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When I heard the awful news about a shooting at a midnight premier of "The Dark Knight Rises", I was filled with grief for the victims. Then I found out it had taken place in Aurora, a town I know well, because I lived there for a year. Somehow that made it worse, and I wept openly as the news trickled in about the horrible day.
My prayers are for the victims, their families, and the first responders who managed to bring the shooter in alive to face trial.
Now dont mind me, I think I still have a few tears left to shed.
Comments
Colorado shooting hits home
A sad way to mark the midnight premier of "The Dark Knight Rises",
May Your Light Forever Shine
Angry! (STRONG CAUTION)
I am so angry. This has been politicized even brought into the discussion about Paterno's statue. I wrote a blog today; here's an excerpt. Please excuse the repetitive nature of the comment.
It’s not about comparisons and it’s not a fucking competition to see who was hurt the most. The two are tied together by the same evil cords; loss of innocence and the addition of misplaced guilt and shame. And the absolute feeling of helplessness! The man who may never be able to watch a movie again without thinking about his wife dying in his arms. The mother who cannot stop crying each time the front door opens and it’s a friend instead of her little boy. The girl who will never be able to be held by a boy without shuddering violently or the man who will never be able to sleep without crying into his pillow. The girl who cannot establish lasting relationships or the boy who vomits at the smell of his father's aftershave!
Watching the young mother on TV last night still shaking and crying hysterically while remembering her fear that she would be unable to protect her little kids reminded me of how I felt at eight when I realized I couldn’t protect my ten year old sister as we were raped repeatedly by my uncle. The anger the young man feels, not at the shooter, but himself instead; believing that somehow he should have moved quicker. The mother who wonders how to deal with her failure to say no to her son or daughter, sending them to watch a movie…what harm could there have been?
My nephew lives near the theater. Providentially, my sister-in-law says that they went to another theater at the same time of the showing; probably because of the availability of tickets or some such reason. He could have been killed, but he was spared because somehow things 'worked out.' It said that many of of the people in the theater that night actually thought that the shooter was part of some bizarre publicity stunt. Another article mentioned that his actions paralleled a similar scene in the Batman comic book series several years ago.
And I'm angry because people don't get it. Some of the survivors of Columbine are almost paralyzed by what they saw and underwent. Kids who were raped years ago still haven't 'moved on' as a few folks suggested on the PennLive site. It's not their responsibility and it certainly isn't their fault, but the folks at Warner Brothers would do well to consider establishing some sort of fund to help with this horror. Because when it all comes down to it, who the fuck cares about box office and premieres and sequels and such. It's only a fucking movie. (I didn't get any sleep last night; please excuse the language?)
Love, Andrea Lena
Media Attention vs. Obscurity
I have a suspicion that the young man who perpetrated this horrible event, may have led a lonely, miserable life. I'm extremely saddened by the speculation that he threw his own life away and RIPPED away the lives of so many innoscent people, in a bid for his "15 Minutes of Fame". We may never know the mind of this fellow, but I do hope there might be a way for this tragedy to garner some ray of hope or goodness when the 'dust settles'.
In the mean time my thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families. May peace and healing be theirs.
with love,
Hope
Once in a while I bare my soul, more often my soles bear me.
Lone Wolf
The Lone Wolf Syndrome I think it is called. Humans go nuts in just this way and have for millennia. One of the worst mass murders in US history occurred in Jonesboro, AR in the early part of last century. Back then it was local news and hardly made it even to St. Louis or Dallas. Now, such things are headlines all over the world.
It is ultimately sad. Our word amok comes from Malay via Tagalog and describes just such madness, tho two centuries ago it was usually a lone madman in a marketplace armed with a machete or a saber.
Being human is so very very painful at times.
Hugs to all,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Too many wolves in the world
The problem with our modern communication systems is that this tragic story is broadcast to the vast majority of people in the world. Somewhere out there, there are millions of Lone Wolves, some perhaps searching for a way of making their own big impact upon the society they hate.
Charlotte
Not enough data
Sounds plausible but there is no actual evidence that that this might be so. It's inherently hard to investigate and impossible to test theses on this subject except retroactively. The best evidence is that while suicides can be inspired by news of suicides, mass murders, except some politically motivated ones, do not seem to fit that model.
It's called the Lone Wolf Syndrome precisely because these people do not seem to be making decisions based on what other people think or do or say, even if they testify themselves otherwise. Personal stress is a factor but a big problem with these folk is that they do not seem to have the empathy required to see a news story and say to themselves, that could be me, I could do that.
These frequently seem to be motiveless crimes. A motive like a spurned lover or a frustrated student or political idealism may be guessed at but deeper investigation may show that the supposed motive does not stand up. These people seem to just snap and suddenly regard other humans as enemies. It seems to happen to wolves, lions, rats, elephants, pigs and orcas, too.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
There is evidence
to suggest that those who have decided to either kill themselves or have police marksman do it, see others as unimportant, possibly non-human. This was certanly the case in the Cumbria shootings when the taxi driver went on a rampage and shot anyone he saw, excluding a child, whom he let go.
I believe the reasoning is, that once one has decided to die, no one's life has any value either. It's ironic that we can be the most creative and destructive creatures on the planet, and the most compassionate or cruel species. What a paradox humans are.
Angharad