The father of an Aurora shooting victim expresses disagreement with criticisms made against the upcoming Joker film that it would inspire real-life gun violence.
Mike Senecal is the father of Katherine Senecal, who was one of the victims injured in the 2o12 Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting. While speaking with TMZ, Senecal respectfully disagrees with the sentiments reflected on a recent letter from Aurora survivors sent to Warner Bros. expressing their concerns over the content of Joker and how some individuals who may watch the film may be inspired by its portrayal of violence.
TMZ revealed Senecal’s statements, expressing that he and his daughter Katherine (who died in 2018 due to suicide) disagree with these criticisms levied against Joker:
“He says Katie would have been able to separate the movie from real life, and Mike believes those who can’t are part of the problem. He adds that violent people exist regardless of whether Joker comes out, and people who have issues with the film don’t have to see it. Mike says he plans to see the movie and thinks his daughter would have too. Sadly, Katie died last year by suicide. He says she struggled with mental health issues before the shooting, and she recognized the biggest epidemic in this country is a lack of mental health care … not movies.”
Warner Bros. released a statement in response to the letter from the Aurora survivors. The film’s director Todd Phillips also defended his film, claiming that it is unfair to link it to real-life violence.
Here is the official synopsis for Joker:
Director Todd Phillips “Joker” centers around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone fictional story not seen before on the big screen. Phillips’ exploration of Arthur Fleck, who is indelibly portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, is of a man struggling to find his way in Gotham’s fractured society. A clown-for-hire by day, he aspires to be a stand-up comic at night…but finds the joke always seems to be on him. Caught in a cyclical existence between apathy and cruelty, Arthur makes one bad decision that brings about a chain reaction of escalating events in this gritty character study.
Directed by Todd Phillips from a script he co-wrote with Scott Silver, Warner Bros.’ Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix, Zazie Beetz, Bill Camp, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Douglas Hodge, Marc Maron, Josh Pais, and Shea Whigham.
Joker will be released in theaters on October 4, 2019.
Source: TMZ
