Life Imitates Art?

It's odd how often this happens -- something significant makes news headlines and then, as if in joint step with the news, as if it knew something ahead of time, Hollywood eerily brings something similar to us in the form of entertainment, filmed PRIOR to the real-life event.

It's the final season of one of the best shows ever on TV, "The Sopranos", and at my house, we're eagerly watching to see what becomes of Tony and the gang after all these seasons.

Last night's episode was a bit eery to me. This particular show followed the activities of Uncle Junior in the mental/prison hospital and the new relationships he has built there. One new ally, a young mentally disturbed Asian man, could not help but bring to mind the recent VTech killer. Towards the end of the show, the young man snapped and violently attacked Uncle Junior in a clearly disturbed mental state.

While none of this is a reflection on young Asian men in general, I couldn't help but notice the eery similarity of it -- the actor's physical attributes (build, haircut, age, etc.) were very similar to that of the VTech killer. And his mental state and hostility towards others clearly brought Cho to mind for me.

While I'm sure the story line and the selection of a young Asian male in this role were purely coincidental, the timing of it all was just eery. A week after the VTech killings, television' s top show airs an episode in which a young, mentally disturbed Asian man snaps (albeit on a smaller scale). Still, it seemed strangely topical, especially for something that must have been written and filmed months ago.

Maybe we should look ahead and see what Hollywood is working on for future release. It might just tell us something about what's next in the headlines.