The action of ignoring the villain and remembering the heroes of the Aurora, Colorado shooting has been suggested and pleaded for by many of the friends and families affected by the incident.
On Friday, June 20, 2012, shooting suspect, James Holmes, who deemed himself as “The Joker” shot and killed 12 people while injuring 58 others at a midnight premier of the movie, “Batman: The Dark Knight.”
Various views have sprung up from this tragedy: some people have immediately begun analyzing the life of the shooter; others have expressed their fear and disappointment in the human race as a whole.
However, one specific father of one of the deceased victims of the shootings has stated what the people to remember from this shooting.
Through an interview through CNN, Tom Teves, father of Alex Teves, has stated, “Stop showing cowards and start showing heroes, so that another father doesn’t feel the hole in his body that I have and I know will never go away.”
The father expressed his wish for the goodness of humankind to be remembered, not the evil (CNN).
In a recent discussion in an introduction sociology class in UCLA, many students have also enacted their opinions of the issue. These students ranged from high school students to college students.
Some of these students immediately commented on how the shooter did not deserve to be viewed simply as a “special, mentally defected victim of society.” They argued that the public was “materializing” him into some sort of “deranged celebrity figure.” One female, college student added how Facebook memes, a modern unit for sharing cultural ideas, symbols, and etc., had already begun to sprout showing images of the shooter in a comical way, almost immediately after the news broke out about the shooting.
The topic of the discussion began to change in directions as a few students began to enunciate their respects to the victims who shielded others’ bodies from bullets in the movie theaters.
One male, Bay Bui, a college attendee said, “I was really touched with the stories about people shielding their loved ones with their own bodies, it made me think about the good in the world. These types of things are terrible, but they bring people together in a sense.”
The class then entered a small, but respectful moment of silence for the fallen and for the injured from the shooting.
Although the shooting is not a matter of celebration, in concern for the families of the victims of the murder, it is important to not disregard the heroes who have risked their lives to save others in the shooting.
Eugine Chung
Eugine Chung has been a part of JSR since Spring Semester 2012 and is a continuing editor. Eugine is a strong advocate of social equality and believes in exploring issues steeped within her community. As a senior at Granada Hills Charter High School, Eugine is looking more closely into her passions including art and music. As an editor, she hopes to not only help other budding journalists but to learn from others as well.
Follow Me: