Untitled.

Normally I start with a cute title using the word “Edition” at the end of it. Maybe because I have been on yet another extended hiatus this will be a joke-free edition of the Entertainment Guru News and Views. This will be much different than anything I have ever written here. Before I get started, I promise to once again return to writing my pop culture thoughts on a more regular basis. Batman stands for justice. Everyone knows that. But on July 20th something occurred in the real world that was a grave injustice. We could have used the Dark Knight in Aurora, Colorado. That was the night that James Holmes strolled into a midnight showing of Christopher Nolan's movie "The Dark Knight Rises." If you looked at him, you wouldn't have given him a second glance. With his dyed red hair, he looked like someone that would be in a comic book movie at midnight. But no one knew what was going to happen that night. According to reports, he propped the back exit open and left the theater, returning to his car. When he returned, he came back with several guns. When gunfire erupted on screen, gunfire also erupted for real. In the aftermath, there are twelve people dead and over forty people injured. His motives weren't clear. Why would someone do that? Unfortunately, we may never know. Clearly he wasn't in his right mind. Especially when he also admitted to booby trapping his apartment for the cops. I'm not a lawyer but in days like this a part of me wants to be. I would love to be on the prosecution team against James Holmes. I have already heard the term “temporarily insane” being tossed around. I'm not a doctor. I'm not a lawyer. But to me premeditation doesn't scream temporarily insanity. He ordered the guns and the 6000 rounds of ammo on the internet. It's not like they were delivered the next day. Holmes had plenty of time to change his mind or think "This isn't the great idea I thought it was!" To me, he knew exactly what he was doing. He had a plan and he carried it out. Granted, if I said that in court I am sure I would be met with an "Objection! Pure speculation." Reports came out yesterday that he detailed his plan in a notebook that he sent to the University of Colorado. He drew stick figures killing people in a theater. But no one understood what it meant. So it sat in the mailroom for months. Which is really a shame. To think this could have been prevented. Karma can be a funny thing. During filming of Terminator 4 just three years ago, an audio recording of star Christian Bale was released of him verbally destroying one of the crew members. He was said to be difficult to work with and arrogant. In the days after the shooting, Bale came forward with thoughts and prayers for the victims and their families. That could have been enough for him. But no. He traveled to Aurora, Colorado to meet with the victims of the shootings. A little bit of good karma goes a long way, Mr. Bale. I went to the midnight showing in my town. I never once thought my safety was at risk. But I am on the east coast, the shooting occurred after I had left the theater in my town. I didn't find out about it until the next morning. But I did see it a second time, knowing the events of Colorado. It made some of the violent scenes a little hard to watch. Sometimes I wish I was still a child. Because news like that wouldn't bother me. I wouldn't know what it meant. Just two days later, I saw a child walking around with a Batman t-shirt and a Batman cape. He was blissfully unaware of the tragedy. He just knew that Batman was his favorite super hero (OBJECTION! Pure Speculation!!) and he wanted the world to know that. I'm not going to lie. I was jealous of him. It's hard to look at the black bat in a yellow oval and not think of what it must have been like in that theater in Colorado. I, like many others, wish I didn't know what happened that night. For every person in the world like James Holmes, we need someone like Batman. Batman in the film says "A hero can be anyone." There were heroes in that theater. People who protected others and paid the ultimate sacrifice. You don't need fancy weapons or a costume to be a hero. As a lifelong fan of the movies (I attended my first movie at roughly age 5 or 6) I never thought going to the theater would be dangerous. And just because one person did this, it will not change my feeling. Going to the movies is a great experience. That will never change!