Gunner

This week’s shooting tragedy that took place in a crowded midnight screening of, “The Dark Knight Rises,” had nothing to do with the movie, Chris Nolan’s trilogy, or Batman in general, but it’d be hard to tell that by listening to the media. Every news story about the movie makes certain you know just what movie was playing, because to them that’s the most important ingredient in the case. The shooter likely chose the time and location because he knew it’d be as crowded as possible. He knew people wouldn’t be able to escape with him blocking the exit and it’d be a simple matter for him to make a breakaway. He’d already planned it out by placing his gear outside the exit where he could quickly don it and step back inside. The fact that the movie itself contained gunfire would add to the confusion, making it ideal.

Again, it had nothing to do with Batman. Even when he told police, “I’m the Joker,” it still had nothing to do with Batman. He’d dyed his hair a ridiculous orange colour. If he’d been trying to emulate the fictional character of the Joker, he obviously would have dyed it green. People were trying to find a parallel between what he did and something the Joker might have done during his past eighty years or so in comics. They won’t find any, because his plan wasn’t based on a comic book. It was based on opportunity.

People are also calling for tighter gun control. The man already had access to several kinds of explosives, as his booby-trapped house obviously proves. He could have brought a bomb with him, left it on his chair, and left the theatre as it exploded. The result would have been the same, or worse. Madmen pick guns either because of the convenience, the allure, or the thrill of them. One of the women in the audience had escaped a shooting in Toronto several weeks earlier. Canada has tighter gun control laws than their American counterparts, but nearly half as many people have died, or were injured in a shooting last week in Toronto. Nothing but an unenforceable and total ban on guns would stop gun violence, although it’s ridiculous that one person could stockpile such an enormous arsenal and munitions supplies without raising any red flags.