Earlier this week, in the wake of the Aurora Colo., shooting, our own Paul Asay blogged about some of the things he felt when once again stepping back into a movie theater: The wariness, the quick glances, the dash of wound-up anxiety from himself and others in a place where people usually go to relax and unwind. I just had an experience like that at a screening of the new movie Step Up Revolution when a totally unrelated dance scene—something that was very obviously filmed long ago—plucked a raw audience nerve because of its inclusion of smoke bombs and gas masks.
As easy as it is to dwell on the pain, loss and even newfound fears that come from a tragedy like this, though, there are some potentially hopeful things we can take a moment to think about.
There’s an article by Hanna Rosin published by slate.com that I found very interesting. The author examines some of the victim’s stories that are slowly rising to the surface after the tragedy. She points to three men—Alex Teves, Matthew Robert McQuinn and Jonathan Blunk—and tells of how they all used their own bodies as shields to protect the girlfriends with them. Each of the twentysomething young men ended up dying while their loved ones survived.
There may be other stories like theirs that we haven’t yet heard, but I found the recounting of the heroism these guys displayed to be stirring. In this day and age when we seem to only hear about declining values and withering morals, here were three young guys ready to make the kind of brave, selfless choice that we really only expect from the make-believe superhero onscreen.
Ms. Rosin looked at the choices these men made through the prism of her book The End of Men: And the Rise of Women. And she said that in spite of the changing roles and expectations of men and women in today’s society, there seemed to be one surprising constant that their actions illustrated.
Papers have described what happened in the theater as 'chivalry.' But it's not really that. Chivalry is a code of conduct connected to social propriety. Throwing your body in front of your girlfriend when people all around you are getting shot is an instinct that's basic, and deeper. It's the same reason these Batman and Spider-Man franchises endure: Because whatever else is fading away, women still seem to want their superhero, and men still seem to want to be him.
Some of our readers have referenced another story that I saw from the shooting that’s related to the one above through context but totally different when it comes to impact. In case you haven’t heard it, it’s the story of Petra Anderson. This young woman was hit four times from a shotgun blast: Three shots hit her arm and one buck shot entered her brain. In her case though, that wasn’t as deadly as it sounds.
Petra’s pastor blogged about the amazed report her doctor gave family and friends after Petra’s emergency surgery:
It seems as if the bullet traveled through Petra's brain without hitting any significant brain areas. The doctor explains that Petra's brain has had from birth a small 'defect' in it. It is a tiny channel of fluid running through her skull, like a tiny vein through marble, or a small hole in an oak board, winding from front to rear. Only a CAT scan would catch it, and Petra would have never noticed it.
But in Petra's case, the shotgun buck shot, maybe even the size used for deer hunting, enters her brain from the exact point of this defect. Like a marble through a small tube, the defect channels the bullet from Petra's nose through her brain. It turns slightly several times, and comes to rest at the rear of her brain. And in the process, the bullet misses all the vital areas of the brain. In many ways, it almost misses the brain itself. Like a giant BB though a straw created in Petra's brain before she was born, it follows the route of the defect. It is channeled in the least harmful way. A millimeter in any direction and the channel is missed. The brain is destroyed. Evil wins a round.
Evil didn’t win in this case, though. As I write this, Petra is awake and steps are proceeding to help her along to a full recovery.
Of course, the pain, suffering and loss of that dark night go on. And even if we look for positive things to talk about, that fact won’t change. But reports of bravery and love, saved lives and thankfulness are all good things. Even if they help us see just a small spark of hope in the bleakest of times, stories like these are well worth dwelling on.
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