In the movie Serenity, Joss Whedon defined “hero” as “someone who gets other people killed.”
Bill Husfelt and Ginger Littleton would have done well to know that. Mr. Husfelt was apparently laboring under the impression that the gun held by Clay Duke was loaded with blanks. After a security officer shot Duke, Husfelt remonstrated the officer as follows:
He had caps, Mike. That’s what he wanted right there, Mike. That’s why I was trying to talk to him: I knew.
Perhaps Mr. Husfelt didn’t notice the very real bullet holes in the floor and wall behind him. When he chose to launch into a condescending lecture to Duke under the impression his weapon was harmless, he gambled the lives of every one in that room.
Then there’s Ms. Littleton. If you’re going to play the hero and attack the bad guy, you’d better be able to stop him, because if you fail, there’s a good chance that you’re the one who pushed him over the edge. Continued...