Judd Apatow, the director of “Trainwreck,” said in a statement Friday that he was devastated by the shooting that left two dead and others injured while they were watching his movie in a Louisiana theater.
“One of the reasons we make these movies is because the world can be so horrifying and we all need to laugh just to deal with it,” Apatow said in a statement Friday, according to CNN. “So to have this happen in a room where people were smiling and laughing devastates me.”
Apatow has spoken out against gun violence and headlined a gun violence prevention benefit, according to Deadline.
“My thoughts and love go out to the victims and anyone touched by this madness or any madness,” he said in the statement. “We, as a country, need to find a way to do better.”
Making it practically impossible for mentally ill folks like this man to acquire a weapon would be a good start.
The reason for these murders, the Chattanooga murders, and the Charleston murders is the same: the too easy access to guns by people who shouldn’t get them at all. The specific people, locations targeted and the motives of the shooters are just commentary. Will Americans’ tipping point that this cannot continue ever be reached?
Maybe it’s time to install metal detectors at movie theaters and other public gathering venues. If the right wing refuses to accept responsibility for its virulent pro-gun views by instituting some common-sense gun control laws, then it’s up to the rest of us to use protective measures wherever possible. Let them scream about a nanny state. It’s a far better sound than the screaming of the victims.
Why does anyone care about what he has to say? Or the star of the movie? Or its cinematographer? What the hell is this fixation with having these people say anything with something that has nothing to do with them?
I would like to add that, as a sibling of someone with mental illness, my whole family has always been watchful of what my sib is doing and has access to. That is not the norm. Many people with serious mental illness have been abandoned by their families and the system. That is the real tragedy. My sib always says to me that these mass killings cast a bad light on the mentally ill, and one that is unfair. My heart is breaking for everyone.