“The Joker”, starring Joaquin Phoenix, is now out. The movie, like all past Joker movies, has sparked controversy among students at San Luis Obispo High School. 

  The movie has created fear in people around the world, because of the threats of mass shootings in the general public. On September 20, 2012, there was a mass shooting that left 12 people dead and 70 injured during a screening in Aurora, Colorado, of “The Dark Knight”.

 “It’s good that they’re bringing up these issues that they do in the movie. But I do think, to an extent, they could be glamorizing bad things. And that can have a bad effect on the people who relate too much to these characters,” said freshman Katie Karlstein. 

 Inceles might feel a kinship with the character, and his saddening, angry vendetta against society. They could rise up, like they have possibly done before, and threaten the well-being of many people. However, the idea that the shooter attacked the movie theater on the Joker’s behalf has long since been debunked. 

  “The shooter was not dressing up as the Joker during the attack on the movie theater. The shooter was in no way trying to carry out something from the movie. I have never seen any evidence that he was a particular fan of Heath Ledger’s Joker or of that film in general,” said journalist Robert Evans, a longtime expert on extremist communities when asked by Vox. 

  The movie creates empathy around the world for people who live lives like Arthur, also known as the Joker. When in the past, we might have ignored or even made fun of someone different, we now have a better understanding of what is black and white, and what isn’t. When someone like Arthur is talked about on the news, we will feel more empathy for that person. 

  Good or bad, 2019’s Joker has changed our perspective on our world, as well as the people in it.