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Carmageddon
Feb. 6th, 2009 08:57 amI've had this link for positively ages now but really had no idea how to start actually writing about it. First of all, I'm not sure if it's been common knowledge for years - however, I certainly didn't hear anything about it in Britain, and it seems like the kind of thing that the Internet would be all over anyway. The second problem is that it's one of those things that you really don't know whether you can laugh at or not - if this were fictional it would be amazing, but in real life it sort of points to someone being tragically pushed to do something unspeakably destructive. However, I feel better about relating it because the only person he killed was himself.
I think it shows some of the main differences that we in Britain perceive about America. In Britain, if your town allows a construction company to move in, which then makes a lot of noise and blocks the way to where we live or work, then we get a bit annoyed about it, mumble among ourselves and write a letter of complaint to the council (and the local newspaper if the situation is really bad). In America, the direct approach is more obvious - you waste no time, and instead build an armored bulldozer and demolish the town hall.
Not just that - rather than go on a shooting rampage like we normally hear about, using the twelve semi-automatic rifles and bazooka that most people have in their attic here, this real-life supervillain's trail of destruction involved a hit list of buildings owned by people who had wronged him, including several houses and the newspaper office. I suppose it's either that or take them on to The People's Court, which would seem to be a slightly more painful experience. Everyone was evacuated from the buildings he destroyed well ahead of time, as with layers and layers of metal and concrete on it the whole thing could only move at speeds comparable to an improvised vehicle put together by the cast of Top Gear - though it was about as indestructible as a Toyota Hilux, with the stopping power of the local police force unable to make a dent in it. The chaos came to an end when the bulldozer got caught on the side of a building like some useless British Rail attempt, and its occupant shot himself before the police could get in to give him his total score.
There's some helicopter news coverage of the whole thing here - the number of comments hailing him as a true American hero is probably the most disturbing part. But this is Youtube, we're not going to get any copycat rampages from there. The most rebellious thing they're likely to do is fail to hand in their homework on time.
I think it shows some of the main differences that we in Britain perceive about America. In Britain, if your town allows a construction company to move in, which then makes a lot of noise and blocks the way to where we live or work, then we get a bit annoyed about it, mumble among ourselves and write a letter of complaint to the council (and the local newspaper if the situation is really bad). In America, the direct approach is more obvious - you waste no time, and instead build an armored bulldozer and demolish the town hall.
Not just that - rather than go on a shooting rampage like we normally hear about, using the twelve semi-automatic rifles and bazooka that most people have in their attic here, this real-life supervillain's trail of destruction involved a hit list of buildings owned by people who had wronged him, including several houses and the newspaper office. I suppose it's either that or take them on to The People's Court, which would seem to be a slightly more painful experience. Everyone was evacuated from the buildings he destroyed well ahead of time, as with layers and layers of metal and concrete on it the whole thing could only move at speeds comparable to an improvised vehicle put together by the cast of Top Gear - though it was about as indestructible as a Toyota Hilux, with the stopping power of the local police force unable to make a dent in it. The chaos came to an end when the bulldozer got caught on the side of a building like some useless British Rail attempt, and its occupant shot himself before the police could get in to give him his total score.
There's some helicopter news coverage of the whole thing here - the number of comments hailing him as a true American hero is probably the most disturbing part. But this is Youtube, we're not going to get any copycat rampages from there. The most rebellious thing they're likely to do is fail to hand in their homework on time.
