Tod Philips Joker is making big waves around the film festival circuits. Trouble is brewing. The film is
The film features a broken, unstable man, beaten down physically and mentally turning to crime as an outlet. Rising fears cite that Joker could potentially incite and inspire violence.
There’s no indication (from numerous previous studies) that film violence and real violence have any link. Crazy people are crazy people, although many use games and film as a scapegoat.
Bad people will be bad, regardless of the films they watch. The number of mass shootings on-the-rise in the U.S. fuels these fears.
Family members of the 2012 Aurora cinema shooting wrote an open letter to the CEO of WB. It relays concerns over the film. The letter focus’ in on the films’ approach to making the villain the hero of the movie.
The letter asks that Warner Bros. take steps to ensure the safety of movie attendees upon launch from potential violence.
Warner took no time in releasing a statement responding to the letter. They defend the film. They state that they are already supporting anti-violence campaigns. Here is the letter from WB via Deadline:
“Gun violence in our society is a critical issue. We extend our deepest sympathy to all victims and families impacted by these tragedies.
Our company has a long history of donating to victims of violence, including Aurora. In recent weeks, our parent company joined other business leaders to call on policymakers to enact bipartisan legislation to address this epidemic.
At the same time, Warner Bros. believes that one of the functions of storytelling is to provoke difficult conversations around complex issues.
Make no mistake: neither the fictional character Joker nor the film is an endorsement of real-world violence of any kind.
It is not the intention of the film, the filmmakers, or the studio to hold this character up as a hero.”
The Aurora Cinemark theater (the site of the shooting) will not screen Joker. This decision comes from the studio and Cinemark. The military has also instructed service members to “identify two escape routes” in theaters.
If an attack happens, they should “run, hide [and] fight.”
