Yes Breivik's Headshots Were for the Slaughter

When the first pictures of Anders Breivik were released, I wondered whether: “these professionally-done headshots meant for this moment? Did he have them done in anticipation of seeing them splashed all over the world and included in history books? Did he mean to look as posed as possible for posterity?”

It seems that yes, yes they were posed for, for posterity.

“The police usually ‘leak’ ‘retarded looking’ photos to the press after raiding the cell’s apartment after an operation,” Brevik wrote. So he advised his would-be supporters to become well-groomed and have professional photos of themselves made.

“Visit a male salon if possible and apply light makeup,” he wrote. “Yes, I know — this might sound repulsive to big badass warriors like us, but we must look our best for the shoot.”

Got news for you, Breivik, if you were trying not to look “retarded” you succeeded beyond your wildest imaginings. You look like the very model of a modern metrosexual mediocrity.

Only not as smart.

Even worse — if pictures are worth 1000 words, then we should be grateful to you for taking the time to pose, for the rest of us. You’ve provided us with the very illustration of the banality of evil.

Evil has no substance of its own, but is only the defect, excess, perversion, or corruption of that which has substance. — John Henry Newman

And your substance is so…so…blandly unremarkable — even as hard as you have tried — it is ultimately unmemorable, except in its self-consciousness.