I hate the way the Aurora shooting is being handled. I hate it because he’s winning. And he isn’t winning because he was clever, because he wasn’t. I shouldn’t know his name, I shouldn’t know his face, his act of cowardice should not be given a fancy title for better headlines, I’m tired of seeing his stupid orange hair on the news, I shouldn’t be hearing detailed reports about how “sophisticated” his booby-traps were, I don’t want to know who he voted for, what his online dating profile said, or what posters he displayed on his wall. This guy, whose name I shouldn’t even know, is a piece of garbage and by showing his picture and analyzing every aspect of his life in public view, the media is turning him into a celebrity and that is exactly what he wants. Giving great attention to terrible character can only prove to like-minded sickos that the world will watch and the world will care.
By having a discussion about outlawing costumes in theaters, he wins.
By debating whether or not to pull “The Dark Knight Rises” from theaters, he wins.
By postponing a comic book this week because it’s Batman and because it features gruesome violence, he wins.
Every action we as a society take to let this tragedy ripple beyond that bloody theater, he wins.
I don’t think we should talk about him anymore and I don’t think we should be paranoid about repeat attempts by copycats. Instead we should be thankful that people are so truly decent deep down that a tragedy like this was unprecedented. We’ve been gathering in closed-off, dark rooms together totally vulnerable as we watch movies since 1902. Guns have always been around, depression, madness, celebrity, all these things have been present yet it took 110 years for someone this pathetic to ruin it all.
The only names worth remembering from this event belong to the victims. The only lives worth celebrating are those cut short.
Jonathan Blunk
AJ Boik
Jesse Childress
Gordon Cowden
Jessica Ghawi
John Larimer
Matt McQuinn
Micayla Medek
Veronica Moser-Sullivan
Alex Sullivan
Alexander C. Teves
Rebecca Ann Wingo
Here are photos of the victims.
“Batman: The Dark Knight” will be on shelves as usual. “Batman Inc.” has been pushed back to August 22nd, which in my eyes does nothing more than ensure this sick bastard remains a part of the national discussion one month longer.
-Andrew Asberry
The Governor of Colorado has suggested that if you would like to help the victims of this senseless crime go to GivingFirst.org
