And Here's The PSA About Surviving Mass Shootings
A lot has happened in the wake of the Aurora, Colorado, Chattanooga shootings. Some of it has been good. Like when Christian Bale visited victims in the hospital and people becoming more aware of gun laws and which politicians (uh, pretty much all of them) support keeping everything relaxed. Some of the aftermath has been bad. Like people thinking a drawing of Batman with his head down is a good way to pay respects to the people involved in the tragedy and the endless idiocy of people updating social networks with their thoughts, officially making the shooting about them, which is sort of disgusting. And of course, there's the trend of people bringing guns to theaters to protect themselves.
Then there are some things that have been right smack in the middle. Take, for instance, a video that was produced by the City of Houston Mayor’s Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security. It is a six minute long Public Service Announcement titled “RUN. HIDE. FIGHT. Surviving an Active Shooter Event." It is also absolutely ridiculous and absolutely a good idea, all at the same time.
The video, which was obviously produced, shot, and edited well before the topic of public safety in mass shooting was on people's mind, was posted to youtube three days after the shooting in Colorado, but is still extremely (unfortunately) relevant.
“We didn’t release it at the time because we didn’t know it was relevant. Now it is,” the head of the Houston Mayor’s Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security Department told local reporters.
As it begins, a voice over on the video explains that "It may just feel like another day at the office. But occasionally, life feels more like an action movie than reality. The authorities are doing what they can to protect you. But sometimes, bad people do bad things." As people buzz around the office, we see Vin Diesel, or someone who looks a lot like him, casually waltzing around in all black, strapped head to toe with guns. We assume right away, that this is a bad person, about to do bad things.
Everything goes to shit pretty quickly in "Run. Hide. Fight." Mr. Diesel starts shooting people in a pretty graphic way, as the narrator explains that to survive an "active shooter event," your plan doesn't need to be complex. He humbly suggests that — much like the title says — you run, hide and fight, in that order. Fighting is presented as a last resort, because if you do, you need to "Commit to taking the shooter down, no matter what."
It all seems so damn corny, but when we think about it, maybe it's not? As Houston's mayor, Annise Parker said, knowledge can be a powerful thing. "I can't imagine the horror and grief," she told The Houston Chronicle. "If it is at all possible for any good to come out of it, perhaps it can be letting people know the options to consider if it happens again." When it's put that way, it's hard to tell if the PSA was good or bad, which is why we think it sits right in the middle. Hopefully the end result from people seeing it is more good than bad. And hopefully Vin Diesel never sees it at all.
[Pic via screengrab of video]
