Parents of Aurora Victim Respond to Warner Bros.’ Statement About Joker’s Violence

The ongoing discussion surrounding the portrayal and glorification of violence in DC Comics and Warner Bros. Pictures‘ upcoming film Joker continues to rage on, as the studio and director Todd Phillips continue to combat criticisms that their movie could inspire violent actions across the world. Some of the film’s most vocal critics come from the family of victims of the Aurora shooting, some of who were tragically killed at a movie theater in Colorado in the middle of a screening of The Dark Knight Rises in 2012. And though Warner Bros. issued their own statement in response to the Aurora families’ letters, one of the victims’ parents is calling for more action.

The parents of Jessica Gawhi, who tragically passed in the 2012 act of gun violence, issued some stern words calling out Warner Bros.

“In its statement, Warner Bros. highlighted its past support for the survivors of gun violence and its rhetorical public call on lawmakers in Congress to pass stronger gun reform laws,” said parents Sandy and Lonnie Gawhi in a statement. “Let us be clear: asking for change is a good first step, but it’s nowhere near enough. Warner Bros. and its parent company must put its money where its mouth is and announce that it will no longer provide political donations to candidates and lawmakers who stand in the way of gun reform.”

Warner Bros. has yet to issue a response to this latest statement; their initial comments indicated that they felt the film should be separated from real world violence because the central character is not a hero, but a villain.

Director Todd Phillips has not been as receptive to the criticisms of his film, though he said it wasn’t intended to offend anyone.

“We didn’t make the movie to push buttons,” Phillips said in an interview with TheWrap. “I literally described to Joaquin at one point in those three months as like, ‘Look at this as a way to sneak a real movie in the studio system under the guise of a comic book film’. It wasn’t, ‘We want to glorify this behavior.’ It was literally like ‘Let’s make a real movie with a real budget and we’ll call it f–ing Joker‘. That’s what it was.”

He later added, “I think it’s because outrage is a commodity, I think it’s something that has been a commodity for a while. What’s outstanding to me in this discourse in this movie is how easily the far left can sound like the far right when it suits their agenda. It’s really been eye opening for me.”

Joker premieres in theaters on October 4th.

[h/t Hollywood Reporter]