Joker might have received quite a number of excellent reviews from critics, but the film which recently won the Best Film award at the Venice International Film Festival is also shrouded in controversy.
For the past few weeks, there's been growing concern that Todd Phillip's dark and gritty character study may very well inspire viewers with the same personality and demeanor as Joker's Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) to incite violence. Not only have cinemas banned masks and costumes because of this concern, but a new report says that the New York Police Department will be patrolling during opening weekend screenings of Joker.
According to a report by TMZ, New York law enforcement sources have said that the NYPD will be doing their best to take a "precautionary measure" during the Joker's opening weekend. NYPD is going to dispatch uniformed police to every theater screening the film n the city. Officers will patrol the front entrances of theatres, hoping to deter copycat crime incidents like the Joker shooting that took place in Aurora, Colorado back in 2012 during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises.
Families of the victims of the Aurora shootings were so concerned about Joker's effect on the real world, that they wrote to Warner Brothers asking the studio to take greater responsibility in the acts that their movies might inspire.
Though the NYPD hasn't received any "credible threats" of a similar nature as the Aurora Dark Knight shootings, the New York law enforcement doesn't want to take any chances.
Joker premieres October 4, 2019.
Read: Joker Director Says Woke Culture Ruined Comedy And Led To The Film
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