Update (VI): And the prize for the stupidest commentary of the day goes to the NY Post analyzing whether the Batman movies, comics, etc. inspired the alleged killer. Since I reported earlier the claim that he said he was the Joker, that seems like a self-evident “yes.” But witness these eerie similarities, according to the Post:
— Bruce Wayne's drive to become Batman arose from witnessing the deaths of his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, at the hands of small-time criminal Joe Chill, who shot and killed them after they had left a movie theater.
— The Batman video game called "Arkham City" takes place in an abandoned movie theatre (The Monarch, outside of which Bruce Wayne's parents were killed).
Actually the game takes place inside a city-sized prison, a fact you might have figured out from the fact it is called Arkham City.
— In the third issue of DC Comics' "Batman: The Dark Knight," a gritty retooling of the Batman character that was written by Frank Miller in the 1980s, the Joker kills an entire late-night TV audience with gas.
Um, it’s called The Dark Knight Returns.
—In the same book, a man starts shooting up a porn theater after getting fired from his job.
— "The Dark Knight Rises" features at least two scenes where unsuspecting people are attacked in a public venue: the stock exchange and a football stadium.
I admit I don’t know those materials quite well enough to verify those claims, but those basic errors don’t exactly help matters.
On the other hand for more intelligent commentary, here’s what Nolan had to say about it:
Speaking on behalf of the cast and crew of 'The Dark Knight Rises', I would like to express our profound sorrow at the senseless tragedy that has befallen the entire Aurora community.
I would not presume to know anything about the victims of the shooting but that they were there last night to watch a movie. I believe movies are one of the great American art forms and the shared experience of watching a story unfold on screen is an important and joyful pastime.
The movie theatre is my home, and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me.
Saying that this killer might have been inspired by Batman is not the same as blaming the movies or anything like that. There is an important difference between causation and blame. But one suspects that Nolan is feeling like he is at fault tonight, which is incorrect morally but human.
Update (V): The “Joker” story has been confirmed? Apparently:
