After “The Dark Knight Rises” opened in the theater in Aurora, Colorado, it put the theater experience on a whole new level. It added terror, as several moviegoers didn’t come out of it alive.
The father of a man killed in the mass shooting says he will be present at the reopening, even though his daughter-in-law and families of other victims are refusing to go, outraged by the theater’s invitation. And who can blame them?
Tom Sullivan wrote a column published in Friday’s Denver Post saying his son, Alex, would want him to be there:
“Movies have always been a tool to gather my family together. We went to movie theaters to celebrate birthdays, relax on snowy Sunday afternoons, and escape the craziness of everyday.”
Of course the craziness had followed Alex in and he never came out alive. But a tradition is a tradition, as painful as Tom Sullivan might consider it to be.
Alex Sullivan was among 12 people killed in the July 20 attack, which also wounded 70 people. James Holmes, suspected in the shooting, faces several counts of murder and attempted murder.
Holmes has not entered a plea. He is due back in court Monday where prosecutors will outline their case against him. His lawyers have said he suffers from mental illness , states Yahoo News .
Considering Holmes told the press he was “The Joker”, that could be a safe assumption.
Sullivan’s column did not criticize the families who are refusing to attend. Instead, he wrote:
“I will never tell anyone what is the right way or wrong way to grieve the loss of a loved one.”
Sullivan offered to support anyone else who does attend:
“The seat next to me will be saved for Alex, but I’ll have an extra hand if you need something to hold on to.”
Tom Sullivan is definitely doing this for the right reasons.