Agents of Chaos: Why James Holmes And The Joker Would Be Best Friends

Yesterday at 12:00 a.m, I was sitting in a cozily darkened theater alongside my boyfriend, watching the premiere of the third Batman movie, as were thousands of people across the country. It was a fantastic movie, and we were thoroughly engrossed in the ending scenes at 2:39 am. Snuggled up together and holding hands on those comfy movie theater seats, we had no idea that halfway across the country, people who had been just as excited as we were to see The Dark Knight Rises, and maybe had been just as snuggly and comfortable, were dying.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you know the story of what happened in Aurora, Colorado. It sounds like something out of a movie itself, with the darkly dressed villain calmly walking into the theater with one goal-to destroy life and cause chaos. Twelve people dead, about seventy more injured. Those are the numbers. It’s sad enough to see like that, but even more so when you think about how each of those twelve people had lives and families and friends who, because of one person, will never laugh with them, or hug them, or talk to them again. They are gone forever, at least in this life depending on what you believe. As more and more information keeps coming in about these murders, one cannot help but question: what would convince a person that it’s acceptable to take so many lives? And I cannot claim to know the answer to this, but here’s the best I can come up with to help me understand what happened.

Being somewhat hardcore fans, my boyfriend and I didn’t just go to the midnight showing. We were in the marathon theater, where all three movies were shown in a row, over the course of seven hours. Because of this, the movies and characters are fresh in my mind, with one in particular: The Joker. Batman’s arch nemesis, the Agent of Chaos. In the second movie, the Joker pontificates on chaos. Among other things, he says “Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I'm an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It's fair! “ I believe that this gunman took the Joker’s words to heart. He sees himself as an agent of chaos. From what I’ve read, the police have not been able to figure out a motive for this man’s actions. I do not believe they are going to find one. This man did not have a motive. As Alfred the butler puts it, “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”  I think it’s fair to say that James Holmes identified strongly with the Joker. For one thing, he attacked those who were fans of Batman. He also had a well thought out plan, involving gas and booby-trapping his home. And maybe, in a disturbing and twisted way, he believed that what he was doing was fair- that those who died deserved to.

During the same scene as the quote above, the Joker also says, “You know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go "according to plan." Even if the plan is horrifying! If, tomorrow, I tell the press that, like, a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it's all "part of the plan". But when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds! “ This is exactly what has happened. People die every day in war and conflicts, but when things don’t go according to plan- in this case when twelve people lie dead in a movie theater, everyone panics. Panic is part of chaos and it’s quite possible that Holmes was thinking of this while he was planning his attack. He constructed it in a way that would cause the most panic and disruption to everyday life. I do not think it will ever be truly possible to understand how people like Holmes operate. But, I will not be surprised if the police cannot figure out a logical motive for the attacks. The motive was: Cause chaos. Kill people. Cause anarchy.

I can admit that I won’t be able to relax in a movie theater now for quite a while. During the previews before the movie started, there was one for an upcoming film called Gangster Squad. The trailer showed a scene where men fired guns into a crowded movie theater, causing chaos. It gave me the chills, not because of any premonition -like senses, but because that’s not something you want to watch while sitting in a theater. Now it gives me chills because the people in Aurora saw the same trailer and had no clue that about thirty-nine minutes later, the film would come to be reality. The thought actually crossed my mind that if that kind of killing was going to happen, then The Dark Knight Rises would be the movie for it to happen at, mostly because of the Joker and scenarios he created. I quickly shoved the thought away though because it was scary and stupid, and it only came to me because I had just watched the movie. After all, things like mass murder don’t happen at movie theaters...or at least, they didn’t.

Pretend Adulthood

Have you ever just completely accidentally stumbled upon an author? And than realized that "Oh my God, [insert author's name here] is  amazing, why didn't I read their books sooner?!" That's kind of what happened with Laurie Notaro. I was surfing the Barnes & Noble website when I found her and ordered the book at the library. The title Autobiography of a Fat Bride: True Tales of a Pretend Adulthood was intriguing and I thought the book might be good for a laugh or two.

Not going to lie, the cover alone made me laugh too

I was not disappointed. Notaro is mean. There is no nice way to put it. But she is mean in a way that makes you laugh and understand why she says what she does. She tells stories of her life and her family that are absolutely hysterical and made me laugh out loud. She covers the manipulative ways of a three year old, what really happens when you get married, as well as the horrors of getting old and the stress of having a husband who has issues with house work. Or in her words, "...a man who would rather live in the dark like a bat for sustained periods of time than change a lightbulb."

Pictured: Extreme laziness

Notaro does have other books such as I love Everybody (and other atrocious lies) and I'm planning on reading those too because I simply cannot get enough of her. If you're tired of reading creepy books about serial killers like I was, this book will remind you that there are things to laugh about in this world.

Not a great bedtime story

I don't like reading about just one thing. This helps explain why we go from earthquakes to...*cue dramatic music*...serial killers! Yes, this last book I finished has a review that reads "If you like to have nightmares, this is the book for you". And that's from Tom Towler, the "screenwriter of movies on Ted Bundy and Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer" -and both killers are in this book. The book in question is I, Monster by Tom Philbin. Well, Philbin is the one who put the book together. The book is really written by about 20 or so famous serial killers. It's a compilation of their thoughts, court records and terrifying, disturbing accounts of their crimes. 

This is a great book for those who love crime novels and thrillers. The only thing is, you have to remember that the accounts described are not fiction. These twisted things actually happened. I've read my fair share of horror novels, and there were places in the book that I just had to put down this book and concentrate on something happier. There were also times where I started crying. This book describes awful things but you are also compelled to finish it, for two reasons. One, to bear witness, in a sense, to what the victims went through. And two, to prove that you aren't scared of the darkness, that you can face the worst of humanity and shudder and cry but still walk away. Of course, I proceeded to have nightmares for the last few nights and there are some shocking photos that if you're not expecting, really freak you out and make you want to throw up. I recommend this book only for those who have extremely strong stomachs and don't mind the  nightmares (neither of which accurately describes me). If you can make it through it, the book makes you think about the worst parts of humanity which can be quite interesting- horrifying but interesting.

The end of the world!...Or at least the Western Seaboard

So, I recently finished this book called Cascadia's Fault by Jerry Thompson. Here's a pretty little picture of it for you:

Now, being a bit of a natural disaster aficionado, I have read quite a few books about megathrust earthquakes, tsunamis, supervolcanos, tornadoes, and the like. And most of them have one major thing in common (besides their subject): They get very, very, EXTREMELY boring. You wouldn't think that something about the death of thousands of people and extreme destruction could become boring but they manage it. Usually they'll suck you in with a dramatic preface and then the rest of the book is just like " And the force of the wave is calculated by dividing negative one by zero and then completing the formula with a quadratic equation..."

(A quadratic equation. Disclosure: I don't understand math.)

But, this book was a very pleasant surprise. Not only did it have an interesting preface, the whole book was interesting! There was some science and math involved, but it didn't take up multiple chapters and Thompson simplifies it so the average everyday reader can understand what the heck he's talking about. Now, the book describes how the Cascadia Fault was found and how scientists went about determining how dangerous it will be when it releases all its energy. For those of you who don't know where it is, the Cascadia Fault is located in red: 

Basically, if this earthquake decides to happen anytime soon, the upper half of the Western coast will first suffer a devastating earthquake that will be followed by a tsunami powerful enough to wipe out whole coastal towns. Thompson does a wonderful job of detailing the scientist's journey of discovering just how powerful this fault really is, as well as what will happen when the fault slips. I really recommend this for anyone looking for some interesting nonfiction. 

In the meantime...

While I'm reading, I figured I would post about one of my favorite books.

So! V for Vendetta. Yes, I know it's a graphic novel. Some people might call it a "comic book". However, there is nothing funny about the book. It's a dystopian view of the future, and really makes the reader think. V, the masked main character of the book, is fighting for democratic ideals in a world where there are none. The story takes place in England, which has been taken over by a political party called Norsefire. There are places where people such as homosexuals and gypsies are taken that can be called concentration camps. Everything is censored. Needless to say, it's a very depressing place.

V escaped from one of the camps and decided to fight back, using terrorist-like tactics- blowing up buildings and whatnot. In his attempt to bring down the government, he saves a girl named Evey and starts teaching her his view of the world.

I don't want to give away the ending so there's not much more that I can really say. This is a book that you can read over and over again and find something new each time. There was a movie made based on the book, but it focuses a lot more on romance than the book does; the book focuses more on anarchy. Many people criticize the book, as well as the movie because V uses violent means to try and achieve what he wants. For instance, here's what the Christian Movie Review site had to say about it:

  "V FOR VENDETTA is also a very scary and dangerous movie because it is liable to incite more political terrorism by Muslim fanatics and left-wing ideologues. Of course, contrary to the skewed political theories in the movie, Parliament is actually a symbol of democracy, not totalitarianism. And, fascism is actually a left-wing, atheist heresy, not a development of Christianity. Finally, the Koran is not a beautiful religious text, but a deceitful, hateful one that leads its followers away from God and away from God's Law, Grace and Truth."

From reading this, it's obvious that they missed the point of the movie and book -what it comes down to is that he is fighting for the right of the people to say and do what they please without fear. And isn't that part of what we believe in here in America? I believe that's why we have freedom of speech. AND freedom of religion. I love the irony of how they preach tolerance and love and then say the Koran is hateful- it's just another viewpoint. TOLERATE IT. Anyway, I believe I'm getting off topic so I will just end with saying: Read the  book. Form your own opinions. I hope you enjoy it.

An Idea

So, even though it seems like everyone else with internet access and a computer has one, I have decided to start this blog. Mostly because I have too much free time on my hands. To say that I like books would be a huge understatement. To say that I love books...would still be a pretty big understatement. I read many different kinds of books and, for a while now, I have been wanting to write reviews on them, for two reasons. One, because, as stated before, I have way too much free time. Two, because I want to help people looking for books to enjoy.

It seems like hardly anyone has time to read anymore. I can imagine that when people find the time to, they don't want to sit down and waste their time on a story they get halfway into and realize they don't like. By writing reviews, I want to tell you what to expect, what my personal opinion is, and then have you make up your mind about whether or not you want to spend time on the book or not. Because, believe it or not, all books are not worth reading. When there are so many fantastic stories out there, you don't want to spend time on only the mediocre ones. You want to spend time on the ones you get sucked into, and the characters come alive, and the story becomes so real you forget about everything else around you until you flip past that final page and close the covers, and then lean your head back, close your eyes and breath a sigh of contentment. I hope I can help. Plus, I need a place to post stuff I write. So voila. Here it is.