Just days out from its big premiere, Warner Bros.’ standalone DC film “Joker” has some communities on edge, with law enforcement officials in both Los Angeles and New York City, and even military officials on some bases, taking preventative action in fear of another Joker-inspired mass shooting.
The fictional villain’s popularity among the all-too-real “incel” extremists and the nightmarish memory of the 2012 mass shooting at a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colorado has sparked increased controversy ahead of the release of the film this week. Five family members of victims of the Aurora shooting, which left 12 people dead and 70 injured, sent a letter last week to Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff calling on the studio to “be a part of the growing chorus of corporate leaders who understand that they have a social responsibility to keep us all safe” and “end political contributions to candidates who take money from the NRA and vote against gun reform.”
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