The discussion of Zodiac made me wonder: When is the last time a serial killer -- a Zodiac, a Ted Bundy, a John Wayne Gacy, a Jeffrey Dahmer, a Son of Sam -- made the news? Maybe it's just me, but I can't remember hearing of any lately.
They seem to have become way overshadowed by mass murderers. I won't list those because they're already too sadly familiar.
If such a change has indeed occurred, it's neither a good thing or a bad thing, since of course both are horrible. But I wonder if there are any cultural reasons why mass murderers -- who at one time were really rare -- have supplanted serial killers as the current dominant evil. The availability of high-powered weapons probably has something to do with it, and maybe a copycat effect.
I remember reading an account by someone who grew up in, like, the 50s. One night his family heard about somebody shooting multiple people on a subway, and the family was so shocked and upset they couldn't eat dinner. Now it's become such a common occurrence that, while still deeply upsetting, it's rarely shocking. We go ahead and eat dinner now because otherwise we'd be skipping dinner every few weeks.
FWIW, I first learned of the Orlando shootings on the crawl of a TV set with the volume off in the breakfast area of my hotel. I asked the guy behind the counter where it had happened. He gave me the name of the city, then I ate breakfast. That evening, Meryl filled in a few more details as we consumed martinis and octopus.
I'm sorry if that sounds coldhearted. I think it's more like desensitized, unfortunately.
I remember a friend in a long phone conversation got annoyed with me because I didn't have some thoughtful comment about the Charleston shootings. I wish I did. But what's to say anymore? I used to rant about guns or bigotry, but those rants have been done millions of times by millions of people, and they don't change anything.