Mass Shootings Add Anxiety to Movie Theater Visits
As she sat down with her 8-year-old daughter recently in an Oakland, California, theater for a matinee of "The Peanuts Movie," Denise Simard, 44, was surprised by her own paranoia.
She examined the other patrons for suspicious behavior, for instance if anyone was there without a child. She scanned the theater for the closest door and the fastest escape route. She planned what she would do if someone started shooting.
44歲的丹妮絲．希瑪德最近和8歲女兒在加州奧克蘭一家電影院坐下來觀賞午場的「史努比」時，對自己的過度緊張頗為吃驚。
她檢視其他觀眾有沒有可疑的行為，例如，是否有人沒帶小孩。她掃視電影院，尋找最近的門和最快的逃跑路線。她盤算著有人開槍該怎麼辦。
Mental escape is part of the appeal of the movie theater. But it can also make people check out of their surroundings, an increasingly uncomfortable feeling for those who fear becoming the next victim in a mass shooting.
Dozens of Times readers, when asked how often they think about the possibility of a shooting in their daily lives, pointed to movie theater visits as a time of particular vulnerability.
讓心理暫時逃離現實是電影院的吸引力之一，而看電影也會讓人失去對四周環境的警覺，對擔心成為大屠殺下一個受害者的人而言，這種感覺愈來愈令人不安。
幾十位紐時讀者被問到他們多常想到日常生活中可能會碰到槍擊案時，表示去看電影時特別感到易受攻擊。
Movie theaters pose an acute source of worry for Americans who have grown used to walking through metal detectors or bag checkpoints at campuses and schools, sports arenas, concert venues and office towers. And the movie theater industry has been reluctant to impose additional security, citing cost and added hassle for patrons, despite increasing public anxiety.
Elizabeth Manasek, of Carmel, Indiana, said she could not relax during a sold-out showing of the latest James Bond film, "Spectre" last month, and her husband sensed her tension.
對已習慣在校園和學校、體育場、音樂會場和辦公大樓通過金屬探測器或包包檢查站的美國人來說，電影院令人深感憂慮。儘管大眾日益不安，電影院一直不願實施額外安檢，理由是成本考量以及不想為觀眾添麻煩。
印第安納州卡梅爾市的伊麗莎白．馬納塞克說，她上月觀賞客滿的最新龐德電影「007：惡魔四伏」時，一直無法放鬆，丈夫也感覺到她的緊張。
There has been little indication that these fears have had a huge impact on box office results, but there is evidence that more people may be staying home.
According to a survey of about 500 moviegoers conducted in August by C4 Consumer Insights, which does market research for the entertainment industry, 9 percent said they planned to limit their trips to the movies. The survey was conducted shortly after two violent incidents at theaters: A gunman killed two people and himself at a showing of "Trainwreck" in Lafayette, Louisiana, and a man armed with a hatchet and a pellet gun was killed by a SWAT team in August after he unleashed pepper spray at a showing of "Mad Max: Fury Road" in Nashville, Tennessee.
幾乎沒有跡象顯示這些擔憂對票房有巨大影響，但有證據顯示可能會有更多人選擇待在家裡。
根據為娛樂業做市調的「C4消費者洞察」公司8月對大約500名電影觀眾所做調查，有9%受訪者表示打算減少去電影院。調查是在兩起電影院暴力事件發生後不久做的：路易斯安納州拉法葉市一家電影院放映「姐姐愛最大」時，一名槍手殺死兩人後自盡，以及8月田納西州納許維爾市一家電影院放映「瘋狂麥斯：憤怒道」時，一名帶了斧頭和彈丸槍的男子噴辣椒水後，被特警隊擊斃。
Critics of metal detectors in theaters say they would be costly to set up and ineffective at preventing a determined attacker from getting inside. Holmes, for one, propped open an emergency exit at the Aurora theater before returning with his guns.
Michael Dorn, a security consultant and the executive director of Safe Havens International, said detectors at theaters would likely serve as "more of a feel-good measure than something actually designed to really stop anybody."
反對在電影院使用金屬探測器者說，設置成本高又難以防範決心進入電影院的攻擊者。例如，賀姆斯在奧羅拉電影院就先用東西抵住緊急出口的門，讓門不會關上，再出去拿槍回到電影院。
安全顧問、「國際避風港公司」執行長麥可．多恩說，電影院的探測器很可能是「心理作用大過實際阻擋任何人的作用」。
While your local theater may not get metal detectors soon, at least one showing added increased security: The premiere of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in Los Angeles on Monday night had security and line control on par with the Academy Awards.
你家附近的電影院也許不會很快就用金屬探測器，但至少有一場電影增加了安全措施：「星際大戰七部曲：原力覺醒」14日晚上在洛杉磯首映時，就有比照奧斯卡頒獎典禮的安檢和警戒線。
（Daniel Victorm, 紐約時報, 田思怡譯）
說文解字看新聞
美國大規模槍擊案（mass shootings）太多，連看電影也不安心。mass shooting沒有明確定義，根據美國聯邦調查局（FBI）的定義，四人以上被槍殺，不包括凶手，即為mass shooting。
美國最有名的電影院大規模槍擊案發生在科羅拉多州奧羅拉，在放映蝙蝠俠系列電影「黑暗騎士：黎明昇起」時，以片中角色「小丑」（the Joker）自居的賀姆斯進入戲院大開殺戒。
其實不少槍擊案的槍手受電影「暴力美學」（aesthetics of violence）影響，電影與槍擊案有密切連結，美國電影院又沒有安檢，觀眾不需通過金屬探測器或包包檢查站（walk through metal detectors or bag checkpoints），觀眾特別感到「易受攻擊」（vulnerable）。
有些槍手會穿電影戲服（wear a costume）行凶。美國迪士尼和環球影城等主題樂園已禁止14歲以上的人穿戲服入園。這也難怪電影「星際大戰七部曲：原力覺醒」洛杉磯首映會如此緊張，安全規格「比照奧斯卡頒獎典禮」（on par with the Academy Awards），星戰迷特別喜歡穿片中角色的戲服去看電影，都可能「隱藏殺機」（with intent to kill）。
（田思怡）
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