When I’m not doing gun stuff I like to enjoy creative media. Movies, shows, and games. Something I discovered after going down one of the YouTube rabbit holes is that I also like critical reviews of movies, shows, and games. I also enjoy a drink now and then, a good action novel, and funny commentary in a Scottish accent.
All of these things led me to The Critical Drinker, a serious satirical YouTube Channel run by Will Jordan. Will is the Author of the Ryan Drake series, a CIA spy thriller, direct action book series about the aforementioned character taking on the bad guys and doing spy stuff. It’s fun, and distracting, and a good escape from the grind. Everything I want out of my entertainment medias. Will Jordan and Larry Correia currently top my fun authors list.
But why I am I linking a borderline slurry video review of The Daily Wire’s indy film project?
A number of reasons. First among them is the base soundness of the advice. Second is the fact that a major school shooting is back in the news because of the Remington settlement.
Run. Hide. Fight. is the title of the independent action thriller flick about a high school teen who helps save her school from a Columbine style school shooting attack by the simple act of putting up smart resistance. The movie is a movie, so its dramatized and the characters do silly movie character things sometimes. It’s also clearly the efforts of a new, inexperienced, and emerging studio into the creative space.
Run. Hide. Fight. is the stop, drop, and roll of mass casualty attacks.
It is the most basic summation of priorities in workplace, school, or public shooting events. Shooting response is generally taught in some non-offensive (as possible), OSHA approved cartoon, powerpoint, or other ‘we need to check this off our list for workplace safety insurance reasons’ manner.
Workplace safety, especially for low likelihood events, is usually discussed in a very, “We are doing this because our work procedures mandate we talk about this.” tone that undercuts the overall seriousness of many emergencies. Shootings aren’t the only one that get this treatment, but some place like an autoshop with lifts are much more likely to have real world experience with events like crushing injuries than shootings so its staff, new and old alike, are more likely to consider these things ‘real’ where shootings are notional and not a real workplace threat.
It’s the same sort of mental blockade we operate on when it comes to basic firearms handling, or lack thereof, because we do not have a grounded basis for the injury that can result. Our understanding of the injury (unless we are among the small percentage of people in the world who have seen or felt gunshot wounds) is entirely perfunctory. It is notional. Unlike sharp objects or hot objects, which are injuries most of us have experienced, gunshots are theoretical and we do not have the reactive reworld experience to act in the same manner for avoidance.
Look no further than the amount of mouth breathing morons who will sit and record footage of a shooter in a building they are also in, but would be running to a safe place if the building was on fire.
We reactively and instinctively understand fire. We don’t understand gunfire. It isn’t real to us in the same way.
The behavior we are trying to enact on a reactive level, and largely failing, is the three most likely courses of action to reduce the likelihood of becoming one of the casualties.
Run.
Distance is your friend. The people at risk during a shooting are those nearest the shooter. We are assuming the shooter will be indiscriminate, although that is often not the case. The reaction is valid even if the shooter is looking for singular or specific targets, you are safer with more distance.
Hide.
If distance can’t be gained because circumstances do not allow it, being out of sight and out of mind is the next defensive measure. Being hidden is subject to the motives of the assailant. An assailant looking for you specifically will be checking the places you are supposed to be, if they know, like your desk or the common areas. So be elsewhere as soon as feasible. An assailant looking for targets of opportunity needs just enough closed doors or other barriers between you and them to be make you inconvenient to generate safety. An assailant meticulously searching spaces, and willing to damage their way through the typical barriers we put in place for privacy, will be difficult to hide from.
Fight.
Run is unavailable or nonviable as a reasonable way to protect yourself. Hide is unavailable or nonviable as a reasonable way to protect yourself. You must now cause enough damage to your threat to make them stop being a threat. This may result in their death or permanent disfigurement.
That sucks for them, so it won’t suck for you.
So, both an independently written and produced action flick about very emotive subject matter and reminder to stop, drop, and roll but for mass casualty attacks.
