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UPDATE: Christian Bale and his wife traveled to the town of the Aurora movie 
theater shooting and spent 2 1/2-hours meeting with seven gunshot victims who posted photos of their meeting Batman on the Internet. Warner Bros made it very clear to Deadline that The Dark Knight Rises star was representing himself, not the movie studio. (Though I hear studio reps accompanied him.) “The patients were really happy to meet Bale,” a hospital spokesperson said. “They are obviously big fans of his movies. They wanted to see Batman and were really pleased to see Bale.” Bale specifically asked that media not be notified of his trip. “He wanted to meet with victims and police,” the spokesperson said.
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Nice of him, but the skeptics and cynics will enter this post to cry out “PR move, not genuine!” in 3, 2, 1…..
it’s only known because some victims and medical staff posted their pics with him on FB and twitter
The only way Warner Brothers could come off looking worse in all this is if they offered the city of Aurora a free screening of Gangster Squad.
I hope your whole life isn’t that cynical.
Agree w/@anotherwgamember Bale seemed to be acting alone, and WB just seem to be trying to relieve anyone feeling the horrible repercussions of this tragedy
Ummm… then what, pray tell, would have allowed them to look better? The studio witheld box office reporting so as not to distract from the tragedy (though I concede that the ostentatiousness of this action might have subverted the goal). The studio made a “sizable” charitable donation. From where I stand, WB is trying to do the right thing. Bale’s decision to not only visit victime but also to do so under the radar (to the extent that he could) is likewise laudable.
Your perspective suggests that ANYTHING Warner Brothers does should be met with suspicion and cynicism. While it’s true that any ostensibly charitable act might be a PR move in disguise, your attitude leaves WB damned if it does and damned if it doesn’t. What would have been an appropriate action? Yes, of course WB is concerned about PR. If people are afraid to go to the movies, tough times are ahead for a lot of people. But the actions of neither the studio nor the actors seems unrepentantly self-serving, as your words seem to suggest.
You must live a sad life.
Very classy Mr. Bale. Even a few minutes of distraction can be a good lift. A small thing sure, but very very nice.
Very nice of him. Classy move. My best to him and the victims.
Thank you, Mr. Bale.
This was a classy move on Bale’s part.
I’m sure part of the studio’s insistence that he was coming on his own was the fact that if he said, “I’m sorry” to anyone the studio wouldn’t want to be seen as taking responsibility and opening themselves up to lawsuits. It’s a shame, because any reasonable person can plainly see that it’s not the fault of the movie, DC Comics, the studio, or even the theater’s security.
But the store that sold the gunman an assault rifle doesn’t get called out by anyone, even when they’re having a sale on assault rifles right now.
Wait a minute. That theater has a posted policy forbidding guns inside the theater. The theater therefore has an obligation to provide some degree of security to its customers and clearly they failed in meeting that responsibility. Midnight screening. Packed theaters. No cops on hand? That’s negligent behavior and their liability insurer will end up writing big checks, sadly.
Classy effort by the Bales’. I’ m sure it was very much appreciated.
Let’s be fair, Michael. Your position is only possible through hindsight. What other midnight screening has had that kind of a security threat, ever? None. The theater’s obligation was to have adequate staff on hand at the ticket booth, concessions and on janitorial duty. That’s what you need to handle a midnight crowd, especially a bunch of Batman geeks. Because at the core, these superhero stories are about nobility that we can all look up to as role models.
I’ve been to Comic Con every year since 1987, and can tell you that even 130,000+ geeks and fanboys are a relatively peaceful lot for that very reason: we’re all there because we’re fans of heroes. There are surprisingly few true douchebags at Con (at least on the fan side). There may be socially awkward nerds, but nobody who threatents a mass shooting like the Aurora tragedy.
I’ll also join the chorus of praise of Bale for visiting the town. A class act, sir.
I am not sure I follow… you’re saying that because the theater had a “no guns policy” they are responsible for the shooting? Are law that different in Colorado that cinemas are expected to metal-detect/frisk patrons at a crowded screening?
Or are you, @Michael, being sarcastic in a way the a blog posting doesn’t make apparent?
I’m sorry. The person above who called himself “Classy” upset me. I really have a problem when somebody makes a snarkey remark and then hides their identity. It’s like they want to play, but are afraid to actually “play”.
They seem to think that their anonymous words will be enough to “change my heart.” I don’t believe I’ve fallen for that since the first time I talked to “Lisa” on a Cray computer. (Lisa was a computer program which pretended to be a Jungian Psychiatrist.)
I believe that Christian Bale deserves gratitude for what he did. I don’t believe that fraidy-cat anonymous posters should be allowed to use these plaudits to advance their agenda.
And I actually do know some actors so I realize that an “Actor” needs to be able to pretend to be on any side of any issue so it is impossible to determine when an actor is not lying, but it gets tedious listening to someone who doesn’t actually believe something pontificate on that something. I mean, who would believe that in gun-controlled Aurora, Colorado, inside a “posted” gun-free establishment, where every anti-gun rule possible is in force and being followed, that something like this could happen?
Again, Christian Bale has redeemed himself for “Terminator Salvation” in my eyes, and is one of the Good Guys, and the Warner Brothers Studios should also be congratulated for figuring out a good method of addressing the situation. Neither of these entities could have been criticized had they not done so.
We call those people trolls, and you are only giving them what they want my acknowledging that they pissed you off.
CB did a nice thing here, and he did it without seeking fanfare.
The right thing to do and the right way to do it. Classy guy
How classy is that? Seems like a genuine gesture that probably meant the world to those on the mend. Well done.
This story just inspired me to write this comment: what a wonderful, genuine, classy move by Bale. Bravo, brother.
MC
Bale = Batman.
Now it’s official.
Well done.
What a good person to do this. It seems very sincere, honest and human.
VERY classy by Mr. and Mrs. Bale!
What a class act with a capital A! There is still a lot of kindness, generosity and genuine love and compassion for mankind in the world. We just need to seek it out.
Thank you, Mr. Bale, for being a good guy.
I gave it less then a week before he would show up exactly as he did. Mr. Bale certainly walks to his own drummer. That so called fiasco he created on the fake terminator movie a few years back was told by the media being his fault. In reality, the director and dp gave him crap the entire movie. He just had enough and wanted the scene to be right. Not to have distractions of one more light being put up that means crap. Good Man Bale
He’s studly.
@BarbarianComic
Awesome!
Mr. Bale didn’t have to do this and made the right decision. He made a difference.
This is just the right thing to do. It’s a good example. The guy seems like a very nice person, but I don’t know him so I can’t judge and I try never to judge even if I know people. I feel sorry for cynical people, but I still love them. Everyone is so valuable and such a miracle. We’re rely lucky to be alive.
He’s a good guy. Considering few of them will watch BATMAN ever again, it’s probably nice to meet the actor instead. Might be therapy for Bale too. Can’t imagine what a surreal and depressing weekend he’s had.
What a classy guy. Thank you Christian
I smell an ambulance chaser. What world do you live in where it’s a movie theater’s fault for not predicting a psychopath with an assault rifle? It’s not the theater’s fault. You want cops in every theater in the US? Maybe That would work if we actually funded our municipalities or made it a non-issue by limiting the ridiculous amount of firepower that the general public has access to. I’m sure the people working at the theater are pretty messed up about this, so don’t be a jackass.
@Dan – Yup,yup. My thoughts exactly. I refuse to live under armed guard in a free society. Screw that noise.
What a good guy.
Very classy, Mr. Bale. Very classy indeed.
What a nice gesture from a genuinely cool guy.