It’s finally Dark Knight Rises Day, but I’m not as excited about that as I’d expected to be.
I thought today would be filled with pure comic book joy and happiness, but instead it’s been tainted by real-life evil. I’ve spent the better part of the day absolutely heartbroken over the news of the shootings in Colorado. I will never understand how some people can just be so unfathomably horrible. I also can’t understand how so many people (online, mostly) can make jokes about it, or say it doesn’t affect them. Any time anything this evil happens, it really does affect all of us. After all, “what chance does Gotham have if the good people do nothing”? (Trite, perhaps, but I live by that notion, and wish that more people would truly take it to heart.)
I’ve spent so much time thinking and hearing about the badness of this incident -and HATING how the media has glorified the person responsible- that I’d all but given up on going to see DKR this weekend. Although I knew it would do no one any good, it somehow seemed wrong or disrespectful of me to go in light of what happened. Then I read this article about the Heroes that have started to emerge from the tragedy: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/stories-of-heroism-during_n_1690688.html It reminded me that no matter how much people want to dwell on what’s wrong with our society and the fucked up side of human nature, that there really is still a lot of good out there. So many people the world over give of themselves every day to help others, not because they want glory or accolades, but simply because it’s the right thing to do. “Gotham” is full of heroes; they just aren’t always as sharply dressed as these guys… 
So, as much as my heart aches for the victims of this awful incident (and for everyone that has ever had to deal with anything so senseless and tragic in their lives), I will be going to see DKR tomorrow as planned. But, instead of letting the violent onscreen imagery remind me of the real evils in the world, I’ll see it as a reminder to be as heroic as I possibly can be in my every day life, to stand up against those who would oppress us with fear, and that good ultimately triumphs over evil. That’s the message I’ve always gotten from my favorite comics, anyway, and it’s precisely why I love them as much as I do.
I hope everyone has a beautiful Dark Knight Weekend…Stay positive, happy, and heroic. 
Big hugs,
The Kaped Krusader
Ps- On a day like today when I get super down on “Man’s World”, I like to sing this little ditty from the Smurfs to pick myself up a bit. Alas, I couldn’t find a postable Smurfy version, so you get this weird lil’ Yoshi-centric vid instead. The sentiment’s the same, though, so enjoy! xo