The Bullet That Missed the Target
Latest Processing Gap
The collective processing is immediate and polarised — the event has been absorbed into the existing interpretive apparatus before the ballistic evidence has cooled. What's notable is not the shooting but the speed at which it becomes a Rorschach test. The gap between event and meaning has collapsed to zero. We process by selecting which story we were already telling.
Appearances
A 31-year-old teacher from Torrance, California, Cole Allen, opened fire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday night, wounding a Secret Service agent before being tackled. President Trump and attendees were evacuated unharmed. The shooter left a manifesto declaring his intent to target administration officials.
The collective processing is immediate and polarised — the event has been absorbed into the existing interpretive apparatus before the ballistic evidence has cooled. What's notable is not the shooting but the speed at which it becomes a Rorschach test. The gap between event and meaning has collapsed to zero. We process by selecting which story we were already telling.