It”s hard not to address something as horrifying and unnerving as what occurred early Friday morning in Aurora, Colo. What makes it so unfathomable is that the attack occurred during a film, the last part of an amazing, dark superhero trilogy that already had a tragedy under its belt.
Anyone vaguely familiar with the Batman franchise knows that the storyline is dark: protagonist Bruce Wayne”s parents are murdered in front of him by a mugger; as a result, he is driven to fight crime, creating the Batman persona to protect his identity and frighten his adversaries.
While fluctuations have occurred with this origin story, this fits the various adaptations. The Batman character became popular after its comic book introduction in 1939 and remains one of the most popular superheroes.
In contrast, Batman”s archenemy is the Joker, a psychopathic super villain. The Joker is about equally as popular as Batman.
The Joker is an intelligent man with a sadistic sense of humor. The two rivals often engaged in battles of wit, the Joker always with a ruthless trick up his sleeve.
In “The Dark Knight,” actor Heath Ledger gave the character its most terrifying turn, displaying an insanity almost schizophrenic and a thirst for chaos. It was a role that many questioned whether Ledger could pull off, which he more than did.
Ledger often enveloped himself in his roles, and the Joker proved no exception. He isolated himself in a London hotel for about a month and experimented until he found the persona utilized in the film.
Ledger developed problems sleeping following the role. He turned to sleeping pills. Abuse of other prescription substances resulted in Ledger”s death from an overdose mere months before the release of the film, for which he was posthumously awarded the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Ledger”s death spawned mass interest in his performance, which received widespread critical acclaim, but it also put a damper on the series.
And now, four years later, a new tragic damper was put on the series in Colorado.
It”s easy to say alleged mass murderer James Holmes, 24, was imitating art. He allegedly identified himself as “the Joker” upon surrendering to police. His hair was dyed, albeit a reddish-orange color, and not the Joker”s trademark green.
He even allegedly attempted to use a bait-and-switch attack, setting up a distraction with loud electronic music programmed to go off around the time when he was to begin his attack inside the theater to divert police and other emergency operators to his booby-trapped apartment.
And yes, he attacked a packed theater during a midnight showing, which are typically for the most ravenous of fans.
Maybe he really did think he was the Joker. Or maybe he is just one in a long line of young men who want to make a name for themselves in the worst way possible.
On Friday, while glancing at numerous web posts regarding the tragic shooting, I came across a 2009 segment from British journalist Charlie Brooker”s “Newswipes” program. Brooker was analyzing broadcast news coverage of recent mass shootings and how coverage focused on the alleged shooter, providing them with their very own cult of personality by analyzing where the shooter came from via the use of archival footage and interviews with friends, family and others.
Brooker said the media coverage turned the alleged shooter into a “sort-of nihilistic pin-up boy.” I couldn”t agree more.
He used an interview with Park Dietz, a forensic psychiatrist and criminologist who repeatedly asked broadcast news organizations to alter how they treat mass killing stories.
“We”ve had 20 years of mass murderers, throughout which I”ve repeatedly asked CNN and our other media: If you don”t want to propagate more mass murders, don”t start the story with sirens blaring, don”t have photographs of the killer, don”t make this 24/7 coverage. Do everything you can not to make a body count the lead story, not to make the killer some sort-of antihero,” Dietz said.
I think Dietz hit the nail on the head. I am not a fan of the 24-hour broadcast news networks because I believe they over-sensationalize stories, vying for ratings by continually discussing and analyzing the biggest news stories of the moment.
Sociopaths unfortunately exist, and I believe 24-hour news coverage gave rise to a cult of personality for mass murderers.
We cannot allow this tragedy to ruin a franchise full of rich characters and numerous artistic achievements. Those 12 victims were fans, and we owe it to them to not let something this awful destroy that love.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14. Follow on Twitter: @KevinNHume.
