Joker (Todd Phillips, October 4, 2019) Movie • Page 22

What uhhhh...what are you doing man

 

There's a massive asshole in this thread. JFC go fuck yourself

 

How is that not what they’re doing?

I have no issue with anyone’s own personal anxieties about anything. What I think is bad is recklessly conveying that in a way that serves no purpose but to stoke that same anxiety within others, which is what has happened in this thread.

 

I don't have any skin in the game with this Joker movie, but just a couple quick thoughts:

I think we have unfortunately reached a point in this country where it is not an unreasonable fear to worry that you and your family could very possibly be violently gunned down in any number of public spaces you visit on a daily basis, movie theaters included.

No movie is more important than someone's mental health. If someone says they have anxiety and fear surrounding seeing The Joker on opening night, I personally don't think that's the place to make your arguments about the narrative of scapegoating blame for mass shootings off of guns and common sense laws and onto movies and video games. I'm not really sure how in our country in 2019 you can argue that anyone is wrong or out of line to have anxiety or fear about being gunned down in a public place. They are happening so frequently now I honestly can't tell you which one is the most recent. I've gone online to google a shooting after hearing about one and another has happened before I have even pulled up results about the first.

That doesn't mean it wasn't questionable judgment for a filmmaker with Todd Phillips' shall we say sensibilities to make a mainstream movie today that trades in the type of imagery that in the real world leads to someone renting a van and purposely using that van to violently murder other human beings, but I think that is a different and more nuanced conversation.

This is sually the type of place where if someone says 'I am actually afraid of being murdered at ______' we support each other and talk about ways to manage that anxiety and try to still live our lives, not attack that person and say '______ is safe, you're being crazy'.

(Fun game: you get to pick whether _____ = movie theater, Wal-Mart, concert, school, work…..)

 

Expressing that something happened to me in no way conveys that everyone else should be afraid too. It’s statistically rare, but in my case it happened. Explaining where I am coming from shouldn’t be labeled as stoking fucking fear in others. And when you come back with your condescending bullshit about how the world doesn’t revolve around me (which i’m quite aware it doesn’t) it comes off even more crass and it makes me not want to engage in any meaningful topics around here out of ridicule.

 

There’s also a huge difference between falling into Satanic Panic nonsense and discussing the very real aspects of how media in the current world is feeding into these kinds of ideologies, and the former shouldn’t be used to shut down those discussions.

 

I mean, again, seems like some folks have fairly valid fears (which we should all agree is really unfortunate).

I’m certainly not saying there WILL be a shooting but I personally would rather err on the side of caution. If you want to see the movie, then definitely do so.

Do I think media definitely causes people to do crazy stuff? No, not really - I’ve played quite a bit of Mortal Kombat in my day and I’m not a domestic terrorist - but as we’ve seen with our own President, certain media, people and ideas can embolden people.

Maybe I’m wrong (and from the bottom of my heart I hope I am) but I feel the state of affairs regarding shootings is going to get worse, especially as folks pit themselves in one camp or the other as opposed to working together to fix the issue.

 

I have no idea what further has been said but just generally you should not feel this way and this site is a safe place to discuss these kinds of topics, regardless of the efforts to make it not so by whatever chud decides to try and make people feel foolish just for having feelings.

 

I appreciate that. Thank you.

 

”what I think is bad is not the unfortunate state of our union but those who are afraid for human life in the wake of catastrophe from the rise of nationalist ideaology. also, shootings arent that bad because statistics that arent on my side y=mx+b.”

imbecile

 

only explanation is they are a low IQ contrarian or a sympathizer on some level, maybe a second amendment nut

 

Thank you for giving a substantive response instead of the mindless “Uhh not a good look dude / fuck off” as if that means anything at all.

I do want to apologize in general for being crass in responding to others. It was completely insensitive, not to mention counterintuitive as it ultimately just ended up distracting from what I was trying to say. My point is and was specifically *not* about how any individual feels, so when people responded as if what I was saying was a personal attack towards them, to me that only came off as them also being completely insensitive to how they talked about it So I responded back with hostility, which even if I was in the right would nonetheless be wrong and unjustified. I’m not consciously trying to troll anyone or stoke hostility within this thread itself. And I’m genuinely sorry @Anthony_ @Kyle Max

 

Good on you! All this stuff is messy and sad. The more we band together the better off we are.

 

I appreciate that. My only point was where I specifically was coming from and I apologize for getting angry earlier. To agree with some of your points, I don’t believe this film will 100% cause something. Is it possible? Sure. Is it definite? No. I just believe in my opinion that the general nature of what the film is about could possibly cause something, the same way these nut jobs can act out of influence from other forms of media. I don’t like going to the movies anymore not because a movie theater was shot up, but because I don’t like being in a confined space. What happened to me took place in an office environment and there wasn’t specifically a lot of ways to get out, which is why I don’t enjoy going to a theater so much anymore. I don’t like the feeling of being “trapped” so to say. Every single public setting is a target if you boil it down to that, and I do try to live my life and try to move on each day by not being afraid and living in fear. It’s not easy, but i’m working on it. I would also encourage anyone who wants to see this movie to go see it. Phoenix apparently gives a great performance. That being said, for my own personal reasons i’ll probably wait to watch it at home.

 

This is a really great post.

 

There's a shooting nearly every day in the US. It is not unwarranted to fear going ANYWHERE in public these days. Just show some compassion, idk why you keep doubling down on this and putting people down for their valid fears. You're coming across as a real jerk.

Edit:

Didn't see your apology. Carry on

 

My friends and I were in a theater alone ready to watch the movie Stronger about the Boston marathon bombing. A guy walks in to watch the movie alone and with a duffel bag. We were so freaked out, we left the theater and watched something else.

 

That fucking sucks, sorry.

IF you (or anyone in this thread) sees something like that in a theater and it makes you nervous, leave and ask any employee to see a manager and don't let it go until you actually speak to somebody "in charge". I worked at a theater that allowed some serious bullshit, but we almost always called the cops or had the GM personally go in and handle something like that.

Most theaters at this point already refuse to allow in bags bigger than purses, but the average 17 year old usher is too uncomfortable to say anything and it gets through all the time. But I assure you most "higher ups" at a theater don't fuck around when it comes to that shit.

 

There isn't an instance of being out with my family where I don't plan exit routes/how to protect my wife and kids from a shooting should one break out, sadly. I in no way have PTSD from my time in the military, it's just sadly a way of life after living in America these days. Sit being able to see who walks in the front door of a restaurant is a definite must. Of course, my work has bullet proof windows and our cubicles are able to withstand a decent amount of gunfire should someone come in pretending to want to join the Army and start shooting us up. Front door is controlled by us, but even then when we have walk ins I get weary if someone looks... iffy.

 

We will have raised a generation of people too afraid to go out and live their lives. Instead of talking about a movie we are talking about who might use the movie. Just really dark, sad, and tough times.

 

holy shit, Golden Lion

 

Woah

 

Wow.

The world is getting weird.

 

Polanski getting the grand jury prize puts a hard yikes on this news.

 

Damn, that is insane high honors. I was not expecting that.