Why isn't anyone concerned with the similarities between Bates Motel and Newtown?

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Madame's Nightshirt
Mrs. Peperium

 

 

A&E's "Bates Motel" is kind of a mess, but that's one of the reasons it's fun to watch. The drama is, of course, based on Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho," and the novel by Robert Bloch. Technically, it's a prequel, focusing on Norman Bates before he went off the deep end, and on his mother before she became beef jerky on a rope.

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Adam Lanza, 20, fatally shot twenty children and six adult staff members in a mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School in the village of Sandy Hook in Newtown, Connecticut. Before driving to the school, Lanza had shot and killed his mother Nancy at their Newtown home. As first responders arrived, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

 

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Norman Bates

 

Adam Lanza

 

Norman's mother.

 

Adam's mother.

 

 

 

Norman's home.

 

Adam's home.

 

Unfortunately for Hollywood, the similarities extend beyond the physical:

"Norman discovers a strange notebook filled with drawings of Asian women in bondage..."

"Just two weeks before the Newtown shooting, Nancy discovered ghastly and sinister pictures in her son’s room featuring dead bodies..."

 

We get that he's an outsider and that he has no social skills. But as a character, he becomes ironically more three-dimensional only when he's home with his mother. Well, you know what they say: A boy's best friend is his mother. In the case of "Bates Motel," make that "fiend."

 

What emerges in this exploration of a still unfolding story is a portrait of a mother, apparently devoted but perhaps misguided, struggling to find her son a place in society, and a boy, exceptionally smart in some areas, profoundly deficient in others, who never found a place in the world. Although he had played musical instruments, studied foreign languages and had a part-time job at a computer shop, Adam remained isolated and distant.

 

Any chance Bates Motel will go the way of the assualt rifle?

A&E has picked up the "Pyscho" prequel series, which stars Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga as Norman and Norma Bates respectively, for a second season.

The renewal of "Bates Motel" comes as no surprise: The premiere brought in 3.0 million viewers total, making it the most-watched original drama debut in the key demographics in A&E's history.

“Bates Motel’ has garnered critical acclaim and a loyal audience in its first few weeks,” said A&E President Bob DeBitetto in a statement. “With superb writing and exceptional acting, led by the critically acclaimed performances of Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore, we’re incredibly excited to see where [executive producers] Carlton [Cuse] and Kerry [Ehrin] take Norma and Norman Bates next.”

 

Incredibly excited?

The 26 victims of Sandy Hook were unavailable for comment.

 

 

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