After watching Todd Phillips' film Joker, I've seen a lot of parallels to what happened in the 90's with the tragic events of the Columbine shooting in Colorado, by the plot of the film, and the media, in general's reaction to the film.
Columbine happened on April 20, 1999. The birthday of Adolf Hitler. Two social misfits decided to seek revenge for being bullied by bringing an arsenal to their high school, taking the lives of 12 students, as well as themselves. Most people that lived through that decade remember how horrifying it was, what a change it brought to American culture, how it shifted conversations about possession of firearms, and how the media tried to scapegoat entertainment as the culprit. The "Goth subculture" was blamed, even though neither Eric Harris or Dylan Kleebold were part of it, they did listen to some Industrial (more leaning on the Industrial-Rock side of things like KMFDM, NIN), but weren't affiliated with the subculture built around Post-Punk. Marilyn Manson was blamed, as he was an extreme musician who aggressively challenged religion, politics, war, with an extreme and shocking stage presence, even though neither of them listened to his music.
The things people usually DON'T remember, and that is mainly due to details being withheld from the media, are things that led up to the shooting.
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were regularly bullied by their peers. Being called anti-gay slurs, had a cup of fecal matter thrown at them. The media and society are quick to condemn the shooters for claiming the lives of students (which they should), but do they condemn the constant harassment, bullying, singling out of them, or anyone at that highschool who didn't look like a young Republican clone as everyone else? Does the media ever bring up the homophobia among the adolescent young men, who were attending a prestigious high school? The answer is simply, "no."
Much like Joker's line when he attended Murray's talk show, when he was confronted about murdering two Wallstreet brats who were harassing a woman, and then physically assaulted him. "If it were me lying on the streets, you'd walk right past me," he said to the audience. Much like the bullies in columbine who lost their lives. They are mourned, but no one puts any degree of responsibility of them on what happened, as much as the two maniacs that perpetrated such a heinous act.
Does it make what the shooters or Joker did in the film right? The answer, hopefully, anyone with a logical and healthy mind, would come to is, "no, of course not." When someone is tormented, that doesn't mean that they have to become like the monsters they're wanting to fight against. Some people who were bullied, discriminated against, fight their injustice through means of peace. Some historical figures come to mind like the African-American Civil Rights activists like Martin Luther King Jr. Rosa Parks. Through means of civil disobedience, and peace activism, they were able to change an entire culture for the better without needing to take lives. Unfortunately, Dr. King did lose his life in the process, because there is nothing our society fears more than peace and equality, for those that are different than them.
Why do people discriminate? It has been shown that anyone, who has a conservative outlook, has a higher fear/disgust response than those who have an open mind. Eric Harris, Joker, people who are targeted for being a different race, gender identity, alternative style of dress, are so because it triggers a fear/disgust response in mainstream society. They choose violence against this individual, because it shatters the status quo, it bursts their comfort bubble, and they only thing they know how to do is either physically attack, or discriminate, deny spaces, deny jobs, housing, adoption, social capital.
Another element of the media's response to the Joker film, that is meta to current year:
Many, self-proclaimed, 'social justice' activists were condemning the film for "glorifying the troupe of the white male loner," the "incel (involuntarily celebate)," "the self-pitying white person who doesn't fit in." Ironically, those claiming to want "safe spaces" for people of colour, LGBTQ communities, dehumanize a group of people for sharing genetic (or assumed) traits with those in power, who oppress. The epitome of "becoming the monsters they claim to fight."
It isn't a miracle that counter-culture, especially gaming/nerd culture are at odd ends with modern-day 'social justice' activists. Those with an Egalitarian mindset or met with opposition at those groups, because at the end of the day, they belong to one faction of society, none of them are willing to admit: the mainstream. Many social justice activists consume Top 40 music, follow pop feminism from journalist sites like Buzzfeed or Vice, but would call 70's/80's Punk Feminists, who fought for womens' liberation, body autonomy, like Lydia Lunch, Wendy O' Williams, etc as "self-hating," or "handmaidens of the patricarchy," because they were overtly sexual in a crass and uncanny way of saying, "this is my body, and I will do with it what I please, on MY terms."
In fact, modern social activism has adopted many propagandist traits from Evangelists: calling for censorship of all expressions of sexuality instead of asking for equal balance, dressing purposely frumpy while shaming women for wearing revealing clothing, shaving their legs, or even in some cases, for choosing to wear makeup.
These people don't want to lend any empathy for Joker, even prior to the horrible things he did, because he doesn't fit the "purity test," of modern social justice, when in fact, he's someone who (as a fictional character of course), experienced trauma in his life, feels broken, is NOT in a place of power despite sharing the skin colour with those that are, suffers violence through means of ableism, and possibly homophobia (because he's perceived as a man whos' wearing makeup).
I think it's a great film that really shows the breaking point of someone going through trauma. I do not feel that it glorifies acts of violence as a response to childhood trauma. Hell, in the DC Universe, Batman is the complete opposite. He witnessed his parents getting murdered, leading to him having damaging psychological problems, to which he decides to embrace his shadow or fear (in his case, a bat), as a tool to help people, fight for peace and justice. He has a strict moral code to try not to kill the villains, but to disarm them, and bring them to justice.
Anyone who refuses to see the nuance in the film, or anything like it, are not looking at the deeper picture, and have a very lazy outlook.
Columbine happened on April 20, 1999. The birthday of Adolf Hitler. Two social misfits decided to seek revenge for being bullied by bringing an arsenal to their high school, taking the lives of 12 students, as well as themselves. Most people that lived through that decade remember how horrifying it was, what a change it brought to American culture, how it shifted conversations about possession of firearms, and how the media tried to scapegoat entertainment as the culprit. The "Goth subculture" was blamed, even though neither Eric Harris or Dylan Kleebold were part of it, they did listen to some Industrial (more leaning on the Industrial-Rock side of things like KMFDM, NIN), but weren't affiliated with the subculture built around Post-Punk. Marilyn Manson was blamed, as he was an extreme musician who aggressively challenged religion, politics, war, with an extreme and shocking stage presence, even though neither of them listened to his music.
The things people usually DON'T remember, and that is mainly due to details being withheld from the media, are things that led up to the shooting.
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were regularly bullied by their peers. Being called anti-gay slurs, had a cup of fecal matter thrown at them. The media and society are quick to condemn the shooters for claiming the lives of students (which they should), but do they condemn the constant harassment, bullying, singling out of them, or anyone at that highschool who didn't look like a young Republican clone as everyone else? Does the media ever bring up the homophobia among the adolescent young men, who were attending a prestigious high school? The answer is simply, "no."
Bullying
The link between bullying and school violence has attracted increasing attention since the massacre. Both of the shooters were classified as gifted children who had allegedly been victims of bullying for years. Early stories following the shootings charged that school administrators and teachers at Columbine had long condoned bullying.[161] Critics said this could have contributed to triggering the perpetrators' extreme violence.[162] Klebold said on the Basement Tapes, "You've been giving us shit for years."[24]
Accounts from various parents and school staffers describe bullying at the school as "rampant."[163] Nathan Vanderau, a friend of Klebold, and Alisa Owen, Harris's eighth-grade science partner, reported that Harris and Klebold were constantly picked on. Vanderau noted that a "cup of fecal matter" was thrown at them.[164] Reportedly, they were regularly called "faggots".[165]
Klebold is known to have remarked to his father of his hatred of the jocks at CHS, adding that Harris in particular had been victimized. Klebold had stated, "They sure give Eric hell."[166] Classmate Chad Laughlin stated "A lot of the tension in the school came from the class above us...There were people fearful of walking by a table where you knew you didn't belong, stuff like that. Certain groups certainly got preferential treatment across the board." Brown also noted Harris was born with mild chest indent. This made him reluctant to take his shirt off in gym class, and other students would laugh at him.[167]
A year after the massacre, an analysis by officials at the U.S. Secret Service of 37 premeditated school shootings found that bullying, which some of the shooters described "in terms that approached torment", played the major role in more than two-thirds of the attacks.[168] A similar theory was expounded by Brooks Brown in his book on the massacre, No Easy Answers; he noted that teachers commonly ignored bullying and that whenever Harris and Klebold were bullied by the jocks at CHS, they would make statements such as: "Don't worry, man. It happens all the time!"[169]
During junior year, Harris and Klebold both had been confronted by a group of students at CHS—all members of the football team—who sprayed them with ketchup and mustard while referring to them as "faggots" and "queers".[170] According to Brown, "People surrounded them in the commons and squirted ketchup packets all over them, laughing at them, calling them faggots...That happened while teachers watched. They couldn't fight back. They wore the ketchup all day and went home covered with it." Laughlin stated "I caught the tail end of one really horrible incident, and I know Dylan told his mother that it was the worst day of his life."[170] According to Laughlin, it involved seniors pelting Klebold with "ketchup-covered tampons" in the commons.[171]
Dave Cullen disputes the theory of "revenge for bullying" as a motivation. While acknowledging the pervasiveness of bullying in high schools including CHS, he has claimed they were not victims of bullying. He said Harris was more often the perpetrator than victim of bullying.[172] In a fact check published on April 19, 2019, on the eve of the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the massacre, Gillian Brockell in The Washington Post underscored that, contrary to the popular view, their attack was not revenge for being bullied.[173]
Much like Joker's line when he attended Murray's talk show, when he was confronted about murdering two Wallstreet brats who were harassing a woman, and then physically assaulted him. "If it were me lying on the streets, you'd walk right past me," he said to the audience. Much like the bullies in columbine who lost their lives. They are mourned, but no one puts any degree of responsibility of them on what happened, as much as the two maniacs that perpetrated such a heinous act.
Does it make what the shooters or Joker did in the film right? The answer, hopefully, anyone with a logical and healthy mind, would come to is, "no, of course not." When someone is tormented, that doesn't mean that they have to become like the monsters they're wanting to fight against. Some people who were bullied, discriminated against, fight their injustice through means of peace. Some historical figures come to mind like the African-American Civil Rights activists like Martin Luther King Jr. Rosa Parks. Through means of civil disobedience, and peace activism, they were able to change an entire culture for the better without needing to take lives. Unfortunately, Dr. King did lose his life in the process, because there is nothing our society fears more than peace and equality, for those that are different than them.
Why do people discriminate? It has been shown that anyone, who has a conservative outlook, has a higher fear/disgust response than those who have an open mind. Eric Harris, Joker, people who are targeted for being a different race, gender identity, alternative style of dress, are so because it triggers a fear/disgust response in mainstream society. They choose violence against this individual, because it shatters the status quo, it bursts their comfort bubble, and they only thing they know how to do is either physically attack, or discriminate, deny spaces, deny jobs, housing, adoption, social capital.
Another element of the media's response to the Joker film, that is meta to current year:
Many, self-proclaimed, 'social justice' activists were condemning the film for "glorifying the troupe of the white male loner," the "incel (involuntarily celebate)," "the self-pitying white person who doesn't fit in." Ironically, those claiming to want "safe spaces" for people of colour, LGBTQ communities, dehumanize a group of people for sharing genetic (or assumed) traits with those in power, who oppress. The epitome of "becoming the monsters they claim to fight."
It isn't a miracle that counter-culture, especially gaming/nerd culture are at odd ends with modern-day 'social justice' activists. Those with an Egalitarian mindset or met with opposition at those groups, because at the end of the day, they belong to one faction of society, none of them are willing to admit: the mainstream. Many social justice activists consume Top 40 music, follow pop feminism from journalist sites like Buzzfeed or Vice, but would call 70's/80's Punk Feminists, who fought for womens' liberation, body autonomy, like Lydia Lunch, Wendy O' Williams, etc as "self-hating," or "handmaidens of the patricarchy," because they were overtly sexual in a crass and uncanny way of saying, "this is my body, and I will do with it what I please, on MY terms."
In fact, modern social activism has adopted many propagandist traits from Evangelists: calling for censorship of all expressions of sexuality instead of asking for equal balance, dressing purposely frumpy while shaming women for wearing revealing clothing, shaving their legs, or even in some cases, for choosing to wear makeup.
These people don't want to lend any empathy for Joker, even prior to the horrible things he did, because he doesn't fit the "purity test," of modern social justice, when in fact, he's someone who (as a fictional character of course), experienced trauma in his life, feels broken, is NOT in a place of power despite sharing the skin colour with those that are, suffers violence through means of ableism, and possibly homophobia (because he's perceived as a man whos' wearing makeup).
I think it's a great film that really shows the breaking point of someone going through trauma. I do not feel that it glorifies acts of violence as a response to childhood trauma. Hell, in the DC Universe, Batman is the complete opposite. He witnessed his parents getting murdered, leading to him having damaging psychological problems, to which he decides to embrace his shadow or fear (in his case, a bat), as a tool to help people, fight for peace and justice. He has a strict moral code to try not to kill the villains, but to disarm them, and bring them to justice.
Anyone who refuses to see the nuance in the film, or anything like it, are not looking at the deeper picture, and have a very lazy outlook.
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