episode 3? The movie came out in 2005, when Lanza was 13 years old, according to IMDB.com. His parents began their divorce in 2008, concluding it in 2009. Lanza would have been in his most formative years when he first saw Anakin Skywalker killing the young Jedi students. He would have had seven years to play the video games again and again.
We don’t know why Lanza finally snapped. He reportedly killed his mother first before heading to the elementary school – supposedly with his mom’s own guns. In Star Wars, Episode 4, “A New Hope,” Darth Vader, the older version of Anakin Skywalker, ordered his stepfather killed, on Tattooine.
If the Star Wars connection is true it will come out in the ensuing police investigation. Although Lanza did not have a Facebook page he will no doubt have left a vast collection of video games, DVDs, and computer entries for investigators to review.
Is this far fetched? Consider that at least fifteen movies have inspired crimes. But only one movie comes to mind wherein the villain shows up in black and kills youngsters at a school – Star Wars, Episode 3.
The Disney company recently acquired Lucasfilm and has announced plans to make a new Star Wars Film, Episode Seven. Surely a Star Wars connection to the mass murder of children in Connecticut won’t be what Disney had in mind when they made this acquisition.
OC Disney Blog 
Far-fetched? More like beyond ridiculous and yet another attempt to assign blame elsewhere.
Is it? Over fifteen movies have inspired crimes. And video games are even more violent. We know that Lanza was a gamer…
And your mention of Asperger’s in this article supports your argument HOW?? This is just an example of another irresponsible person talking about things they know nothing about.
I actually am not bothered by your hypothesis that it may have had something to do with watching violent killings of small children and enacting them in a video game. Most people who do so will not become a mass murderer, but it may have a desensitizing effect on a person and make such horrible acts easier.
But Asperger’s or autism will NOT predispose someone to violence (they are no more likely to hurt people than the average person and more likely to be victims) and has no place in your post.
Listen lady you’re barking up the wrong tree. I have a child with a form of Asperger’s and we have had plenty of problems over the years. The good news is that he has made great progress in special education and is fully functional today. And yes, we had to deal with plenty of outbursts and the like for a long time.
I don’t know what caused Lanza to snap like he did but media reports say he didn’t take his parents’ divorce well. That is an issue that we often overlook. Kids need stability at home. Parents really need to work on their marriages and try to stay married and live up to their vows. I say that as a husband of twenty five years.
Lastly, I read a great post today by a mom who is having similar problems with her son. It is an amazing article and her pain is palpable. This nation really needs to focus on mental health! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/16/i-am-adam-lanzas-mother-mental-illness-conversation_n_2311009.html.
Ok, I know this comment is over seven months old, but I flat out needed to respond to your comments about Asperger’s.
Kids with Asperger syndrome are NOT “special needs” kids. They aren’t always in need of special education, and they are certainly not mentally ill. Asperger’s is on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum, and symptoms are often much more subtle.
As a matter of fact, I have Asperger’s myself. It was undiagnosed for 14-15 years. The symptoms were so subtle they weren’t even noticed until I was a teenager. Then, my parents told me a lot about it, and I also did much independent research. So my knowledge of Asperger’s isn’t just limited to myself. With that said, I heartily agree with your second paragraph. Too many families split up these days.
Now, I also couldn’t agree more with every word that Elizabeth says. Asperger’s does not cause violence. Just because AL had Asperger’s doesn’t mean it was a factor in the massacre. If you walk into the street and get run over by a car, will the same fate meet everyone else who ever tries crossing the street?
I also noticed how you completely danced around Elizabeth’s main question: What does Asperger’s have to do with the subject of this article? This article asks if SW III inspired AL’s massacre. Asperger’s has nothing whatsoever to do with that. But you cleverly skirted that thorny issue by dumping a load of junk about Asperger’s. Way to go. [/sarcasm]
Good points but it is odd that this case has not been updated for a long time.
Details of the recently published police report at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/25/morbid-items-found-adam-lanza-home_n_4339399.html
would suggest that Lanza was obsessed with the Columbine shooting and that video games including one called “School Shooting” were primary influences in this tragedy rather than any inspiration from the Star Wars incident, even though it does have obvious similarities.
In the full report available at
Click to access compressed-sandy-hook-report.pdf
which actually consists of 29 PDF files does not appear to make any mention of Star Wars content on Lanza’s PC.
True but his hard drive was destroyed. Who knows what was on it?