I've always had a love affair with movies and the very act of going to the movies. When I was young, the movie theater was the place where we kids could go to see the latest from Disney, or perhaps a historical movie that counted as a school field trip. Later, the theater was the place to take a date or to see the latest blockbuster during the summer or over the winter holidays.
As a parent, the theater became the place where I could take my children to re-live the wonders of Disney or to introduce them to the superheroes of my youth. It also was a safe haven--a place where we could drop off the kids during their teen years and pick them up a couple of hours later.
Today, that very act of going to the movies will never be the same. A gunman in Colorado has taken human lives, injured dozens, and laid waste to the idea that the movie theater is a place where we go to get away and suspend normalcy for two plus hours.
We'll all listen to the reasons why in the days to come and we'll soon be hearing the precautions which movie chains will take to protect their patrons. That's all well and good but the feeling of wonder and anticipation at the theater is now joined with "I wonder who's sitting in this place with me?"
Once again, the world has proven to be a sad, and dangerous, place.
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