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Badmovies.org Forum  |  Movies  |  Press Releases and Film News  |  14 shot dead at 'Dark Knight Rises' showing in Colorado « previous next »
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Author Topic: 14 shot dead at 'Dark Knight Rises' showing in Colorado  (Read 19514 times)
AndyC
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« Reply #30 on: July 26, 2012, 08:05:36 PM »

I see the movie theatre and Warner Bros. as victims in their own right. Somebody singles out your movie or your place of business for something like this, you're one of the victims.

That said, I was wondering about the emergency exit myself. Unless somebody let him in, or he's exceptionally skilled at breaking and entering, the door can't have been secure. Seems like there might be a pretty good chance of proving negligence on the part of the theatre management. He bypassed their normal security measures with no trouble at all, strolled up to an emergency exit carrying a small arsenal and went right in, apparently unnoticed by anyone until the shooting started. We are, no doubt, going to see some changes throughout the industry because of this.
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Andrew
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« Reply #31 on: July 27, 2012, 08:01:31 AM »

Filing suit against the movie studio is idiotic.  I can only assume the reason behind doing so is that they allege "The Dark Knight" is a reason James Holmes walked into the theater and started shooting.  That is something I wholesale reject.  People are responsible for their own actions.  I am responsible for mine, and you are responsible for yours.  There can be factors that are taken into account, but in this case the murderer had plenty of time think about what he was doing before he did it.  He is just a monster.

From another standpoint, if ideas in movies or books are a crime (or liability) then a large number of books, TV shows, and films are grounds for lawsuits.  That idea is ridiculous to me, based on my belief that people are responsible for their own actions.

The movie theater might have some liability if the emergency exit was propped open.  However, how did it come to be open?  Did he buy a ticket, enter the theater, walk out through the emergency door and prop it open?  It's strange to me that such a door would be open, especially on such a night when a high-demand movie is having its first showing.  Also, what is the usual harm in an emergency door being open like that?  It would be the theater losing revenue through people sneaking in.

The moment that James Holmes walked into the theater, whether it was through an open emergency exit or the front door, with the intent to commit murder, people were going to be killed or injured.  He is who is at fault.  Whenever something goes wrong like this, people (and lawyers) want to place the blame somewhere that can be sued for monetary damages.  I have a problem with that.  If a reason here is that the victims have bills to pay, and I believe they must, then the community as a whole should help to shoulder the burden by making donations to a emergency fund.  And I don't mean "community" as being only Aurora.  It can be Colorado, it can be all of the United States, and it can be anyone anywhere who wants to help. 

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Andrew Borntreger
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AndyC
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« Reply #32 on: July 27, 2012, 08:43:44 AM »

Also, what is the usual harm in an emergency door being open like that?  It would be the theater losing revenue through people sneaking in.

That's something I've been wondering about. Theatre security is mostly concerned with keeping out people who haven't paid. In terms of liability, would an insecure door matter just because it wasn't locked, when the purpose of the lock is not the safety of the audience? Is it any different from somebody walking into the lobby and shooting people? The only difference I can see is that sneaking into a packed, noisy, dark theatre made it easier to shoot a lot of people before anyone could react. Other than that, the unsecured door made it no different from any place where the public can freely come and go.

I would think the question of liability (assuming it was staff who propped open the door) would depend on whether anyone should have anticipated that leaving the door open would have the outcome it did. I don't think that's a reasonable expectation.

As for suing Warner Bros., I bet that idea came from the lawyers. It's more of a strategy, I think. Name everybody you can in the lawsuit, and be sure to include those with the deepest pockets. This can't have been good for Warners, and they might just find it in their best interest to offer a nice settlement, regardless of actual liability, just to avoid further trouble.

Overall, I don't like when people start mixing civil law into a criminal case.
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Pilgermann
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« Reply #33 on: July 30, 2012, 01:27:45 AM »

Also, I could see suing the theater directly: most 'emergency exits', to my knowledge, sound an alarm of some sorts.  If it were propped open, as said, that's a lawsuit waiting to happen.

It'd be pretty simple to stick something thin and sturdy in the door to keep it from latching, which is likely what happened.  Theater exits aren't strictly there for emergencies, either, but as exits that make for quick access to allow patrons quick access to the parking lot.  I've never seen or heard of an auditorium exit door that would sound an alarm. 

It's pointless to sue anyone in this situation, it's completely pointless and a waste of time and money.  This whole event is a harrowing one, and the scumbag who caused it needs to never see the light of day again.  Unfortunately, it's just one among many never ending evils that mankind is so good at.
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