I sat down to blog today intending to write a review about a few movies I've seen recently, but before doing so I logged onto Twitter and saw breaking news headlines about something a little more important, so I'll just have to put that off for now.
According to a number of news outlets, there's been another movie theater shooting, this time in Lafayette, Louisiana during a showing of the movie "Trainwreck." It seems almost appallingly ironic that this has occurred less than a week after the announcement of the verdict in the case against the Aurora shooter, who killed 12 people during a Batman midnight showing nearly 3 years ago and was just today deemed worthy of the death penalty in the state of Colorado. In this current case, 2 people have been killed, as well the gunman who shot the victims and himself with a handgun. I haven't been able to find a source explaining what the shooter's motives were, because according to The Huffington Post, authorities have been able to identify the shooter as only a 58-year-old white man, but are not releasing any more details.
Aside from informing those of you who may not have known this happened, I'm also writing this because I needed a way to try and make sense of what's happening in this country. As most of you have probably heard by now, the Sandra Bland case is stirring up a lot, (and I mean A LOT,) of controversy about the state of the police force in the United States, and the often apparent use of excessive force, especially against people of color. And now, in the midst of yet another homicide, also a week after the gunman in Tennessee killed 5 military personnel, we are not only having to cope with not being able to necessarily trust the authorities, but fear is being instilled in us in regards to each other. We can't trust those who are supposed to protect us, and we can't turn to each other for protection, either.
Given, one bad seed does not an apple make, and I know that not all police have a partiality for violence, and I know for sure that not all people are capable of murder. But here's the thing - maybe it's because I'm getting older and therefore becoming more aware, or maybe things are changing and changing quickly enough to make note of it, but it seems that the very thin, precarious structure of our society is starting to come apart at the seems. In regards to police violence, maybe it's always been a thing, but now people are starting to fight back and that's why there's been so much news about it. People of color, women, disabled people, LGBTQ+ people, and every other person that's faced discrimination for whatever reason are no longer tolerating unjust treatment as anything less than an equal human being. And more power to them. I wholeheartedly believe that this country could use a wake up call. However, I have absolutely no explanation for gun violence, or really any violence, with or without a motive. In the case of these recent shootings in Lafayette and Tennessee, I really don't know how I'll be able to explain those incidences in a way that will help you, and myself, understand them, because I really don't think there's a good enough explanation. There is no reason for someone to shoot unarmed marines and navy officers in a military recruitment office that was open to the public, however you may feel about the military. There is certainly no reason to bring a handgun to a movie theater and shoot people you've never met before.
That brings me to the next argument - maybe the people who commit these crimes (the shooters, not necessarily the police,) have mental health issues and that's what causes them to believe murder/homicide is justifiable. That could very well be the case, which is why the government needs better ways of treating people with mental health issues. From what I can see, the issue of mental health is only really taboo for the older generations; my generation and those around it are leaps and bounds ahead on the road to accepting the importance of mental health. But again, you could tie the presence of rampant discrimination back into this argument and point out that the mental health label is more commonly used in regards to straight, white, male criminals. Anyone else is given a different according excuse.
Honestly, I don't really have any concrete answers to solve these modern (or maybe not so modern) problems that we seem to be facing. I don't know how to stop people from committing crimes or how to prevent cops from being any form of asshole or how to make people as a whole more accepting. I really don't know, and I'm pretty sure no one else does, either, because these things keep happening. All I know is that if we want these things to stop happening, it needs to be a collective move forward. The majority needs to be those who believe in equality, in peace, in as little corruption as humanly possible, and then they need to be loud in their effort to achieve their goals because the loud ones are the ones who make change. I, for one, intend to contribute.
P.S. - I watched the CNN story about the Tennessee shooting, but here's where I got my information about the Lafayette shooting, if you're interested.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/shooting-at-lafayette-movie-theater-reported_55b1918be4b0074ba5a406bd
