Man with a Gun

There is no feeling more terrifying than waking up to the news that a shooting occurred at the movie theater where your friends went to go see 'The Dark Knight Rises'.

The shooting was simple and premeditated. Forget what you've heard on the news and allow me to pass on the information gleaned from my friends' first hand accounts and the people on the Aurora police force that I know personally:

At the midnight premiere of the movie at the Century Theater, a man wearing a gas mask and bullet proof vest entered the theater from a side door. People originally thought that he was part of theater's staff, meant to enhance the movie. He set off a canister of tear gas, then opened fire upon the people in the theater. He shot at random with no particular targets, aiming to kill, which he did, as the final tally of people left dead was twelve (ten at the theater and two at the hospital) Another 59 people were wounded, including a three month old baby who sustained lung injuries from the tear gas. The suspected shooter was caught in the parking lot and is now in custody.

Two of my friends were in the theater at the time. Luckily neither was harmed, but I can't imagine how traumatized they are due to what they witnessed. The movie will now forever be associated with death and calamity, which is quite the tarnish on Batman's reputation. Not that anyone is actually thinking about a fictional character right now, when there are real-life villains wreaking havoc on innocent people.

What's interesting is how social networks are blowing up about it. People's reactions are varied, with some choosing anger and vengeance, some choosing sadness, some looking to God, and others looking to the government. What's annoying is the amount of people turning this into a gun control/concealed carry issue. Worse still are the people creating 'tribute' photos just so that they can gain 'likes' and 'shares'. Exploitation of a tragedy is quite the American thing to do...

All of this makes me wonder what it would have been like thirteen years ago, if we had Facebook and Twitter during the aftermath of the Columbine Massacre.

Speaking of Columbine, it's hard not to draw a comparison between the two shootings (after all, Littleton, where Columbine High School is, is only a few miles from Aurora) Both acts were premeditated, both involved some kind of explosive (the bombs at Columbine malfunctioned and never detonated), the shooters in both tragedies fired at random and aimed to kill for the sake of killing, and both used rifles as their main weapon, as opposed to anything else. The Virginia Tech shootings were also very similar.

To be quite frank, I think Colorado's had enough. It's bad enough that half the state was on fire not even a month ago, but now, we have some crazy fuck with a gun take out his emotional issues on innocent Batman fans? Awesome. Just awesome. This is obviously exactly what our damaged state needed to complete our summer.

It sickens me to think that anyone could be so cruel. I think we're all one act of depravity away from losing hope altogether.

The one good thing that has come of this is that as a state, we are all coming together into a sort of kehillah kadosha, or Holy Community. We are all shocked and saddened and confused. At Global, which starts tonight, there will be, for the first time ever, a moment of silence in recognition of the tragedy.

You know shit's bad when a rave goes silent.

Anyway, I'm just glad that my friends are okay, and obviously Aurora is at the front of my thoughts today. I've prayed a bit, said a kaddish for those who fell and a mishaberach for those who were hurt, but I don't think God's listening. No benevolent God would allow this to happen...

I'm just going to spend today making kandi for tomorrow night and transforming my hair into something magnificent. I think the best thing that anyone can do at this point is just be and allow the universe to try to heal itself.




Julia