The Spirit Behind Joker

In this article released by VOX, the revisits the terrible shooting during the release film of The Dark Night in a movie theater, where the dark nature of the Joker was intuitive to blame.

Before the release of Joaquin Phoenix's Joker movie, protesters continued to push for the Warner Bros. to promote stricter gun laws in hand with the release of this movie; directer Todd Phillips answers back to the crowds stating that the Joker himself is a fictional, comic character in which the movies themselves do not concede to such violence upon others choices and actions. The release of Joker should not be placed in guilt for what the actions of others already have this hatred in their hearts.

"I think there are two chief reasons. One of them is completely unjustified, and one of them is partially justified by things that have happened before. I think the chief reason, and the unjustified reason, that people are focusing on the Joker movie is The Dark Knight Rises and the 2012 mass shooting in Aurora. There’s actually a major misconception: The shooter was not dressing up as the Joker [during the attack on the movie theater]. He was in no way trying to carry out something from the movie. I have never seen any evidence that he was a particular fan of Heath Ledger’s Joker or of that [film] in general. This was misinformation that was put out by a police officer who was interviewed by a couple of newspapers" -Robert Evans.

I concede to this point and support this statement by Evans, yet I conclude that no matter what movie is released from Hollywood, there is always a desired message being portrayed throughout the film towards its intended audience. After watching this film, I was horrified by how brilliant this movie was. Flawless in nature, Phoenix truly portrayed the role of a mentally ill man going through such distress and oppression to an outstanding degree. Phoenix starved himself for this role, damages his body by actually running into traffic and getting a taxi in the film, and claimed in interview that he actually began to go mad while preparing for the role. 

The sense of loss and hopelessness in an individual who has faced all the down in life is an eye opener for most people; one argument to be made is that we should make the effort to recognize those who are oppressed and show them hope. Unfortunately, from a psychological standpoint, there are many people who are undiagnosed and go under radar who experience this portrayal in the film in their own reality. They see and associate the Joker's actions as necessity for their own sanity, there are no political agendas involved. So although I concede that Joker itself holds no responsibility for one's actions, it does not change the fact that the spirit behind the film incites this violence within those who possibly could be afflicted, and it also does not change the fact that several theaters across the nation are considering removing the film from their air times and some even armed by police for the possibility and threat of such cruel actions.