Gunman kills 12 in Colorado movie theater

[Just the facts]

The day Hollywood woke up and realized they are actually a big part of the problem.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...anovich-353774

Legendary Director Peter Bogdanovich: What If Movies Are Part of the Problem?

The director of "Targets" says: "People go to a movie to have a good time, and they get killed. … It makes me sick that I made a movie about it."

...

It was meant to be a cautionary fable. It was a way of saying the Boris Karloff kind of violence, the Victorian violence of the past, wasn't as scary as the kind of random violence that we associate with a sniper -- or what happened last weekend. That's modern horror. At first, some of the people [at The Dark Knight Rises] thought it was part of the movie. That's very telling.

...

Obviously, there is violence in the world, and you have to deal with it. But there are other ways to do it without showing people getting blown up. One of the most horrible movies ever made was Fritz Lang's M, about a child murderer. But he didn't show the murder of the child. The child is playing with a rubber ball and a balloon. When the killer takes her behind the bushes, we see the ball roll out from the bushes. And then he cuts to the balloon flying up into the sky. Everybody who sees it feels a different kind of chill up their back, a horrible feeling. So this argument that you have to have violence shown in gory details is not true. It's much more artistic to show it in a different way.

Today, there's a general numbing of the audience. There's too much murder and killing. You make people insensitive by showing it all the time. The body count in pictures is huge. It numbs the audience into thinking it's not so terrible. Back in the '70s, I asked Orson Welles what he thought was happening to pictures, and he said, "We're brutalizing the audience. We're going to end up like the Roman circus, live at the Coliseum." The respect for human life seems to be eroding.

[bretthexum]

So guns don't kill people, movies do?

[Just the facts]

So guns don't kill people, movies do?

No, people kill people. The gun is just the tool of choice for the criminal. Would you feel better if they used knives, bombs, or their bare hands? Guns have been around for 600 years with ownership at much higher levels than today, so why has everything gone to pot in the last 40 years?

[Roadhawg]

No, people kill people. The gun is just the tool of choice for the criminal. Would you feel better if they used knives, bombs, or their bare hands? Guns have been around for 600 years with ownership at much higher levels than today, so why has everything gone to pot in the last 40 years?

Isn't that when Republicans took over the Congress?

[kevinpate]

... so why has everything gone to pot in the last 40 years?

Too many end days prophets sapping the souls of mankind?

[Of Sound Mind]

Isn't that when Republicans took over the Congress?

Since the 92nd Congress that began in 1971:
• 11 terms (22 years) of total Democratic control of Congress
• 5 terms (10 years) of total Republican control of Congress
• 5 terms (10 years) of split control of Congress

So, how much of the last 40 years was due to Republican control?


Disclosure: I am a formerly registered Republican and currently registered Independent.

[Just the facts]

Progress?

Batman in 1968


Batman in 2012

[HewenttoJared]

No, people kill people. The gun is just the tool of choice for the criminal. Would you feel better if they used knives, bombs, or their bare hands? Guns have been around for 600 years with ownership at much higher levels than today, so why has everything gone to pot in the last 40 years?

Yes, I would prefer that they use knives or bombs. How have things "gone to pot" in the last 40 years. Violent crime stats are on a pretty good arc at the moment...

[MikeOKC]

Once again, it's about culture. I was glad to see the Bogdanovich piece and it's worth thinking long and hard about. I think what Orson Welles told him was pretty accurate. Throw in the rise of the violent video games that are no more than interactive movies (now complete with their own soundtracks for sale) and who knows what the future will bring? The envelope of culture is being pushed to be more violent, angry and intolerant (from all sides) and I fear for the future. And yes, I would have said the same thing before Aurora. Some things just put exclamation marks on cultural decline and James Holmes did just that this past weekend.

[Maynard]

Anaheim police open fire and use K-9 on women and children

In a response to a protest against a police shooting the police respond with extreme use of force and police brutality on innocent citizens. Sat July 21st 2012 in Anaheim, California.

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[Just the facts]

Why do you bring your kids to a situation like that? The parents should all be charged with child endangerment.

[Maynard]

Why do you bring your kids to a situation like that? The parents should all be charged with child endangerment.

If only everyone lived and stayed within 'their' urban utopia, right?

[Just the facts]

If only everyone lived and stayed within 'their' urban utopia, right?

I guess my paternal instinct is to NOT take my kids where something bad has a very high chance of happening. The message is simple - don't bring kids to a gun fight (unless they have their own gun). That is parenting 101 stuff.

Who says, "Gather the kids up and let's go see the riot." You know me Maynard, I'm not opposed to a show of force against oppressive government, but I'm not bringing my kids with me.

[ljbab728]

Maynard, that's certainly a noteworthy story and I understand why you posted it. I think we're starting to stray a little from the focus on the Colorado tragedy though.

It's not suprising that lawsuits are already in the works. I'm not sure that all of the points in the lawsuit will fly.

http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749...-30090603.html

[ljbab728]

A good news story from this.

http://news.yahoo.com/3-hospitals-wi...004009848.html

And three of the five hospitals that treated victims said Wednesday they will limit or completely wipe out medical bills.

Children's Hospital Colorado announced it would use donations and its charity care fund to cover the medical expenses of the uninsured. For those who do have insurance, the hospital says it will waive all co-pays.

"We are committed to supporting these families as they heal," according to a statement from the hospital, which treated six shooting victims.

HealthOne, which owns the Medical Center of Aurora and Swedish Medical Center, also says it will limit or eliminate charges based on the individual circumstances of the patients. Those hospitals have treated 22 shooting victims. However, the company cautioned its policy may not apply to all doctors working in its hospitals.

[Dubya61]

From the yahoo article: three of the five hospitals that treated victims said Wednesday they will limit or completely wipe out medical bills.

Children's Hospital Colorado announced it would use donations and its charity care fund to cover the medical expenses of the uninsured. For those who do have insurance, the hospital says it will waive all co-pays.
"We are committed to supporting these families as they heal," according to a statement from the hospital, which treated six shooting victims.
HealthOne, which owns the Medical Center of Aurora and Swedish Medical Center, also says it will limit or eliminate charges based on the individual circumstances of the patients. Those hospitals have treated 22 shooting victims. However, the company cautioned its policy may not apply to all doctors working in its hospitals.

First: Yes this was a tragedy and I feel sorry for the victims, but ...
Second: Wow, what great PR on the part of the hospitals. I guess medicine is really big business and it's good to do good PR, eh?