The fearmongering around the opening of “Joker” really has been something to behold. As if this were the first violent movie or the first in which the bad guy was the lead, Warner Bros. issued a statement assuring viewers that the film was not “an endorsement of real-world violence of any kind.”
But a month before it opened, some concerned critics worried that the film would attract crazed incels (involuntary celibates) — there’s even a piece in The Verge Saturday asking, “Should we treat incels as terrorists?”
Knowing that so many mass shooters do what they do for the publicity, it’s almost as if all of these critics were giving would-be shooters an instruction manual. CNN on Saturday managed to pile on some more fearmongering.
"Joker," the film about a marginalized clown who goes on a killing rampage, is facing a wave of criticism that it glorifies a killer and could encourage copycat attacks https://t.co/swD6MSZb3Y
— CNN (@CNN) October 5, 2019
This, not the film, is how you encourage copycat attacks. FFS. https://t.co/zJxgR8BZga
— James Lindsay, sentient sex toy (@ConceptualJames) October 5, 2019
It’s the media that is pushing this.
— Oscar (@RandomFLDude) October 5, 2019
No it’s not. It’s getting praise from almost everyone who has seen it except from our left wing social justice media, and we all stopped listening to them a long time ago.
— Jimni27 (@jimni27) October 5, 2019
This CNN take really ain’t it. If there’s anyone provoking a dangerous response from anyone, it’s the media. You’re not just clowns—you’re the entire circus. https://t.co/ln2pC7BXBC
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) October 5, 2019
Only "people" I've heard saying that are the media. You know, the same media that salaciously and exploitatively revels in every detail of every big shooting? You know, the same media that would be absolutely ecstatic if this actually happened? https://t.co/tmCuGubJTW
— tj (@amazingatheist) October 5, 2019
Why does this read like cnn wants a copycat attack https://t.co/aROZG4ZfWy
— your favorite social Democratic scouser 3-1 (@mrclatimer1985) October 5, 2019
could be me, but it appears pretty much every progressive media outlet wants this to happen https://t.co/RX1SVedFzh
— corn pop truther (@matt_berry01) October 5, 2019
No, YOU are encouraging a 'copycat attack'.
You're all so obsessed with wanting your sick theory to be correct, you've spent weeks practically begging someone to shoot up a cinema. https://t.co/420Qozkq5j
— Michael Cain-Pruis (@TheMessyChefy) October 5, 2019
I can't possibly be the only person who sees all of these headlines and cannot help but think the media sort of wants something to happen.
— Boyd Crowder (@BoydCrowder15) October 5, 2019
It's almost like the media is trying to inspire someone. https://t.co/RITBh3mGm5
— Alex James (@alexjvmes) October 5, 2019
“CNN,” a news channel run by marginal clowns is facing a wave of criticism because it encourages violence so it can be appalled when it happens.
— Wesley Mullins (@wesleyamullins) October 5, 2019
Yall the real clowns ?? https://t.co/zdAsOt6xOq
— ?Mimi Eucliffe? (@smutx_x) October 5, 2019
"PLEASE COMMIT A MASS SHOOTING WE NEED THOSE CLICKS" https://t.co/SkaQow13ej
— Spooky Kamille (@SchwayGoose) October 5, 2019
Your desire for a mass shooting to occur is sickening.
— PeteInJersey (@PeteInJersey) October 5, 2019
What's useful is that the Joker panic is self-justifying. If something happens, it was justified; if nothing, well, that's evidence that our panicking worked! Either way, the incel specter is revalidated. https://t.co/LzNzNEinMG
— Charles Fain Lehman (@CharlesFLehman) October 5, 2019
THERE, I FIXED IT:
The film “Joker” is being exploited by left wing media in order to stir up outrage and generate clicks, by claiming the movie will relate to “Incels” and inspire attacks. https://t.co/bDyZ2ryLY6
— Lalo Dagach (@LaloDagach) October 5, 2019
JOKER is facing a wave of very online reporters writing stories about it "facing criticism" in order to will a controversy into existence. This is apparently the first movie in history to have a main character who does bad things. https://t.co/1lzkvZb5Z4
— David Rutz (@DavidRutz) October 5, 2019
They actually wrote “marginalized clown”
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) October 5, 2019
The only ones glorifying killers are the mainstream media who flood everyone's feeds with endless articles about them, turning literal nobodies into households names in a matter of moments.
— Cody (@EcoEclipse) October 5, 2019
It doesn't glorify anything, literally everyone in the film is a bad guy to some extent https://t.co/3zIiUl8P2O
— john (@zavabia) October 5, 2019
Weird that @CNN never said anything like this about the John Wick franchise. That they just described as being full of “adrenaline-fueled thrills.” https://t.co/pKMlGWWhQu
— Dodd (@Amuk3) October 5, 2019
Hero John Wick dropped 800 bodies because someone killed his dog. https://t.co/PmNEmO4eg2
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) October 5, 2019
Makes perfect sense to me. 5 years ago I saw a truck commercial with a Dodge Ram hauling thousands of lbs of steel beams and NOW look where I am. https://t.co/tAwTCWc6RW
— Dodge Ram Owner (@RamLover69) October 5, 2019
Let me repeat here my reply on the @cnn thread in question: As a professor, I never watched Mamma Mia! because I worried that this might lead me to only lecture using a flamboyant musical theatre style. https://t.co/ClpIQfpK1s
— Gad Saad (@GadSaad) October 5, 2019
At least they managed to get some clicks beforehand if and when nothing does happen.
Related:
It's come to this: Warner Bros. issues statement clarifying that Joker is not 'an endorsement of real-world violence of any kind' https://t.co/VrdgDeO4Z2
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 26, 2019
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