“Joker” might be the most dangerous movie to ever be released nationwide in the United States of America considering the brutal content and overall message.
Todd Phillips new film starring Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role explains how Joker became the Joker but the underlying message is sort of a sympathy play towards mass shooters. Before it was released, it was criticized as being a possible instigator to empower those with violent tendencies.
And now a Texas theater issued a rare warning about “Joker.”
On July 20th 2012, James Eagan Holmes entered into a Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado during a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” wearing tactical gear, with multiple firearms, killing twelve people and injuring seventy others.
The most sickening part of this mass execution was not just how 24-year-old dyed his hair to look like Heath Ledger’s Joker from “The Dark Knight,” but that he also claimed to police officers that arrested him that he WAS the Joker. Holmes was clearly a disturbed man and now he sits in prison for life without the possibility of parole.
That very same theater announced they would not be showing the highly anticipated film.
Police departments have been briefed to be on high alert all across the country due to the film’s subject matter. In fact, the New York Police Department is sending undercover cops to “Joker” screenings for its opening weekend. An NYPD source said, “If something happens inside one of the screenings, we intend to be able to pacify the situation quickly and conclusively.”
The Los Angeles Police Department also released a statement to Deadline last week claiming they plan to be visible at movie theaters the whole weekend.
And now an Alamo Drafthouse theater in San Antonio, Texas issued a rare warning to the community on Tuesday.
The social media post read, “There’s lots of very, very rough language, brutal violence and overall bad vibes,” and added that it was not meant for kids because it is a Rated R film “for good reason.”
They also added, “It’s not for kids, and they won’t like it anyway.” In parentheses at the bottom of the “Parental Warning,” they wrote, “(There’s no Batman.)”
But, oddly, as of Wednesday afternoon, the theater chain deleted the post. Presumably, this kind of post would not be favorable to the producers/studio and therefore had it removed.
However, the studio should take full responsibility with whatever happens this weekend. It’s their movie.
Five family members of innocent bystanders who were killed in the Aurora shooting drafted a letter to Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff that creating a sympathetic portrayal of a villain would aid in gun violence.
The letter said, “We are calling on you to be a part of the growing chorus of corporate leaders who understand that they have a social responsibility to keep us all safe. Since the federal government has failed to pass reforms that raise the standard for gun ownership in America, large companies like Warner Brothers have a responsibility to act. We certainly hope that you do.”
They won’t because they don’t really care.
Instead, the burden is being put on police departments to handle an active shooter situation if one should happen this weekend. Maybe Warner Bros. should compensate these brave officers with some backend percentage points.