Aurora, CO

I got a phone call earlier today from my mother.

"I'm sure you've seen the news, about what happened in Colorado at the Batman movie.  I wanted to get your thoughts on why this guy did what he did, since they're saying the movie influenced him and you know more about those movies."

The funny thing is...I was prepared with an answer.

The news of what happened in Aurora hit me while I was at work.  At around 4:30 in the morning, my coworker put on CNN; I had my back to the TV at first, but that quickly changed once I started hearing words like "multiple gunshots," "panic" and "confirmed dead."  By now I'm sure that I don't have to go into specifics about what happened since every news outlet has been focused on this story since it broke.  What I want to do instead is just share my own thoughts on the media speculation on why this man did what he did.

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"With respect, Master Wayne, perhaps this is a man that you don't fully understand...some men aren't looking for anything logical...they can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with.  Some men just want to watch the world burn." - Alfred Pennyworth, The Dark Knight
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 It was that exact quote that went through my head upon hearing the first reporter talk about motives.  This attack has shown that not only was this fully planned out, but the man responsible wanted to be captured and wanted police to search his apartment.  Why and for what reason we may never know.  But why do we need to know?  What does that solve?  The thing is, every single time something like this happens, people need to know what the reason is - what is the meaning, the symbolism behind this event?  They feel that it will help them grasp the situation better and somehow make it more rational.  In the long run though, it only serves to alter freedoms of people that were not even victimized by this crime.

For example, AMC Theaters have already begun to deny costumed patrons entry into their theaters.  This was within the span of 12 hours after the shootings took place.  In the same article I read, there were mentions of increased police presence at cinemas.

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"Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets...you know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go "according to plan," even if the plan is horrifying.  If tomorrow I tell the press that a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics.  Because it's all "part of the plan."  But when I say that one, little old mayor will die...well then everyone loses their minds!   Introduce a little anarchy.  Upset the established order, and everything becomes...chaos." - Joker, The Dark Knight
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 The fact of the matter is that we'll probably never know why he did this.  Oh sure, we might get the usual, "Well, the movies clearly influenced his actions," argument; frankly, I'm surprised we haven't had a dose of, "It's because of Doom/Halo/Call of Duty/video games in general," yet.  Do I think that The Dark Knight had a major influence on this guy?  If you've been paying attention to the quotes I've posted, then you should have your answer by now.  But do I think that's an adequate reason for his actions?  Absolutely not.  The man had something else going on inside of his clearly gifted brain; whether it was emotions gone awry, psychological trauma or mental illness is yet to be seen.  For now though, we just have Anderson Cooper and company speculating and dragging witnesses and victims in front of the camera asking for their take in true media fashion.  The point is, we can't let this persons actions turn the "established order" into "chaos."  Giving into the panic of trying to find a motive only serves to make these actions valid in his eyes.

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 "You don't want to die, but you don't know how to take a life...give it to me, and I'll do what you should've done ten minutes ago." - Big, burly inmate, The Dark Knight
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So...instead of watching the coverage on the news, I'm choosing to do what that big, burly inmate did towards the end of The Dark Knight - toss the detonator that is this event out the window, and sit back down.  What's happened has happened, and I choose to not give into fear purveyed by what I feel is the attempted recreation of a character based on a character in a comic book.  I'm going to keep on going to movies, I'm going to keep on enjoying violent content and I'm damn sure still going to see The Dark Knight Rises.  But above all I'm going to keep realizing that just because the media tells you that a motive hasn't been figured out yet, it still doesn't change the fact that 12 people are dead on account of some crazy asshole that doesn't need me wasting thought on or wasting airtime of news networks.