Voices
RICHEY
PIIPARINEN
HUFFINGTON
08.05.12
Courage
Isn’t Going
to the
Movies
THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND
following the tragedy in Aurora,
television interviews showed folks
queued up outside movie theaters
waiting to get into The Dark Night
Rises. The customers, in so many
words, had a common message:
the terror inflicted by one gunman
would not keep them from movie
going. The crux of the hundreds of
broadcasts was contextualized on
a backdrop of courage and resiliency—“going on” in the face of an
ILLUSTRATION ALEX NABAUM
American tragedy, as we always do.
A Twitter handle was created
called #defytheshooter. An article
in Entertainment Weekly shouted: “Defy the theater shooter: Go
out to see a film, and DON’T be
afraid—ANALYSIS.” In it, the author pleads, “So if you want to
defy the theater-shooter and the
terror he has created — go out …
to see a film and enjoy being with
your fellow moviegoers ... Don’t
be afraid.” That same message—a
Richey
Piiparinen
is a writer,
urban policy
researcher
and co-editor
of Rust Belt
Chic: The
Cleveland
Anthology