On December 14, 2012 Newtown, CT was transformed into a place of real violence and blood and mayhem. It was on this day at the Newtown elementary school where 20 children died and six adults lost their lives trying to protect them. I could not comprehend what had happened. I found myself confused and somewhat disoriented, for I was looking forward to a Christmas of peace and love. A 20 year-old with real psychiatric difficulty changed my thinking forever. I began to wonder: who on earth would kill 5- and 6-year olds?
I thought also, now the media will demonize the mentally ill, and all those self-righteous reporters will talk about how mental health services should be available to everyone. How can this be, when the Federal Government has cut the Mental Health budget by half?
We all want this to go away, so that we as a society can to continue “to live our lives in quiet desperation”, as Shakespeare dutifully informed us. The people in Newtown CT will never be the same, and the United States will never be the same. We have an attraction to violence, and an attraction to movies with violence in them. We need to understand that art reflects the times we live in. Art is not responsible for the violence that we have indulged in; however, there are individuals who are susceptible to the pull of movies. We must be careful in what we do. Directors & playwrights must now think about how their piece of work will impact on their community. It is not censorship: it is the reality we live in today. An individual was able to walk into a movie theatre, thinking he was a character in a movie. Did he realize that it was just a movie? I think not.
This is dedicated to the children of Newtown who died. I will always remember you.
Scott Smith