The Week: Most Recent Social Issues:The Dark Knight Shootings

James Holmes: What we know about the alleged Aurora shooter

The Week — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 09:58:00 -0400

JAMES EAGAN HOLMES was good at being invisible. He spoke only when spoken to, said little about himself, and spurned his close-knit group of college classmates for a solitary life in his small apartment in a rough section of Aurora, Colo. Holmes' shyness seemed to cut him off from the world, said those who knew him. He was slow to smile in conversations with strangers, seemingly tucked away inside himself.

But the quiet, awkward man who allegedly went on a killing rampage last week in a Colorado movie theater once seemed bound for big things. A science student from Southern California...

The 'knights' of the Colorado shootings: A return to old-fashioned chivalry

The Week — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:36:00 -0400

As details emerged about the deadly rampage in a Colorado theater screening a superhero movie, it became clear that real-life heroes had been sitting in the audience. For many local couples, the midnight Friday debut of The Dark Knight Rises was date-night. And when gunfire erupted, four young men sprang into action without hesitating, making the ultimate sacrifice to protect their girlfriends. Here, a brief guide to these heartwarming, and heartbreaking, stories of old-fashioned chivalry:

What did these true-life heroes do?
They used their own bodies as shields to protect their girlfriends. Matt...

The Aurora shootings: The world reacts

The Week — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 10:51:00 -0400

As Americans mourn the 12 moviegoers killed in Friday's massacre during a Colorado screening of the new Batman film, writers around the world are weighing in on the tragedy. Here, a sampling of views from editors and columnists in Asia, Europe, and elsewhere:

GERMANY
The gun lobby has the U.S. in its clutches: Each new massacre in the U.S. prompts calls for stricter gun controls, says Bernd Pickert at Germany's Die Tageszeitung, via Worldmeets.us. Every time, the National Rifle Association and other "weapon fetishists" accuse their opponents of trying to "capitalize on the blood of unfortunate...

Reddit's coverage of the Colorado massacre: The future of citizen journalism?

The Week — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 18:36:00 -0400

On the night of the massacre that killed 12 people in Aurora, Colo., 18-year-old Morgan Jones of Denver was up late playing a video game when he spied a Facebook update from his local news station reporting a possible shooting at a movie theater. Jones began a thread on the popular social-media news site Reddit that over the course of the night morphed into what many are describing as the most comprehensive timeline to emerge from the event, replete with minute-by-minute tweets from witnesses, reports from traditional media sources, and police scanner updates. Jones and his fellow Redditors also...

The fallout from the Aurora shootings: 5 eerie consequences

The Week — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 11:44:00 -0400

As victims of the shootings in Aurora, Colorado continue to grapple with injuries and trauma, and more details leak about the alleged shooter James Holmes (who has reportedly exhibited odd behavior in jail, spitting at officers so often they've slapped a face guard on him), people in Colorado and around the country have responded to the massacre in surprising, sometimes distressing ways. From stocking up on guns to filing lawsuits against the theater where the shootings took place, here are 5 consequences of the shootings:

1. Gun sales in Colorado have soared
Despite new condemnation of America...

Should Christian Bale visit Colorado shooting victims… dressed as Batman?

The Week — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 12:10:00 -0400

As victims of The Dark Knight Rises massacre in Aurora, Colo., struggle with trauma, a well-intentioned sympathizer has started an online campaign urging Christian Bale, who plays Batman in the film, to visit injured kids in full costume. "Dear Christian Bale, please visit the injured children from the movie massacre as Batman," says a Facebook post that has since gone viral on Twitter (with the hashtag #BaleOutAurora) and launched a Change.org petition. The post, betraying its writer's poor grasp of reality, continues: "They need to know heroes can be real, too, not just the bad guys." Bale, currently...

Will we ever feel safe in movie theaters again?

The Week — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 18:17:00 -0400

When Dark Knight Rises director Christopher Nolan expressed his "profound sorrow at the senseless tragedy" that left 12 people dead and 58 injured after a gunman opened fire in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater, he also lamented that the murderer's targets were people who'd let their guard down in a dark room for two hours of entertainment. "The movie theater is my home, and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me," Nolan said in a statement. After Friday's tragedy, some moviegoers had reportedly decided...

The Colorado massacre: Who is James Holmes?

The Week — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 17:50:00 -0400

On Monday, James Holmes, the lead suspect in the Colorado shooting that killed 12 people, made his first public appearance in court, where the presiding judge gave prosecutors a week to formally charge him. His hair dyed a bright reddish-orange, Holmes appeared somewhat dazed, prompting speculation that he was on medication. The eerie footage of Holmes' court appearance (watch below) gave few insights into the mind of the accused mass murderer, who allegedly showed up at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises in the Denver suburb Aurora heavily armed and in full body armor. But a slew of reports...

The Colorado shooting aftermath: A slideshow

The Week — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 14:16:00 -0400

Residents of Aurora, Colo., spent the weekend in shock, praying and sharing condolences after a "diabolical" gunman killed 12 people during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises early Friday morning. From makeshift memorials that have sprung up around the Century 16 movie theater to solemn vigils, here's a look at how the Denver suburb has united in grief.

Colorado shooting: Should Warner Bros. have cancelled The Dark Knight Rises screenings?

The Week — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 10:38:00 -0400

Fans packed movie theaters across the country over the weekend to see The Dark Knight Rises, propelling the third installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy to a record opening despite Friday's mass killing during a screening in Colorado, which many expected to dampen enthusiasm more significantly. Movie studios held back their usual box-office reports out of respect for the victims, but unofficial projections suggest the final installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy grossed about $162 million domestically in its first weekend. If confirmed, that figure will give the movie the...

Will The Dark Knight Rises shooting change the gun-control debate?

The Week — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 17:29:00 -0400

Like many high-profile shootings, the massacre at an early Friday screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colo., inspired first shock, then sympathy for the victims, and then a tense debate about what the tragedy says about America's gun laws. Other high-profile attacks in recent years — from Columbine to Virginia Tech to the shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in Tucson last year — have sparked calls for tighter restrictions on the sale and use of firearms. In the Dark Knight shooting, police seized four guns when they arrested the alleged gunman, James Holmes, in the theater...

How the Colorado massacre will affect The Dark Knight Rises' future

The Week — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 15:59:00 -0400

News broke early Friday morning of a deadly shooting in Aurora, Colo., during which the alleged gunman, 24-year-old James Holmes, entered a crowded theater showing The Dark Knight Rises, and killed at least 12 people, wounding dozens more. The shooting inevitably raised questions of whether there was a connection between the massacre and Christopher Nolan's re-imagining of the Batman franchise, which has embraced themes of domestic terrorism and the darkest side of the human psyche. Holmes, whose hair was colored red, reportedly told authorities after the shooting that he was "The Joker," a seeming...

4 attempts to instantly politicize The Dark Knight Rises massacre

The Week — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 15:02:00 -0400

Most Americans are still absorbing the shocking news of the Colorado movie-theater shooting that left 12 dead and 50 injured early Friday, but some people are already trying to politicize the tragedy. Armchair criminologists are dissecting everything from the possible political affiliation of the suspect, 24-year-old former neuroscience graduate student James Holmes, to allegedly partisan messages some have gleaned from the film that was on the screen — The Dark Knight Rises, the final installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. Here, four ways the tragedy has been tied to politics...

The Dark Knight Rises massacre in Aurora, Colorado: 4 takeaways

The Week — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 14:40:00 -0400

A gunman stormed into a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., early Friday morning, and opened fire on an audience watching a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises, killing at least 12 people and wounding as many as 50 more. Police have apprehended an alleged suspect, whom they've identified as 24-year-old James Holmes. The mass shooting is one of America's deadliest in recent history, and the death count is expected to rise; many critically wounded victims are currently fighting for life in hospitals. Calling on Americans to come together, President Obama vowed to bring the perpetrator to justice...

The latest tweets about the Colorado Dark Knight Rises shooting

The Week — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 11:33:00 -0400