Where are the Heroes?
Posted July 23rd, 2012 at 09:08 AM by Swamper
As some of you may know, I am a pretty big fan of comic books, mostly Spider-Man. There's just something about superheroes that inspire me. Here these guys are, putting their personal well-being and happiness behind their want to do something good, to protect those that can't protect themselves. It's a noble, inspiring thing.
So where are the superheroes in real life? I'm sure most of you have heard about the shooting in Aurora, where a man shot many many people while everybody ran. No one stood up and went after him. I saw in the news big men talking about how awful it was. They ran, and left a six year old girl to die. Is this what we have become? A people more concerned with their own welfare than with the welfare of others? Of women and little children? There were a couple of heroes; two guys took bullets for their girlfriends, and I salute them for that. Those men are real heroes.
It's kinda ironic, in a sick way. These people were going to see Batman. Batman never ran from a bad guy. Batman never leaves people to die. You may say, well Batman ISN'T REAL! But Batman said something in the movie that really spoke to me. Someone was asking Batman why he didn't want anyone to know who Batman was, who had saved Gotham. And Batman said something like "That's the point. It could be anyone under the mask. Anyone could be the Batman.". Where were the Batmans, the Spidermans, the Supermans Friday? Think of what could have been if a couple of people had fought back! Maybe that six year old would have lived. Maybe those guys wouldn't have to sacrifice themselves for their girlfriends. Maybe we would be hearing about the Heroes in Aurora instead of the massacre in Aurora.
I like to think that if I was in a situation like that I would act. That's what I like to think. But you really don't know what you would do in such a situation until you're actually there. Maybe I talk a big talk but won't be able to walk the walk if the time comes for me to do so. But I know one thing; if I'm ever in a situation like that and I run, or hide, or do nothing, I won't be able to live with myself.
So where are the superheroes in real life? I'm sure most of you have heard about the shooting in Aurora, where a man shot many many people while everybody ran. No one stood up and went after him. I saw in the news big men talking about how awful it was. They ran, and left a six year old girl to die. Is this what we have become? A people more concerned with their own welfare than with the welfare of others? Of women and little children? There were a couple of heroes; two guys took bullets for their girlfriends, and I salute them for that. Those men are real heroes.
It's kinda ironic, in a sick way. These people were going to see Batman. Batman never ran from a bad guy. Batman never leaves people to die. You may say, well Batman ISN'T REAL! But Batman said something in the movie that really spoke to me. Someone was asking Batman why he didn't want anyone to know who Batman was, who had saved Gotham. And Batman said something like "That's the point. It could be anyone under the mask. Anyone could be the Batman.". Where were the Batmans, the Spidermans, the Supermans Friday? Think of what could have been if a couple of people had fought back! Maybe that six year old would have lived. Maybe those guys wouldn't have to sacrifice themselves for their girlfriends. Maybe we would be hearing about the Heroes in Aurora instead of the massacre in Aurora.
I like to think that if I was in a situation like that I would act. That's what I like to think. But you really don't know what you would do in such a situation until you're actually there. Maybe I talk a big talk but won't be able to walk the walk if the time comes for me to do so. But I know one thing; if I'm ever in a situation like that and I run, or hide, or do nothing, I won't be able to live with myself.
Total Comments 11
Comments
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Reality vs FantasyWell met!
There is a line between courage and foolhardiness that it is not cowardice not to cross. This guy was in body armor spewing bullets from an automatic weapon. Most of us are not trained to take down an armed foe. Throwing away your life is different from risking it. That being said, we are not trained as a society to deal with threats of this nature. Imagine if the response to such an event was everyone running toward the gunman, weapons drawn. |
Posted July 23rd, 2012 at 11:10 AM by kolakoski
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Is there a line between courage and foolhardiness? Isn't it foolhardy to give up your life for some girl that you are dating? Sure, they might mean a little something to you, but shouldn't your life mean more? But we don't call those two men foolhardy, we call them heroes.
Yes, the shooter was wearing body armor and yes, he had guns. But if just two or three men rushed him, there would not have been 57 injuries. All the men had to do was rush him, tackle him, beat him in the face, take his weapons. Yes, they would probably be injured, and in all likelihood one of them may die. But they would have saved countless others! What's so foolhardy about that? |
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Posted July 23rd, 2012 at 11:26 AM by Swamper
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"Think of what could have been if a couple of people had fought back!"
If a couple of unarmed movie watchers had fought back against the heavily armed gunman the only result would have been a higher body count. It is an unfair judgement to label these poor, terrified victims as cowards for not "fighting back". They ran, which I would call the only sane response to being thrust into a situation like this. |
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Posted July 23rd, 2012 at 11:29 AM by The CEE
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I don't think it would have. At the very least, it would have distracted the gunman and given other people time to run away/fight. There's a psychological thing called the By-Stander effect, which basically says that people are unwilling to act when others are just as capable or in a better position to act. But if someone does act, then group mentality takes over and others join in. What may start off as two or three people rushing the gunman may soon turn into a mob! And then what? The gunman goes down, maybe with more civilian casualties, maybe with less. But what's really important is that the people went down fighting for what is right.
I don't blame the people for running away. Like I said, I may talk a big talk and not be able to walk the walk myself. |
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Posted July 23rd, 2012 at 11:35 AM by Swamper
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Did the guy have protection around his neck? A few people could've rushed him and punched him hard in the neck. This would possibly detatch the voice box and could kill the guy if it was lodged in the airway.
Either way, what's done is done. We can't change the past, but we can be better prepared for the future. |
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Posted July 23rd, 2012 at 01:44 PM by 'Scaper94
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'Scaper, I read that he had full body armor, including throat protectors.
Anyway, I do believe it's unfair to call the victims cowards. You weren't there, you have no idea what the situation was like. And also think about it, if you're in the middle of the theater, and he was in front with an automatic weapon, how would you possibly rush him? The only possible people would have been the front row, and in all likelyhood, they were the first victims. I agree that I would want to act, too. Heck, I study martial arts, I've studied disarming opponent's and know a variety of ways to get rid of knives or guns. I've fought two trained blackbelts at once and won (Three times consecutively). But you still can never predict anything. I totally think that if something happened and I feel it in me to act, I'm going to get myself killed. My hope is that I take the guy with me, at least break an arm or disarm him, whatever, but I really doubt I'd survive an actual encounter with a guy with an automatic weapon. And body armor is hard to penetrate if you only have your feet and fists. |
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Posted July 23rd, 2012 at 03:46 PM by Lord Pyre
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Some of the heroes were on the plane to Washington D.C. on 9/11.
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Posted July 23rd, 2012 at 09:59 PM by chas
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Who's to say nobody tried?
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Posted July 25th, 2012 at 07:47 AM by Elginb
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You guys realize that a theater is dark, this was unexpected, and the moment someone got up to try to tackle the guy they would have got hit with half a dozen bullets and killed on the spot. The guy had three guns and was firing at a decent rate. He would notice someone running towards him and shoot in that direction. It only takes a bullet or two for someone to die if you hit them in the right spot. Also one of his weapons was a shotgun. At point blank range a shotgun will kill you no doubt. Even if someone got up they would probably trip over all the bodies. Also, it is not the job of the by-standers to attack the man. Their job is to stay alive. It is way easier for the guy with three guns, the surprise advantage, and a room filled to the top with people to murder than it is for a civilian , not knowing what to do, surprised, afraid, most likely no military experience, and nothing to defend himself with, to die.
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Posted July 26th, 2012 at 01:42 AM by buckeyefan837
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"Isn't it foolhardy to give up your life for some girl that you are dating? Sure, they might mean a little something to you, but shouldn't your life mean more? But we don't call those two men foolhardy, we call them heroes."
Charging an armed, armored man accomplishes nothing and you die for it. That's foolhardy. Willingly exchanging your life for that of another is a sacrifice- something our society values and something the dominant religion in our country holds above all else. Another thing to consider is human psychology. When faced with an unexpected, unfamiliar deadly threat, the vast majority of people simply freeze. They don't choose that- it just happens. There's some fascinating research that concludes that, in any given battle, a significant percentage of soldiers in the Civil War and the World Wars never even fired their weapons. They just found a safe place and hunkered down until it was over. As for the irony, we watch movies for the fantasy. We idolize superheroes because we perceive that they are something we'll never be. Maybe watching Batman or other superhero movies makes it worse because we perceive heroes as something imaginary. |
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Posted July 26th, 2012 at 11:07 AM by Mossman
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I realize that this is all sepculation since none of us where actually in the theater, but I have the opinion that charging the gunman would not be a senseless waste. Say you don't get to him before he guns you down. Fine, you just gave other people a few more seconds to escape. You willingly exchanged your life for someone else's. Let's say you are shot, but not in a fatal place, or at least a place where you can keep going. You buy everyone a lot more time, maybe disarm the gunman, maybe not. You may die, willingly exchanging your life for someone else's. That's all I'm trying to say.
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Posted July 26th, 2012 at 11:46 AM by Swamper
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