This article belongs to Psych In The City column.
I would first like to send out my thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families of the horrendous movie theatre shooting in Aurora, CO. I want to especially send a special prayer to the family and friends of the gunman as they try to figure out why their son, cousin, friend allegedly committed one of the most horrific crimes in this nation. It's moments like this that bring the nation together, but once the news stories start to fade, the bloggers stop presenting thought provoking questions, and people began to forget about what happened, what will become of our movie theatre experience. There are several things that need to be examined from this event, the first of course being what could the alleged shooter have been thinking in order to commit such a terrifying crime. Next, what does the future hold for our movie going experience (as insensitive as it might sound, it's a reality and there are bound to be some changes coming down the pipeline for movie theatres)?
When someone commits a violent act, such as shooting up a movie theatre, there has to be some understanding from the people that this person was not in a good place. There will be weeks and weeks of speculation as to why this individual decided to commit this heinous crime and no one will know the true answer except the alleged gunman. Something that stands out for me in this instance is the numerous individuals who have come forward and began to state that they knew something was wrong or "off" with this individual. So why weren't there any efforts to confront this young man and try to get him some help? Is there such a stigma when it comes to helping someone who is displaying signs of mental instability that people will continue to just ignore the issue and hope that it goes away?
When it comes to movie theatres and their popular midnight showings, is there cause to have extra security. These are events where there are usually numerous individuals with costumes on, some movie going patrons are intoxicated and there is an overall attitude of excitement for the premiering movie. No one is thinking if they are going to be involved in a mass shooting and movie theatres aren't thinking about hiring extra security. Is there a way to lessen the future occurrence of tragic events as the one in Aurora? Will there be extra security required to monitor such movie going experiences? And what about children, something needs to be said about the attendance of minors at such events. There is no place for a child at midnight premiers, there has to be some responsibility taken on by movie theatres to enforce a "No Child Admittance After 10pm". Why 10pm you might ask? It just sounds good.
When someone commits a violent act, such as shooting up a movie theatre, there has to be some understanding from the people that this person was not in a good place. There will be weeks and weeks of speculation as to why this individual decided to commit this heinous crime and no one will know the true answer except the alleged gunman. Something that stands out for me in this instance is the numerous individuals who have come forward and began to state that they knew something was wrong or "off" with this individual. So why weren't there any efforts to confront this young man and try to get him some help? Is there such a stigma when it comes to helping someone who is displaying signs of mental instability that people will continue to just ignore the issue and hope that it goes away?
When it comes to movie theatres and their popular midnight showings, is there cause to have extra security. These are events where there are usually numerous individuals with costumes on, some movie going patrons are intoxicated and there is an overall attitude of excitement for the premiering movie. No one is thinking if they are going to be involved in a mass shooting and movie theatres aren't thinking about hiring extra security. Is there a way to lessen the future occurrence of tragic events as the one in Aurora? Will there be extra security required to monitor such movie going experiences? And what about children, something needs to be said about the attendance of minors at such events. There is no place for a child at midnight premiers, there has to be some responsibility taken on by movie theatres to enforce a "No Child Admittance After 10pm". Why 10pm you might ask? It just sounds good.
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