I won’t lie folks, it’s been a week. We’ve been taken from the dizzying pinnacle that is the San Diego Comic-con, to a new Chris Nolan Batman movie, to the tragedy in Colorado. I’ll spare you the details about the last part. Turn on the TV to any station and you’ll find plenty.
I only wish the “senseless” part of the whole ordeal was just a cliche. There’s no sense at all in this. We’re a pattern seeking species, and we want so bad to find one now. Unfortunately, we’re not going to find any easy answers. Not in violent video games or movies, and certainly not in gun control laws or conceal and carry permits. We might come up with some debate about mental health, but we’re so far off from anything concrete that we might as well forget that this was even carried out by a person.
So what are we left with? We are left with a choice. How is the tragedy going to affect us? What do we want to do now? Are we going to ban midnight premieres and cosplay at movie theaters? Are we going to set up TSA-like security checkpoints at every multiplex?
Or are we going to let this be a call to our better selves?
For first time, geeks of all stripes are being forced to choose between their hobbies and their safety. I say we reject such a choice. First of all, we see this movie. We see it with friends we care about, and come away with the memories you’re supposed to get from a 3-hour Batman movie made with the care and intelligence that it deserves. Next, we live up to the values we see in Batman or any other superhero. We use our limited time on Earth to make things better for people and we do it with our intelligence, creativity, and hard work. We get started on that programming or costuming project that we’ve been putting off. We show the world that having a passion in your life makes it worth living. An even brighter future awaits beyond these dark times, but we must choose to see it for ourselves.
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