In a move that will surely get some flak by those on the hard-Left, President Trump hosted a screening of the hit movie “Joker” at the White House over the weekend.
If you’re wondering what Trump was doing last night, and I know you are:
President Trump had people over for a viewing of "The Joker" movie Saturday night, a White House official tells CNN.
— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) November 17, 2019
According to Yahoo News, a senior White House official confirmed the screening took place and that “Trump liked the film.”
Despite a concerted smear campaign by the mainstream media suggesting that “Joker” would inspire incel violence, the movie broke records by becoming the top-grossing R-rated movie of all time by crossing $1 billion in the global box office. The grosses surpassed even that of “Deadpool,” which surprised audiences and critics alike when it smashed records by earning $783 million worldwide, passing “The Matrix Reloaded.” “Deadpool 2” and “Deadpool” still hold the number two and number three spots, respectively, followed by “The Matrix Reloaded,” “It,” “Logan,” and “The Passion of the Christ.”
As reported by Emily Zanotti of The Daily Wire, social justice warriors began taking swipes at the film weeks prior to its release for allegedly glorifying “incel violence” and giving such people a platform for empathy. The controversy over the film became so intense that the film’s director, Todd Phillips, became rather aggressive in his defense, even going so far as to blame the criticism on far-left fanatics.
“I’m surprised,” Phillips told The Wrap. “Isn’t it good to have these discussions? Isn’t it good to have these discussions about these movies, about violence? Why is that a bad thing if the movie does lead to a discourse about it?”
“I think it’s because outrage is a commodity. I think it’s something that has been a commodity for a while,” he added. “What’s outstanding to me in this discourse in this movie is how easily the far-left can sound like the far-right when it suits their agenda. It’s really been eye-opening for me.”
During the film’s press tour, Todd Phillips also lamented how the state of woke culture has completely decimated comedy.
“Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture,” Phillips told Vanity Fair. “There were articles written about why comedies don’t work anymore — I’ll tell you why, because all the f***ing funny guys are like, ‘F*** this sh**, because I don’t want to offend you.’”
Actor Joaquin Phoenix even walked out of an interview at one point when a reporter questioned him if the film would inspire violence.
When the movie finally came out, critics then shifted the focus away from the film’s violence and more toward some of its alleged underlying messages about white male victimhood. Jeff Yang of CNN, for instance, said the film affirms the straight white male rage that led to President Trump’s success.
“While many reviewers have focused on [Arthur] Fleck as an ‘incel’ hero — his status as a sexless loner who turns to violence — the true nature of the movie’s appeal is actually broader: It’s an insidious validation of the white-male resentment that helped bring President Donald Trump to power,” wrote Yang after the film’s release. “‘Joker,’ at its core, is the story of the ‘forgotten man,’ the metaphoric displaced and disenfranchised white man whose goodwill has been abused and whose status has been reduced. A man who has been crushed underfoot by the elite, dragged down by equality-demanding feminists and climbed over by upstart nonwhite and immigrant masses.”