Recently, more and more threats have been showing up all over the United States, especially since the release of the new movie, Joker. While many are still planning on going to their local theater to view this current spectacle, many are afraid to attend showings because of these violent threats. These threats include mass shootings of theaters that plan to play this psychological thriller.
In class, we have been discussing the idea of topics or things in relation to pop culture that are "inspiring violence" and whether or not these things should be considered dangerous and illegal. Many believe that because the new Joker movie portrays a mass murderer, it could incite violence in people's minds. Many theaters are refusing to show the Joker movie because they are afraid that the threats are real and they don't want to risk anything. Although the FBI has discovered these tips, people have been trying their best to prevent these shootings from occurring by not playing the movie, but the chances of preventing the shootings from happening all over the world by simply not showing the movie are very low. In my opinion, more has to be done in regards to regulation about gun rights and combatting these threats. We cannot simply allow these threats to be public and continue to regard them as empty threats.
I saw the Joker opening weekend at Shoreline, and my purse was searched by an armed guard. No theater was shot up because of this movie, no one was inspired to commit violence by it, and yet the media stirred up fears so much there were men with guns in Shoreline because of a superhero movie that was not more violent than Deadpool. (Makes me wonder how many mass shooters have been inspired by seeing the media spread the faces and names of mass murderers whenever they can.) Armed guards in theaters is a gateway to armed guards in malls, parks maybe even schools. Shifting the gun debate to entertainment like the Joker or violent video games has and always will be a tactic to avoid talking about gun control.
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