Sociology Professor Recommends Caution at Theaters
Should you stay home? A sociologist says maybe. Photo by Nathan Bernier/KUT NewsAfter 12 people were shot to death in a Denver suburb this morning during a screening of the new Batman movie, Austin theatergoers may be wondering if it’s safe to go to the movies. Mark Warr, a sociology professor at the University of Texas, says people shouldn’t overreact to the event. But they should be careful.
“There does seem to be an element of contagion in many mass murders,” Warr said. “Whether this is going to happen in the next six months, two years, three years, I don’t know. But it’s likely that someone else is going to hear about this, see the script and emulate it.”
Warr suggests being cautious at theaters, but says the fact that people will eventually get over their fears and return to the movies is “probably a healthy thing.” After all, the chance of something similar happening to any given person is incredibly small.
