The Dark Knight Shooter James Holmes has teenage fans who organize themselves on various internet sites and call themselves “Holmies.”
Buzzfeed has pieced together the internet presence of this disturbing subculture.
In general, they make Holmes-inspired art, and really hang on to a video released of him in 2006 where it’s mentioned that he wants to own a Slurpee machine. Because of this, they congregate on the YouTube comment section of a little-known silly rap about Slurpees. They also take pictures of themselves holding Slurpees and wearing plaid (Holmes reportedly was wearing plaid under the armor he was wearing the day of the shooting, and has a collection of plaid shirts.)
Being a “Holmie” means different things to different people. It looks like some are grossly fascinated by the idea of mass murderers, or have an ironic interest, but others are definitely sympathetic (and attracted) to the man who opened fire on a group of innocent people, killing 12, and wounding 58. That being said, all the tumblr fan accounts make it clear that they don’t believe what he did was right.
Here’s a screen-cap from one of their chatrooms:
And an explanation from a Holmes themed tumblr blog of a teen who strongly believes that Holmes’ possible mental illness should be considered in the case:
i am a seventeen year old who since i can recall, has always had a fascination with serial killers/murderers. you name it. collumbine? ted bundy? btk? i love them. do i mean i love that they killed people? of course not. i would never kill anyone and i feel for the families who have lost loved ones. however, i’m always intrigued as to why they committed these crimes. how did they do it? what goes through their minds?
do i think james holmes is guilty? that is not my place to assume. i’m not the jury, but i am someone who is fascinated. i’ve researched the whole illuminati deal and have read tons of articles. this blog is simply to track everything out there in the media, discuss the issue with others and make sure people know the truth: that guilty or not, james holmes is mentally affected.
this bring me to my next point. i am a seventeen year old who suffers from bipolar disorder as well as borderline personality disorder. i have been through things that normal seventeen year olds wouldn’t. and i will defend james’ mentality until the truth is out. do not give me the bullshit about ‘because holmes is white, it’s a mental illness’. mental illness can effect ANY race. it effects everyone, everyday. and not everyone handles it the same.
At they like to point out on their blogs, this type of subculture isn’t particularly a new thing. There are fan groups for Charles Manson, the Columbine killers, etc., but that doesn’t mean that this isn’t a little disturbing. There’s something called hybristophilia, which is sexual attraction to someone who has committed and outrage or a crime. It’s also known as “The Bonnie and Clyde Syndrome.”
The major arguments they seem to make is that Holmes in human, and should be treated as such, that he may have a mental illness that prevented him from knowing right from wrong (the legal insanity plea,) or he might be completely innocent. There are plenty of conspiracy theories that he didn’t work alone, or that he was set up. Some people even believe, because of some inconsistencies two photos of him, that James Holmes is not even the same person who’s in jail right now. The two photos do look different, but they are of him at different ages, expressions, angles, and lighting. This theory goes so far as to say that James Holmes was drugged, and is being held somewhere captive, and his father isn’t speaking out about it because he’s being threatened because he was set to testify in the Libor banking scandal case.
