The attempted assassination of Donald Trump on July 13th has been largely overlooked in post-election analyses as a contributing factor to his victory. The attack was quickly reduced to a single image, and shortly thereafter, it seemed as though it had never happened. This image instantly transcended the event itself, becoming a symbol of something more abstract. During a visit to New York City in the fall, t-shirts bearing the iconic photo of the then-president with a bleeding ear and a fist raised in defiance were readily available in souvenir shops. The shirts proclaimed "Never Surrender," transforming a moment of vulnerability into a declaration of resilience. This phenomenon of reducing a violent act to a consumable image is not unique.
Similarly, the case of Luigi Mangione, known in the media as the "United Healthcare Killer," saw the surveillance video of his alleged murder of insurance executive Brian Thompson rapidly disseminated across the internet. The footage immediately ceased to be a record of an isolated incident and became a representation of a broader societal condition, even a zeitgeist. Countless think pieces followed, dissecting not only the event itself but, more importantly, the public’s reaction to it. The underlying assumption in these analyses was that the event must be interpreted, must serve as a symbol, a symptom of something larger. This inherent need to contextualize and ascribe meaning to violence underscores its permeation into popular culture.
This isn’t to say that real-life violence is simply fodder for fictional narratives, though the speculation about streaming services vying for the rights to Mangione’s life story suggests that this line is increasingly blurred. Rather, the violence itself, much like fiction, is viewed as a reflection of reality. Just as a film can illuminate societal trends and provide a framework for understanding the world, so too can a shooting. This blurring of lines is evident in the way individuals consume and react to these events. One interviewee, commenting on the surveillance footage, remarked that it felt "like a TV series, like a movie." This underscores the metaphorical interpretation of real-life violence, a process facilitated by the content industry’s merging of virtual, structural, fictional, and physical violence.
Terrorism, in this context, becomes a form of marketing and branding, making it impossible to distinguish between figures like the Joker and the Unabomber. Mangione’s creation of a manifesto, a seemingly obligatory act for such figures, further reinforces this performative aspect. The act becomes inseparable from the "role" he played, suggesting a conscious or subconscious awareness of the public consumption and interpretation of his actions. The manifesto, like the act itself, becomes a prop, a costume element in the narrative he’s constructing. This reinforces the idea that violence is not merely an act but a statement, a performance intended for an audience.
Franco "Bifo" Berardi, in his book "Heroes. Mass Murder and Suicide," explores this phenomenon through the lens of the 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting. He argues that James Holmes, who killed twelve people and injured seventy during a screening of "The Dark Knight Rises," drew inspiration from Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker in "The Dark Knight." Berardi contrasts Holmes’s actions with the Columbine massacre, suggesting that while Klebold and Harris sought the attention of Steven Spielberg, Holmes was enacting a character within Christopher Nolan’s cinematic universe. He aimed to become part of the Batman narrative, blurring the lines between fiction and reality and forcing the audience to participate in the story they had come to watch. The choice of venue itself is significant, rejecting an airport as too reminiscent of “terrorism,” a label that clashed with his desired “message,” which, paradoxically, was that there was no message.
This brings us back to Mangione and the readily consumable image of his act. The image, divorced from its context and imbued with meaning by the observer, becomes a commodity, potentially already emblazoned on t-shirts. Much like the "Never Surrender" shirts inspired by the Trump assassination attempt, these hypothetical Mangione shirts would further solidify the transformation of a violent act into a symbol, a statement, a commodity. The act itself becomes less important than its interpretation, its place within the ongoing narrative of violence and its reflection in popular culture. This creates a dangerous cycle where real-life violence is not only consumed as entertainment but also inspires further acts, each vying for its own place within the public consciousness.
