Are We Not Even Safe Inside Movie Theatres? Originally Posted by Coachella Unincorporated
By: Johnny Flores, Jr.
Coachella Unincorporated
During last week’s midnight premiere of “Dark Knight Rises,” James Holmes walked into a Colorado movie theatre armed with a semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun, and two handguns.
His murderous rampage left 12 people dead, 58 injured, and a nation shocked.
Are we not even safe inside movie theatres?
We pay an admission fee and buy an array of treats to enjoy throughout the movie. We enter a dark auditorium and try to find the best seat. Shortly after, the movie begins to play on the big screen.
We become immersed in a fantasy world that a movie studio has created for us. We are no longer ordinary humans. Our dreams of action, romance, and everything in between are suddenly realized. We no longer worry about bills to pay, food to buy, or clothes to wash. We sit in total darkness, next to strangers — yet we are unafraid. After the credits have rolled, we emerge from darkness of the theatre into the realities of our world.
However, this was not the case for the moviegoers in that ill-fated Aurora movie theatre. And to some degree, neither will many of us. Are we really safe sitting next to that stranger in the theatre? Is someone going to burst in through the emergency exit? Should we plan an emergency escape route just in case someone disrupts the safe havens we call movie theatres?
In 2008’s “The Dark Knight,” Alfred Pennyworth (played by Michael Caine) said the following: “Some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”
We cannot live in constant fear of those who want to watch the world burn. Fear is what breaks us down and makes us lose our sense of hope.
We cannot control the horrors of today. We need to greet today with open arms, face our fears, and hope for the best – even in a movie theatre.
In 2006, over 25 youth began participating in weekly after-school writing workshops where they congregated in the hallway of a two-story building in West Fresno and learned the essentials of creating media and telling their stories. The group evolved over the next five years and is now proudly recognized as The kNOw Youth Media.
Through our program, we create opportunities for our youth participants, who in turn create long-term positive change in their communities. Our approach weaves youth development and youth media innovation to produce our biannual youth publication, multimedia projects, and community forums.
The kNOw began as a project of New America Media, which was the country’s first and largest national collaboration and advocate of 2000 ethnic news organizations. In 2018 The kNOw became a project of Youth Leadership Institute.
