I know that seems an odd statement coming from a website that revels in movies, but that was my immediate response to the many film bloggers and fans who took to the Internet and pleaded with people to “Go see a movie this weekend” as the best way to respond to the tragic events that left 12 killed, 58 injured, at the time of this writing, during last night’s midnight screening of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado.
Really? Burying oneself in the passive experience that is movie-watching for a couple of hours is the best next step to take? I am sure the aforementioned folks, including those I intentionally don’t identify, all have the best of intentions, but they sound as if they are stuck in the first stage of grief (denial) if they think “throw[ing] a middle-finger in the theater shooter’s face” will accomplish anything. Being faced with how fragile life is and how easily it can be taken away are tough concepts to process and accept, and it doesn’t seem they’ve thought it through at all.
If you’ve already bought your tickets or are interested in going to the movies, you absolutely should do it and not let what happened deter you. However, I would like to offer up some alternative ideas of action that would better serve everyone this weekend.
- Donate blood to the Red Cross.
- Do volunteer work in your community.
- Take the money you would spend and give to a charity or cause you support.
- Connect with loved ones and friends not spoken to in a while.
- Write a letter or two to your government representatives about ways to improve things.
Regrettably, the release of TDKR had already been marred earlier in the week by heinous comments and threats received by reviewers such as Marshall Fine and Christy Lemire for their negative reviews of the film. Rotten Tomatoes “disabled comments…for a few days” in response to the deluge of ugliness. And now, the film will long be linked to this appalling massacre.
It can also be linked to something positive. But that depends on you.
