Asking The Right Question

I’m sure the Aurora incident at a Dark Knight Rises screening has shocked many. Supporters and opposers of the gun control issue included.

A friend suggested I blog about it since I was reviewing movies. I didn’t know what I would write about exactly. I wasn’t sure if I had an opinion. Or even if I did, it wasn’t so clear to me. Now that the suggestion has marinated itself in my head and I’m sitting down and writing about it, I think there are some things that I want to say, some questions I wanted to ask myself. I found that asking them was more important than finding the answers.

I don’t even want to comment about the whole issue about gun control.

Has 9/11 stopped me from flying? Has the Virginia Tech shooting stopped me from going to a college campus? If an incident like this happened at a restaurant, would I really stop going out to eat? Do car accidents stop me from taking my car out on the streets? Is one rotten tomato going to stop me from eating the next one? Is this going to stop me from watching another movie?

And those aren’t all. Am I offending the deceased and their families if I see it right away? Am I really so connected in this big world, which some say is ‘bad’? Am I really affecting the big picture? What is the purpose of a film? To transport you to another world for a couple of hours? To quench the intellectual thirst? To drive social change? To make you laugh? To make you cry? To temporarily distract you from your life?

I wish answering yes or no to these questions resolved the dilemma.

So what does it all come down to? There’s got to be one question that has some answers. A question that breaks this gridlock. And then it came to me. Why am I going to the trouble of driving to a movie theater when I can be doing it in the comfort and security of my home? It’s because the big screen beckons. Time and time again, it has lured me back in the dark room. I have seen things there that have stamped themselves in my memory, never to be erased. Some things I’ve never wanted to see. Never imagined. The experience may thrill me. It may bomb right in my face. It may force me to walk away. It may put me to sleep. And some have (a professionally hazardous confession on the part of a movie reviewer)! But I must put myself through the big screen test. I really must.

Unfortunate incidents happen. And despite strict measures and securities, they slip through the cracks and force themselves to transpire. Some things aren’t in my control. I can hope and act for the best, my best. The rest may or may not be in my control. I control my intentions (well, some of them). Not so much all the consequences.

I have not seen the Dark Knight Rises yet. But I will see it tonight. I would’ve seen it earlier if it was possible. I’m not one to advise if you should or should not watch it because of what happened in that theater at Aurora, Colorado. But maybe asking yourself the relevant question may help you. As it did for me.