Now we've got a group wanting Warner Bros to get involved in the gun-control movement because it made a movie about a comic-book serial killer, and they're afraid said film is too violent, and could encourage people to mimic what's done on screen.
The movie is called Joker, by the way.
Granted, this group is made up of family members and friends of victims who died in the 2012 mass shooting at a screening of The Dark Knight Rises, which is a true tragedy -- one that has been repeated throughout the United States far too often.
Warner Bros. responded, saying Joker does not endorse real-world violence, and the studio has a long history of supporting the gun-control movement.
"It is not the intention of the film, the filmmakers, or the studio to hold this character up as a hero," Warner Bros. stated.
This was a great response, and I suppose a required one in our era of corporate and social responsibility. I just don't see why a studio has to defend something that's a work of fiction. Especially when the work is based on a character that's been part of popular culture for some 80 years.
We all know who Joker is and what he's about. We all know he's the villain. Just because he's the central character in a story doesn't mean people are going to take him as some kind of hero figure. If someone does, that says more about the person and his or her mental state than the film itself.
Once again, this is a societal problem; one that involves issues of mental health and gun control, with no simple answer. I get it's easy to blame the artist, but that's not going to solve anything. We, as a society, can't always protect people or prevent harm from being done. We need to do the dirty, hard work and get to the root of the problem instead.
But that's just my two bit on the matter...
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