Finally Adressing the Dark Knight Massacre

Hey, guys. I know it's been over a year since I've posted here, and that's mostly because I've been too distracted by other projects. But tomorrow will be the one month anniversary of the Dark Knight massacre in Aurora, CO, and after watching the episode of Spoilers with Kevin Smith where he gathers together his group of friends together to talk through the tragedy, I felt a rush of feelings about it that I didn't allow myself to feel as it was happening. I feel like I owe it to myself to talk through those and put in my two cents as a person who loves superheros and loves movies and loves humans.

I watched aghast from the sidelines, gathering up all the stories I could find about the victims, the survivors, and the crazy man who tried to ruin the movies. I watched for the bright spots, the men who sacrificed their lives trying to lead others to safety, or shielding their loved ones. They gave me hope that maybe superheros are everywhere, waiting to be called. But I haven't gone back to the movies yet.

I remember being so excited when The Dark Knight came out. I had just started working a new summer job and I was out with my friend to see the midnight showing. When we got to the theatre, all the tickets for midnight were sold out, but there were so many people who didn't get tickets, the theatre decided to have another showing at 3 am. So we bought tickets and waited. I called my mom and told her I probably wouldn't be back home until dawn.

To me, this movie would be a form of closure. Growing up, I was in love with Heath Ledger. I absolutely loved him, and when he died shortly after making The Dark Knight movie, I was crushed. I needed to see him and accept that this was the last movie he would ever complete.

Movies have always been like therapy to me. Getting lost in a story that teams of thousands of people built around nothing but words is a cleansing, life-affirming experience to me.

So naturally, when The Dark Knight Rises was announced, I got excited again. I wanted to hear the rest of the story. I knew I couldn't go to the midnight showing, but I had made plans to go see the movie that weekend with my partner.

Then on Friday morning, I read the news that something bad had happened. That's when I began consuming all the news I could grab about it. Each story was more wrenching than the last, because each of the victims were just like me. They loved superheros and movies and went out to celebrate a new piece of art with people they loved. It was incredibly scary. The movies are supposed to be a safe place where you can escape these kinds of horrors. They're a kind of sanctuary. My church meets in a movie theatre for goodness sake. A theatre is a place where naturally, I feel at home and safe. Thousands of people are the same way. How dare somebody try and take that away from us?

Movies are so important to our culture. They illustrate our society in ways the news will never be able to. They're mirrors and time capsules and mouthpieces for our culture. They are very, very important, and sometimes people forget how important they are. So I'm going to stop being afraid and go watch a movie.

Love,
MM