As numerous news outlets have shown us over the past week, James Holmes entered a Colorado theater during the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises. He then allegedly opened fire, killing twelve people and wounding many others. The twenty-four-year old Holmes recently appeared in court for a preliminary hearing in which his hair was dyed a fading bright red color, and according to ABC News, he “spent much of the hearing looking down, his head drooping at times. He demeanor ranged from a glassy bug-eyed stare to appearing to be nodding off.”
If there’s a tragedy, there’s certain to be people – attorneys and money-hungry simpletons alike – looking to make a buck. In Breaking Bad, Saul is the archetypal ambulance chasing lawyer who will spin any writ or tort to his client’s – and his – advantage. Some might suggest that Saul is merely in the teleplay for flavor and conflict, but those people would be wrong. Saul is in the teleplay because Saul-like lawyers exist in real life.
Meet Donald Karpel, attorney at law and scumbag who convinced Torrence Brown Jr. to file suit against three defendants. According to TMZ:
1. He has filed suit against the theater, claiming “it was negligent for the theater to have an emergency door in the front that was not alarmed or guarded. It’s widely believed Holmes entered the theater with a ticket, propped the emergency door open from inside, went to his car and returned with guns.”
2. The second suit is filed against Holmes’ doctors: “Karpel says it appears Holmes was on several medications — prescribed by one or more doctors — at the time of the shooting and he believes the docs did not properly monitor Holmes.”
3. The third complaint is rather absurd: Karpel says “Dark Knight Rises” was particularly violent and Holmes mimicked some of the action. The attorney says theater goers were helpless because they thought the shooter was part of the movie. Karpel tells TMZ, “Somebody has to be responsible for the rampant violence that is shown today.”
I do not mean to minimize the tragedy or Mr. Brown’s potential trauma. However, his lawsuit is rather ridiculous. First off, he was not injured. Granted, his friend was killed, which is very tragic, but he escaped unscathed. His first complaint seems rather silly. Perhaps the exit wasn’t alarmed because people often snuck in and out of it, and having a fire alarm go off in a theater is a fine recipe for a stampede.
Secondly, just because Holmes’ doctors didn’t accompany him to the movie premier doesn’t mean they didn’t monitor him. Surprisingly enough, there are very few doctors out there who stake out their patients’ homes to make sure that things go swimmingly twenty-four hours a day. Moreover, if Brown plans to sue the doctors, why not sue Holmes’ parents, friends, and classmates as well. Is it not possible that they should have also been monitoring Holmes?
Third, Holmes went to the premier of the film, so it’s apparent that he had not already seen the film and been inspired by it. If so, the man found a wormhole in the men’s room. Perhaps it’s possible that Holmes was inspired by some of the initial violence, but how does this compel him to purchase four different guns on four separate days and booby trap his apartment with explosives prior to the film? I don’t disagree that movies tend to be violent, but it seems that Brown is also indicting himself as a potential mass murderer since he too sat through the first twenty minutes of the film.
The most aggravating part of this suit is the fact that The Dark Knight Rises rails against greed and excess – as do Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Maybe Brown has not been able to go to another theater without the memory of his friend’s murder, and that I understand, but the irony here runs too deep for us not to indict both the legal and education systems. First, Donald Karpel is a lamprey hitching a ride. Second, Brown is a rube. If he’s experienced this much trauma, he should see a therapist, go on Prozac, or go to California and smoke a joint. Stop tying up the court system with frivolity and pleas of emotional distress. Or, better yet, do something to honor your friend’s name, instead of pissing on the tragedy.
