Fresh wounds- July 20, 2012
I was only 8-years-old in 1989 when Batman was released in theaters. I wasn’t allowed to see it because it was rated PG-13. A few years later I finally got to watch it on VHS Home Video. It was glorious with all it’s rewinding and FBI warnings! It had all the mystery and sexual tension I was too young to understand, but dying to see more of. All the kids had Batman Happy Meal toys or Joker lunchboxes. It was a franchise reinvented. I had only ever seen the old Batman show on TV with my parents. To me the BAMS! and POWS! were lame, dated, and should stay on Nick at Nite where they belonged. This Batman was so much cooler!
Through the years of the Batman movies I was a teen, college student, and young adult. I remember giggling with my sunburned classmates and sharing popcorn with a boy at one of the Batman’s. I think it might have been the summer between 7th and 8th grade. Wasn’t it the best thing to go to the big summer blockbuster? No matter how cheesy, it had all the effects and fight scenes everyone was talking about. It was fun. It was one of the little things that made summer great.
When I woke up this morning and looked at the news alert on my phone my heart dropped. Aurora, Colorado. No! Not there. Not in that community. Not again.
You see, my husband is from Littleton, Colorado. The high school across town from Greyson’s was Columbine. His family still doesn’t like to talk about April 20, 1999. I can’t imagine a worse place for another mass shooting aside from Tuscon, Arizona or Blacksburg, Virginia. As the horrible, gritty details unfolded about what James Holmes did in that movie theater Greyson said, “I didn’t realize the wounds were still that fresh.”
Holmes not only brutally killed a dozen people and wounded dozens more, he opened the old wounds of Coloradans and Americans. My heart ached for the people of that community as they were forced to remember what happened 13 years ago. I imagined the alumni of Virginia Tech who were students just five years ago. Did this incident open their old wounds too? What about Congresswoman Gabby Giffords? Were she and others flashing back to that day in January, 2011?
Holmes also ignited the debate for gun control. Will movie theaters now require metal detectors and ban midnight premieres? Now I wonder if costumes will be banned in the theater, no more Batman look-alikes. No more kids dressed as Yoda. Suddenly the most in innocuous of activities, going to the movies, is dangerous.
I say, let’s not be afraid. Greyson and I were going to get our tickets to the new Batman movie tomorrow night. We still might. Don’t let this evil grip us with fear. That’s what this guy wanted. He wanted us to be afraid, like the “Joker” he claimed to be.
Spread it around:
This is a beautiful post, Amy. Thank you for sharing. I’m so sorry your husband’s wounds were scraped raw with this incident. I didn’t even make that connection. I was too busy feeling raw myself, ya know? Just as a mom – and someone whose own husband had been at a Batman marathon (including a midnight premiere showing of the new one) that very night. Maybe … and I’m just realizing this as I write it out … that’s part of what hit me so hard yesterday. Thanks for sharing and hugs to you both.
Thanks Andrea! It was just a lousy day for everyone. ::hugs::
I refuse to live my life in fear because people are assholes.
Amen! And the movie rocked!
Excellent post! I can only imagine how your husband & his community must have felt after this latest occurrence. These incidents are so tragic, yet so difficult to make any sense of. I hope that this event doesn’t stop dressing up at movies. While I don’t dress up, I’ve loved seeing people dressed up at Star Wars, Harry Potter & the Lord of the Rings.
Thanks KeAnne! I agree Dressing up is goofy but it’s part of the atmosphere of those films. This guy stole the innocence of going to the movies.
Absolutely agree with what you’ve said here. I made a similar argument in a blog post yesterday where I pointed out the media’s role in all of this. The more we glorify the individuals behind these tragedies and give them 24/7 news coverage, the more likely we are to see this kind of behavior repeat itself.
The best thing we can do is to try to carry on, keeping the victims and their families in our thoughts and prayers. Not going to theaters out of fear after such a tragedy only gives the individuals who commit these atrocities more power.
Hey Jeremy! Thanks for the comment! Here’s the thing. As a former news reporter I think we need to keep covering it, keep talking about it on the news, and to continue to follow up on this story. We have to. Sharing the memorial services, the President’s visit, then Holmes’ court appearances are a way for the nation to continue to heal and to see justice be done.
I think if people are feeling overwhelmed by the media coverage they can turn it off. You know?
I think there is always the worry that this will empower the killer or other copycats, but I don’t know that there’s a way to prevent that.