MANILA, Philippines – Aurora mass murder suspect James Holmes has apparently gained “fans.”
Holmes, accused of shooting dead 12 people and wounding 58 others at a cinema in Aurora, outside Denver, last July 20, appears to have gotten a following on social media who call themselves and are referred to as “Holmies.”
Holmies
Holmies began making their presence felt on the social networking site Tumblr. An article on tech news website Mashable said most of the Tumblr users who have created posts with reference to the 24-year-old suspect are teenagers.
Nydailynews.com has reported about the “weird” fandom of teenage girls who post their own photos wearing plaid and sometimes even drinking a Slurpee to show their admiration for Holmes. This was in reference to reports that Holmes was wearing plaid under the body armor he wore when he allegedly opened fire at moviegoers. A video of him addressing a science camp, when he was 18 years old, also showed that he said his dream was to someday own a Slurpee machine.
One girl captioned her photo, “Wearin plaid, sipping on a Slurpee. Just a typical Holmie.”
Some female Holmies on Twitter even said they found Holmes “cute.”
Apparently some people think that James Holmes the mass murderer is “kind cute”. wow. twitter.com/Afrotonomy/sta…
— Ubuntu (@Afrotonomy) July 25, 2012
Dailymail.co.uk also reported on the support Holmes is getting online and described it as “sick.”
Several netizens echo this general opinion of Holmies.
I just saw a tweet that said “James Holmes is cute.”…I no longer want to live on this planet anymore.
— E87 (@Establish87) July 25, 2012
Some teenage girls created Tumblrs in support of the Batman gunman, James Holmes and call themselves ‘Holmies’. Sick. freeholmes.tumblr.com
— Aysha (@ayshardzn) August 1, 2012
There’s a fandom around James Holmes and they call themselves “Holmies.” What the heck is wrong with humanity…
— Phillip B. (@Zonified) August 1, 2012
But others have chimed in and said being a Holmie is more than just dressing up in plaid and “sipping on a Slurpee.”
Holmies divided
As united as the outsiders of the Holmies group are with their hating and lecturing toward the online group, the Holmies themselves seem to be divided.
Scanning Tumblr for the tag Holmies does not only reveal posts of the group sharing – whether real or ironic – inside jokes, displays of devotion and interest in Holmies art but also of a few Tumbler ‘Holmie’ users like hames-jolmes who said not all Holmies are fan girls or fans.
Some owners of Tumblr blogs dedicated to Holmes said they just want to study the case and the suspect’s “criminal mind.”
What do you think? How does this story make you feel? Vote on our mood meter and leave a comment below. – Rappler.com
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.