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 Post subject: The BATMAN Shooting
PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 4:40 pm 
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Movies do not cause violence. There have been mass killings long before pop culture. The makers of BATMAN have no culpability in this shooting. The only one responsible is the murderer (who will not be named).

The caveats have been placed on the table.

But, we film fans must not just hide behind those caveats. We must look deeper – and, at ourselves.

Last week's shootings did not occur in a vacuum. The atmosphere in fanboy world was one of a frenzy:

-People had been pointing to the release of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES for weeks, months and, for the most devoted, years (practically from the second the end credits wrapped up on THE DARK KNIGHT back in 2008).

-The release came a week after the world's largest annual geek gathering - Comic Con, and all its attendant media hype.

-The mania was so high that fans posted taunts, highly graphic sexual insults and even vague death threats to the few critics who dared say that this BATMAN movie had no cape. It got so bad that Rotten Tomatoes has had to suspend the comments section on their site for the first time ever. Even today, if one goes to imdB and checks under "User Reviews" you will still find that any user who posts a negative review no matter how well thought out and reasoned will find his review tagged as not "useful" by the majority of respondents (even before many had even seen the movie). And, duck if you dare post anything negative on the imdB messageboard (there are a lot of deleted posts which indicates even more foul posts).

-THE DARK KNIGHT RISES' midnight openings were so popular and pre-sold out that there were theaters actually advertising shows at 3:45am. Parents were so gripped in a fever pitch that they were holding their kids out of school and skipping work themselves in order to stay up until dawn to see it.

-The killer did color his hair and referred to himself as the Joker and he did have Batman paraphernalia in his booby-trapped apartment.

NONE of this is an excuse or an explanation for what the murderer did, but, it should give us film fans pause to reflect on how we contributed to such a state of mass cinematic delirium. To wit:

-No matter how much one loves a particular film (or series), don't fixate on it above all others. Don't obsess and watch the same film over and over, watch every special feature on the DVD incessantly, and read every internet posting for "clues", "secrets" and "hidden meanings". Have a steady balanced approach to cinema. Sample genres, filmmakers, and eras outside of your main interests. Same goes with events like Comic Con - expand your mind.

-If you are on social media, don't pile on when you see folks ganging up on somebody who expresses a different view. If you are an administrator of a Website or Forum, don't let the comments section become a fulcrum of hate speech, racial taunts and violent threats. There will always be disagreements and trolls, and you don't want to become a censor, but be careful what lines are crossed.

-Movies are not fresh produce. They don't have a set expiration date. It wasn't too long ago that it was socially acceptable to wait a week or two to see a film. Now, with social media at such a hysterical pitch it is no longer good enough to see a movie opening weekend, you must see it at that first Midnight show....or else! Several articles have recently been written about the new Midnight movie phenomenon where the most popular films are measured by how much they gross (as opposed to the old Midnight movies which were all about films that were outside the mainstream). Relax, the movie will still be there waiting for you to enjoy a few days from now.

-It was no coincidence that the killer selected a midnight show for this particular film. He knew the place would be packed, and he knew the attention he would garner would be at its max that night. Midnight shows should not be banned, but, again, relax everybody: The movie will playing at matinees a few hours later (as well as every 1/2 hour all afternoon and evening).

-Most importantly, if you see that somebody in your orbit is displaying obsessive tendencies, ask them about it. If they start stockpiling weapons and ammo get concerned. If it gets worse or they refuse to see it in themselves, get professional help.

Finally, movies are supposed to be an escape. They can be thoughtful as well as entertaining. We shouldn't let last week's shooting hamper our enjoyment of the cinema. We should keep it in perspective, however.

Peace to the victims.

Meet me at the Box Office, soon.

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 Post subject: Re: The BATMAN Shooting
PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 7:01 pm 
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I agree with some of what you say. However, the bottom line is that the murderer, James Holmes, though a very smart guy in school, clearly has a mental problem, a disconnect with what is right and wrong. If I didn't have an early morning job, I would have been at the midnight premiere of not only The Dark Knight Rises, but several others as well. I don't feel that is a negative thing. The only reason Holmes did what he did is because he is literally a disturbed human being. I could obsess and watch dvd's thousands of times and scan the internet for "clues and hidden meanings" for my whole life, and never once would there be a risk of a room full of people being shot at. I definitely agree that the vile negative message board posts pointed at critics who disliked the movie are completely uncalled for. However, to a much lesser degree than Holmes, those people also clearly have a disconnect with socially acceptable behaviors. I know that you clearly stated that there was NO excuse for what Holmes did, but the "mass cinematic delirium" had nothing to do with this massacre. Holmes more than likely picked TDKR's midnight premiere because he himself liked Batman. Otherwise, he would've gone into any other movie with much less hype and accomplished the same outcome, because he clearly only desired a packed and crowded room of people, something which cineplexes are full of at night no matter what time it is. I am just waiting for someone other than myself to respond to a massacre of this nature with a simple explanation that the person clearly has something wrong with them. It really burns me up to be told that somehow everyone else needs to fix something when a mentally unstable lunatic like Holmes does something like this. I respect your opinion on this matter, and harbor no ill will whatsoever toward you. I guess situations like this shooting polarize people in different ways. I look forward to continued movie and life-related discussions here on the marathon boards.

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 Post subject: Re: The BATMAN Shooting
PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 7:27 pm 
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I don't have the time or energy right now to debate how incredibly wrong you are for shaming moviegoers for being excited and obsessed over their enjoyment of art. And implying that we all need to calm down amidst the "frenzy" just because some idiot tragically violated the sanctum of a movie theater is just absurd.

Again with your "fresh produce" argument? It baffles me how someone closely involved in programming of Marathons and who appreciates the experience like you do would think that circumstance, timing, and general audience vibe have NOTHING to do with film appreciation.

This is a senseless tragedy and my heart goes out to every victim and their families. We will undoubtedly find more information in the coming weeks, and until then I cannot even begin to speculate on the killer's motivations. But, the first thing we can do in the healing process is to not refer to it as "the Batman shooting." Thankfully, the media has not taken this and run with it like I feared they might. The movie playing at the time of the tragic massacre is irrelevant. Do not make The Dark Knight Rises a victim.

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 Post subject: Re: The Shooting
PostPosted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 12:16 pm 
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This was a meaningless and terrible tragedy, human history is filled with pain and suffering and there is no end in sight. You can't find two people who agree on where to eat dinner so how do we expect to unite the planet under the flag of World Peace?

There is no good reason why the shooter did this because you can't apply reason where there is none, a "normal" person can not fathom what is going on in the mind of a psychopath. I am sure Hitler, Stalin, Manson, Napoleon etc. all thought they were justified in their actions.

As a society all we can do when this type of violence happens is keep the victims and their families in our prayers and hold our own family a little closer.

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 Post subject: Re: The BATMAN Shooting
PostPosted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 2:34 pm 
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My intentions on the post were to keep politics out of it. There are plenty of places to debate that. However, it is also much too easy to just say, "the guy is nuts, or, a 'monster'" and leave it at that. It takes us all off the hook. I wanted to spur a discussion specifically amongst dedicated movie fans over how the atmosphere of last week may have had an even infinitesimal impact on what happened.

We do not know yet whether the killer was legally insane, but we do know that he became obsessed with Batman and he picked that movie and that night to carry out his dirty deed. As many others have noted, virtually all shootings associated with movies have been at ones with violent themes - GODFATHER III, GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN', BOYS IN THE HOOD and yes, the 1989 BATMAN. They don't happen at Arthouse cinemas.

I did emphasize several times that the killer is alone responsible in the end. However, things don't happen in a vacuum. It never hurts to question what outside factors may have contributed to such a horrible act. As I also repeated in my piece - relax. Don't feel you "must" join in on a media/social media frenzy. If we all take a few moments to reflect, perhaps we can defuse at least some of the pressure that was in the air that fateful midnight.

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 Post subject: Re: The Shooting
PostPosted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 3:33 pm 
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"Movies don't create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative!" - Scream

The fact of the matter is that this guy was going to kill people no matter what his favorite movie, rock band or video game is. The only difference is that most concert and sports arenas have tight security to prevent this type of thing from happening (not including the Alrosa Villa) and movie theatres generally don't have security making it a perfect target for his assult. If going forward movie theatres start using security the price of admission and the price of snacks will go up to cover the cost, just an FYI.

Sometimes the answer is just as simple as "he's nuts" please remember that prior to the invention of Movies and TV plenty of people commited murder, what was there motive?

Most of us on this board can remember when the the MPAA went overboard with 80's horror films like "My Bloody Valentine" and forced the studios to chop it to bits before giving it an "R" rating and I for one do not want this incedent to spawn another witch hunt. This guy is to blame and nothing else (PERIOD)

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 Post subject: Re: The BATMAN Shooting
PostPosted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 3:51 pm 
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L.A. Connection wrote:
My intentions on the post were to keep politics out of it. There are plenty of places to debate that. However, it is also much too easy to just say, "the guy is nuts, or, a 'monster'" and leave it at that. It takes us all off the hook. I wanted to spur a discussion specifically amongst dedicated movie fans over how the atmosphere of last week may have had an even infinitesimal impact on what happened.

We do not know yet whether the killer was legally insane, but we do know that he became obsessed with Batman and he picked that movie and that night to carry out his dirty deed. As many others have noted, virtually all shootings associated with movies have been at ones with violent themes - GODFATHER III, GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN', BOYS IN THE HOOD and yes, the 1989 BATMAN. They don't happen at Arthouse cinemas.

I did emphasize several times that the killer is alone responsible in the end. However, things don't happen in a vacuum. It never hurts to question what outside factors may have contributed to such a horrible act. As I also repeated in my piece - relax. Don't feel you "must" join in on a media/social media frenzy. If we all take a few moments to reflect, perhaps we can defuse at least some of the pressure that was in the air that fateful midnight.


There was no "pressure" in the air that night to defuse. There was a large number of people gathered because they all wanted to see a damn movie. To imply that the VICTIMS contributed to their fate because they (wrongly, in your opinion) were not "relaxing" is batshit insane nonsense.

If you want to keep making your straw man argument that you are so much cooler than everyone else for not getting enamored with media hype, that is fine. But please don't do it within the context of this terrible, unfortunate incident.

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 Post subject: Re: The BATMAN Shooting
PostPosted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 5:02 pm 
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Unfortunately, I guess it is much easier to put one's head in the sand, than to examine ourselves, as some of these, must I say it, 'frenzied' responses indicate. If one refuses to acknowledge that an atmosphere where death threats are made to film critics, people dropping school and work responsibilities because they "must" see a movie at 3:45am, and folks who obsess over movies and violent images to the exclusion of other art isn't at least worth thinking about, so be it. I am far far far from the only one asking these questions, and it is incumbent upon all of us to do so and not lash out reflexively.

I simply ask that one read my entire original post and think about it in context.

I will refrain until other voices are heard here.

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 Post subject: Re: The BATMAN Shooting
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 2:41 am 
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OK, I'm coming out of self-imposed retirement to say this and then I am done.

Your problem is that you are equating the victims with the killer. They are not the same. The victims are not the people who made death threats to critics - that is a small minority of fans. Have you not seen any of the media coverage? They were normal, average people who love movies AND had plenty of other interests, friends and families and real lives. They went to a midnight show because they were excited to see a film. No one deserves to die for that.

People should be allowed to see a damn movie, whenever and wherever they choose, without fearing for their lives. Would you not agree with that statement? If not, I feel sorry for you. You cannot blame a movie or the hype surrounding it for the actions of one severely disturbed individual. Nor can you blame the victims for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If someone was shot at the Marathon, would you blame them for wanting to watch movies for 24 hours straight? I would hope not.

Is your point that Hollywood needs to stop making movies because they might set off a crazy person? Because that's the way you are coming off. I don't think you really believe that. I certainly hope not.

Let's leave the victims and their families in peace, and continue to do what we love to do without being afraid of the actions of a random lunatic. If you want to blame the movie or its content for the tragedy, you can go ahead and believe that, but I don't think you'll find much support for that argument here.


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 Post subject: Re: The Shooting
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 9:02 am 
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Ironically the best movie line that sums up this tragedy comes from THE DARK KNIGHT "Some men just want to watch the world burn" we can not get inside this maniacs mind and if we could that would be very scary.

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