The movie “Joker” has sparked a great deal of controversy and there have been calls to pull the movie entirely.
“Joaquin Pheonix’s Joker Look + Set Photo” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by AntMan3001
The main cause for this fear is that the movie might inspire people to commit murder after seeing the film. Due to the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado in 2012 by James Holmes, there is the fear of copycats. These claims were first made on anonymous message boards in late September.
The FBI and the Army launched an investigation into these threats but did not find them to be credible in any way. The NYPD has placed undercover officers in various theaters as a way of keeping an active pulse on the situation.
“Seating Never to Be Seen Again” (CC BY 2.0) by M. Pratter
Presumably, the reason for these threats is due to one of the main themes of the movie. The movie depicts the rejects of society rebelling revolting against those at the top.
Even with the rumors of planned mass shootings because of the movie, the general attitude towards it on campus is one of indifference or interest.
“Opens up a dialogue about mental health,” said Christian Jones, political science and religious studies major. He knew of the controversy and believes while it needs to be handled sensitively it should be shown and discussed.
“We need to do stuff about gun violence but, it’s not that,” said Rue Kennedy, early childhood and special education major. Kennedy is an avid fan of the Joker and wants to see the movie because of that.
“I haven’t seen it yet,” said Sarah Donovan, a graphic design major. She indicated that the reason why is because there was no real interest to do so.
“It was really good and disturbing,” Sydney Reddy, undecided major, said. “There was fully armed police and I was scared when anyone got up.”
While there is knowledge of the “Joker” movie controversy it seems that there is a healthy interest on campus to watch the film.
