MINNEAPOLIS - We go to the movies to escape reality, but Friday night a dose of reality came along to the movies.
"We talked about it the entire trip," said Mike Keiffer who drove from North Oaks to attend The Dark Knight Rises at St. Anthony Main Theatre with his wife Beth, who added, "It's a tragedy, that's for sure."
A dark night lingered over a somber day, leaving the theatre's general manager Kevan Smoliak to wonder "what this sort of event is going to do to people's mindsets about going to the movies."
The antidote to uncertainty: a full lobby.
"You can't let one event that that happened in a different state limit what you do, because if you let something like that happen, you're never going to do anything," said Emily Nachtigal defiantly as she waited for the 7 p.m. showing of the latest Batman movie. "I consider it an isolated incident," added Tim Gabhart, who stood at her side."
Along with the popcorn, it helps to sprinkle in some perspective. 1.2 billion movie tickets sold in North America last year. One madman.
"It happened because some lunatic had an idea and decided to act on it," said Drew Horwood," who came to the movie without hesitation.
Twenty minutes before show time a 250 seat auditorium was full and a second opened up for the overflow. "You still have to live your life and not let something like that, change everything," said Keiffer.
(Copyright 2012 by KARE. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)