Dear Readers,
It's been a while since I last dazzled you with my wit and humor. I had plans to write about The Amazing Spiderman and how it really was amazing. I had every intention of detailing my day long wait for the final chapter of Christopher Nolan's epic Batman trilogy with a review of The Dark Knight Rises (which was epic and made me cry and hate the movie and then love the movie). But none of that seemed relevant in light of the tragedy of the Aurora shootings.
How does one make sense or make light or even try to move on from something that horrific when they were never even involved? People told me the following days that they immediately thought of me because they know where I sit is where the gunman first fired. They asked me if I was afraid to go to the movies or even to dress up. Can I really tell them that I am not afraid when in reality I have such a vivid imagination that when I used to do my paper route at night I was sure people were following me and that vampires roamed the streets of Livonia?
While those are two opposite ends of the spectrum in regards to an active imagination, I can not tell you that I will be ever fully comfortable in a theater. I am always aware of who's behind me or in front of me. But will I let that stop me from going? Absolutely not. You can not take away my love of cinema by causing panic and fear or intimidation. Nor will I let any of you be intimidated.
To those who worry about me, I can't really do anything to assuage your fears. I will not stop going to movies, especially not midnight premieres. If someone should get the idea to terrorize my theater, I will do my best to get out in one piece but I also don't know if I would sit by either. If I had any opportunity to stop this sick person, I promise you I will.
We never know when its our time, that's kind of the point of the saying 'Live each day to the fullest'. If the people who survived the horrific events of that night learned anything it is that is so true. They made it out because of fate, God, or whatever reason, but they survived. I would hope that going to the movies is not completely ruined for them. The simple joy of immersing oneself in another world, place, time, or life is something that we need in an age of uncertainty, chaos, and destruction.
It seems disrespectful to mention the shooter in this blog but I do have something to say about his choice to embody the Joker in his moment of insanity. People do crazy things for many reasons. When I say 'moment of insanity' I say this fully believing that he was a sane individual with a sickness. He chose his outfit and his appearance on purpose. On purpose. To blame an actor's incredibly realistic portrayal of a madman as his inspiration is just as mad as to blame violence in movies and video games. People make specific decisions and use these excuses. It is in the person's personal makeup to do these acts of violence and not in the scapegoats that they blame it on.
The reality of this shooting is that people died for no reason. No reason other than a sick man's desire to be famous for an unspeakable act of terror. Heroes are rising and some will never be recognized the way others will. Christian Bale visited the victims last week and I believe this really shows his appreciation to his fans and just his generosity and truly loving spirit. We all lock in on this image and focus on it instead of other heroes from that night but since Bale portrays these people's hero, Batman, I believe that he really can do something special for these people. By acting like a regular Joe, he really has transformed himself into a hero.
As Commissioner Gordon told his son in The Dark Knight, "A hero. Not the hero we deserved but the hero we needed. Nothing less than a knight. Shining." Bale can be that hero the he himself spoke of as well, "Gotham needs a hero with a face."
"Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded."
