Christopher Reeve was
the first actor to portray Superman in the movies, but in my opinion he didn't
trully become a hero until May 25, 1995. This was when he sustained a cervical
spine injury. While this may have stopped others, this did not stop Chris.
Instead, he became aware that his celebrity allowed him to be a voice for many
other people that had spinal cord injuries. He toured the United States,
co-founded the Reeve-Irving Research Center (one of the leading spinal cord
research centers in the world), created the Christopher and Dana Reeve
Foundation (which sought to improve quality of lives of people with
disabilities), and never gave up on himself or his dreams of being able to
walk. Because of his tenacity, persistence, and compassion, Christopher Reeve
was a true Superman.
You don’t need a cape
or cowl to be a hero. You also don’t need X-ray vision, super-strength, a
Spider-sense, a suit of armor, or a magic ring. All you need is HEART—take that
to mean whatever you will. To me it means this: A willingness to help and serve
others through love and compassion. A song that has been really resonating with
me recently is called “The Broken Ones” by Dia Frampton. In this song, Dia
sings:
I know
they've hurt you bad.
Wide, the scars you have.
Baby let me straighten out your broken bones,
All your faults to me make you more beautiful.
Dia’s song exhibits the
type of HEART that we should all have. To me, accepting someone that has been
broken (physically, emotionally, or spiritually) is an action that makes
someone heroic. And isn’t this what Christ (the ultimate hero in my opinion) is
talking about in Mathew 25: 34-36 when he discusses helping those that are in
need?
When I woke up
yesterday morning, I did what I’ve been doing since the beginning of summer: I
stayed in bed as I browsed the internet looking at websites like IMDb and
Facebook, and the few websites. As I looked at these websites, I read horrific
accounts of an incident that happened in Colorado during a showing of The Dark Knight Rises, a movie that
tells the final chapter of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, which I planned
to watch in the afternoon. The news-story told of twelve people that had been
killed, fifty-eight had been injured. These accounts spun in my brain for most
of the day; moreover, for the first time in years, I debated whether I should
still go and watch the movie or not.
I thought about whether
it would be worth going to watch the movie. I considered the possibility that
there might be copy-cat killers. I thought about whether the news that I had
read would interfere with my experience in watching The Dark Knight Rises. There were many reasons why I would forego
the experience seeing the movie, but there was one very good reason why I would
still go: I would not let this terrorist have the satisfaction of interfering
with my life.
The Dark Knight Rises
is a truly masterful film, and Christopher Nolan did not disappoint. I enjoyed
my first viewing of The Dark Knight Rises
because I went with some of my friends/colleagues, and felt that the story
was well developed. However, the tragedy from the night before still interrupted
my thoughts once in a while, so maybe I didn’t enjoy it as much as I otherwise
would have. For this reason, I will most likely watch the movie again in a few
weeks.
The Dark Knight Trilogy
(Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark
Knight Rises), in a way is a call to arms—a call to be a hero. Batman Begins tells the story of a young
Bruce Wayne, the murder of his parents, his search to learn what justice is,
and how he first becomes Batman. Bruce becomes Batman because he is aware of
the corruption in Gotham. He sees that the police and other public officials
abuse their power, and that only a few people like Lt. Gordon (Commissioner
Gordon) are taking a stand. The Dark
Knight is about inspiring the people of Gotham to be better, to make a
change, and to stand for what is right. Bruce begins to consider what Gotham
would be like if they had a hero that didn’t wear a cape or cowl, and becomes
aware that many of Gotham’s citizens sees this in D.A. Harvey Dent. This is the
reason Bruce sacrifices Batman’s reputation in the end. Finally, The Dark Knight Rises, the climax to the
entire trilogy. To keep things brief: The people have been inspired.
The trilogy is a
masterpiece, and I can’t help but to feel that the perpetrator of the atrocity
in Colorado missed the point of these movies. I could continue to relate
information that I’ve read since yesterday that have linked this criminal’s
actions to the trilogy, but I won’t. I will not give him any more of my time.
Instead, I want to talk about the audience that was in the theater. I can’t claim to know any of these people personally, but I believe I know a little about these people. Choosing to go see watch a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises means that these people were/are fans. They were/are either fans of Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight movies, DC Comics, or Batman. In the last few years, they had probably watched Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, and they most likely really enjoyed them. As someone that has gone to several midnight premiers, I can tell you that some of these people waited in line for hours in order to watch this particular movie. None of them had any idea that hours later they would be dead, injured, or witnesses to a horrific crime (which in itself leaves particular scars). You don’t think about that when you go to the movie theaters. The only thing that you are thinking about is the movie.
Yesterday, George Takei
issued this statement: “Many victims of today’s tragedy were fans of
science-fiction/fantasy. They stood in line to be the first to see, to be
inspired, and to escape. As a community of dreamers, we mourn this terrible
tragedy and this senseless taking of innocent life.” This was a picture that
Takei had placed on Facebook with instructions to: “Click "like" to stand in
solidarity with those who were killed, and in sympathy with their families.”
Thus far 195, 654 people have “Liked” this picture. While Takei points out that
these people were fans of science-fiction/fantasy, I believe that the people
most affected by this tragedy are fans of
heroes. Most of these people (if not all) were probably in some way or another
heroes themselves.
I
believe that these people understood the importance of heroes, and this
understanding pulled them towards the movie theater that night. I think that it
is important that we remember them; moreover, I believe that it is important
that we remember them knowing that they knew heroism. Having this
understanding; knowing that the world is full of heroes; believing that we can
be heroes, and striving to be better people will honor their souls. After all,
being a hero is simple. We just have to get out of our own way and think
compassionately.
