The episode, Holden’s Manifesto, aired on October 15th, 2014. 

As a UCSB student, as a member of the Greek community and as someone who personally knew one of the fatal victims of his crimes, I am baffled at the similarities between this Law And Order: SVU episode and the tragedy that struck my community. 

Breaking down the episode would show that the line, “The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event,” is upheld legally, considering it appears that Elliot Rodger’s infamous video served as a template. However, the personal video dialogue by the male actor channeling his persona used the term “brute,” a term that will be forever tainted in the minds of my fellow peers and I. 

My roommate walked into the living room as I was watching the episode on my laptop. She could only hear the dialogue when she asked why I was watching Elliot Rodger’s Manifesto. The fact that the “fictional person” was mistaken for an actual person exemplifies my disgust. 

Even more so, I wondered when this episode was written, filmed, and edited. They only waited 145 days to air it, but how many days did they wait before producing it? Law and Order SVU has been my favorite show and I can honestly say out of the 16 seasons I have maybe missed maybe half a dozen episodes and countlessly rewatched so many. 

I was always intrigued when I watched an episode that resembled an actual event and never thought twice about how it would impact those people who were affected by real event. Looking back now, I almost feel guilty for indulging in this show. 

Yes it promotes justice and brings awareness to sex crimes, but does it glamourize these crimes too? Even more so, does it glamourize the one’s committing these crimes? 

Elliot Rodger’s was a troubled man who wanted to be noticed by women. Many of us are battling with his actions and trying to move on. Maybe the show randomly created this character, or maybe they thought it wasn’t too soon. Or maybe, they didn’t think. 

Maybe they didn’t think that reincarnating bits of his persona into a character broadcasted for millions of viewers to watch would give him what he wanted: attention. 

Then again, my comments are not facts, but more so opinions. After all, “The following story is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event.”