“Some people just want to see the world burn.” -Alfred
Last night’s premiere of Nolan’s final Batman film was marred by the type of violence theater patrons expected to see on the screen as opposed to being victimized by it. A shooter stormed into a Batman premiere in Aurora, Colorado and opened fire. At least 12 died and 58 more were injured according to CNN. People are looking for answers. They want to know how and why and what we would do next. Sadly, there are no answers and I believe that a month or three from now we will crawl back into our shells and allow ourselves to forget. We will do this, because it is the only way we can maintain the illusion of safety.
I have already heard, “he didn’t look like the type to do that.” Well, what does that type of person look like? I believe that, to allow ourselves to feel safe, we ascribe physical qualities to the behaviors we seek to avoid. So when someone says, “he doesn’t look like…” they are trying to rationalize their world view with the reality of the actions that occurred. It is a useful and foolish exercise, because what you are doing is slipping back into that illusion of safety where none actually exists.
My heart goes out to the families of the victims. This crime did not need to happen, and I suspect it happened because the person wanted to, as the quote suggests, see the world burn. This was not an assault on Batman. It may have been the venue because the nature of the film would maximize the number of victims and help to reveal the deeper motive. In fact, some reports suggest the guy died his hair red and claimed to be the joker (who actually has green hair). This event should serve as a reminder of the fragility and illusory nature of a safe society. No, this is not Kandahar. More of us Americans believe in shared civility than not, but in this age of advanced weaponry and accessibility it does not take very much to hide who you truly are and create a situation where you can cause a great deal of damage.
I doubt the shooter is the only person in our society who wants to see the world burn, and I know he won’t be the last to make it happen.