Fiction that Matters

(via sandandglass)

Zapiro’s latest insightful cartoon. 

While watching Batman in the theater, I couldn’t help but be disturbed by the number of guns onscreen. And I was equally bothered by the fact that no one in the film seemed to bleed—not that it would have justified the onscreen violence, but it only perpetuated the fantasy unfolding onscreen, one which sharply contrasted with the real killings that had happened last week. I felt incredibly edgy during the film as well as the deepest sorrow for the Aurora victims. 

I participated in a debate on gun control in the seventh grade. At the time, it was so obvious that guns should be regulated or even banned outright—the evidence, pre-internet, was incontrovertible. But I didn’t understand the power of a block of voters who will cast aside everything—from issues pertaining to health, war, infrastructure, and religion—in order to have the ability to buy a handgun or an automatic weapon for the sake of a “collection”.

I know that others have said it better by this point. But it’s a truly sad state of affairs and it’s an embarrassing legacy for posterity.