However, the film also appears to be highly controversial. Some people have accused the film of glorifying violence, while others have said the film is a very bad influence, especially in our current climate where gun violence and mass shootings have been a relatively common occurrence. The friends and family members of those who were brutally killed in the Aurora (a cinema in Colorado) shooting at a screening of The Dark Knight Rises in 2012 even sent a joint letter to Warner Bros expressing their concerns about Joker. In response to that, Warner Bros released a statement addressing that issue.
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.” In an interview with Associated Press, the director of Joker, Todd Phillips talked about the controversy surrounding the film. I’m with Todd Phillips on this one. Apart from the double standards aspect, I think it’s very important that we watch films with a critical mind and understand what exactly the film is trying to do and convey. Is The Godfather a film that’s glorifying the mafia or is it a film that explores the psychology and loose morals of members of the mafia? Does Breaking Bad glorify drug dealing or does it explore the psychology of a good man who slowly descended into darkness? This is not the thing that the movie is trying to represent. The movie still takes place in a fictional world. It can have real-world invocations, options, but it’s a fictional character in a fictional world that’s been around for 80 years. The one that bugs me more is the toxic white male thing when you go, oh I just saw John Wick 3. He’s a white male who kills 300 people and everybody’s laughing and hooting and hollering. Why does this movie get held to different standards? It honestly doesn’t make sense to me.”
