Rachel Brown used her lunch hour to stop by the AMC theaters in Largo to pick up tickets for a late-night showing of “The Dark Knight Rises.” Brown said she briefly considered not seeing the movie — especially not at night — after a gunman killed 12 people at a multiplex in Colorado.
“But then I thought that’s ridiculous,” she said. “It’s like not going to school after Columbine.”
(Bill O'Leary/WASHINGTON POST) - Crowds que up in front of the Uptown theater where the new Batman movie opens in the wake of last nights' shootings in Colorado, on July, 20, 2012 in Washington, DC.
More on this story
Police: 71 shot, 12 dead; four guns recovered from suspect’s car; more updates on the mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater.
PHOTOS | Dozens more are injured after a gunman released fumes from a canister and opened fire during the Batman movie, police say.
Chris Cillizza
THE FIX | History suggests that high-profile incidents involving guns have little effect on how people view the right role for guns in society.
Across the Washington region and the nation, people tried to ignore their fears and their grief as they went to see the most anticipated movie of the year, just as they had planned. Many did so warily, but they did not want a killer halfway across the country to make them cower.
Warner Bros., the studio that released the movie, did not pull the film from U.S. screens, and theater owners said showings would go on as scheduled.
One of the largest theater companies, AMC, banned masks and some costumes from its shows. “We will not allow any guests into our theatres in costumes that make other guests feel uncomfortable,” AMC said in a statement.
Police in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties and several other jurisdictions in the region said they would beef up patrols around large multiplexes.
“There will be an increased presence around some movie theaters just so the public knows we know about this and we’re trying to reassure them,” Montgomery police Capt. Paul Starks said.
A Warner Bros. official said Warner was not celebrating the film’s good reviews and box office success. “We’re not canceling anything,” said the executive, who was not authorized to speak for the company and, therefore, spoke on the condition of anonymity. But “it’s hard to feel celebratory when a tragedy like this strikes.”
The moviegoing public appeared to feel the same. People wanted to see the movie, and they went. But they went with second thoughts and even some guilt.
“There was a little bit of apprehension, I guess. ‘Is it safe?’
“But then I thought that’s ridiculous,” she said. “It’s like not going to school after Columbine.”
(Bill O'Leary/WASHINGTON POST) - Crowds que up in front of the Uptown theater where the new Batman movie opens in the wake of last nights' shootings in Colorado, on July, 20, 2012 in Washington, DC.
Police: 71 shot, 12 dead; four guns recovered from suspect’s car; more updates on the mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater. PHOTOS | Dozens more are injured after a gunman released fumes from a canister and opened fire during the Batman movie, police say. Chris Cillizza THE FIX | History suggests that high-profile incidents involving guns have little effect on how people view the right role for guns in society.
Across the Washington region and the nation, people tried to ignore their fears and their grief as they went to see the most anticipated movie of the year, just as they had planned. Many did so warily, but they did not want a killer halfway across the country to make them cower.
Warner Bros., the studio that released the movie, did not pull the film from U.S. screens, and theater owners said showings would go on as scheduled.
One of the largest theater companies, AMC, banned masks and some costumes from its shows. “We will not allow any guests into our theatres in costumes that make other guests feel uncomfortable,” AMC said in a statement.
Police in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties and several other jurisdictions in the region said they would beef up patrols around large multiplexes.
“There will be an increased presence around some movie theaters just so the public knows we know about this and we’re trying to reassure them,” Montgomery police Capt. Paul Starks said.
A Warner Bros. official said Warner was not celebrating the film’s good reviews and box office success. “We’re not canceling anything,” said the executive, who was not authorized to speak for the company and, therefore, spoke on the condition of anonymity. But “it’s hard to feel celebratory when a tragedy like this strikes.”
The moviegoing public appeared to feel the same. People wanted to see the movie, and they went. But they went with second thoughts and even some guilt.
“There was a little bit of apprehension, I guess. ‘Is it safe?’