Hey Batman Fans, Don't Shoot Me

By Thomas Willett

I really wanted to write a happy entry. With the Dark Knight Rises having made me giddy from success, I was ready to dive into a related topic. I don’t know what that was going to be. However, I may never know now because this past week has honestly filled me with fear. I have spent many nights trying to come to terms with how bizarre society really is. I know that there are global issues, but it had never hit home like everything surrounding the Dark Knight Rises. What is supposed to be a triumphant moment in cinema has now left me scared for my future.

I am sure this is one minimal freak case, but I have rarely felt scared for being a critic. In truth, I have not received a great backlash for bad reviews or differing opinions. Most people just politely tell me I am wrong and move on with their life. While people like Kevin Smith are opposed to the very idea of critics, I accept their opinion as rational. They just choose to ignore me and I dislike them for having differing views. Not enough to spew hate, but enough to acknowledge that our worlds don’t mesh well together.

This isn’t going to be an analysis of criticism as my previous rants against Smith. This is more about what is the fair reaction. This past week, Marshall Fine was the first critic to publish a negative review of the Dark Knight Rises. Here is an excerpt:

“Part of the problem is the storytelling in the script by Nolan, his brother Jonathan and David Goyer. As in The Dark Knight, that urge to operate on a grand scale results only in a grandiosity that, ultimately, becomes a bit silly, even nonsensical.”

However, what followed was a baffling outcry of people who weren’t so much disagreeing as they were ready to just kill him. This continued towards other critics who presented bad reviews. Many of their entries feature similar wording to the ones listed above. However, many were met with anonymous people placing death threats against these critics. It came to the point that Rotten Tomatoes editor Matt Atchity disabled the comments sections for these posts until the film received actual release to the public.

This is the most baffling thing. The movie isn’t even out and there are people violently disagreeing with these critics. They didn’t spoil the film. They didn’t assault their readers. All they did was give the most anticipated movie of the summer a bad review. If anything, it should only be seen as discouraging. However, of all films to receive this treatment, it doesn’t make sense that anyone should be defending the Dark Knight Rises. The director is highly acclaimed, the advanced ticket sales already place its debut weekend in high numbers. Most of all, the general public hasn’t seen it yet. There is no chance of them owning a valid criticism. It is just a bad review.

And yet these people are being hounded with death threats. Even the more middling reviews have received some flack. My desire for reasonable critiques from fans has left me embarrassed. I know people like Nolan movies, but placing death threats to those who don’t is childish, even irrational. While the anonymity can be seen as a weak threat, the desire to be highly regarded as the foremost opinion is common throughout history. Dictatorships have been formed on people wanting others to see their way. Sure a few movie goers cannot overturn the whole critics system, but it is detrimental to freedom of speech. Everyone has their right to express their opinion. This movie will come and go. People will love it. Others will hate it. No movie has universal acclaim down to every last person on Earth. Most of all, the medium is subjective.

At the premiere for the movie, Christopher Nolan was asked how he felt about these incidents. He said "I think the fans are very passionate about these characters the way a lot of people are very passionate. Batman's been around for over 70 years and there's a reason for that. He has a huge appeal, so I think you know people certainly respond to the character,

They’re just passionate? I will admit that my interest in this movie is very high. I may not know the ins and outs to what is necessary to the plot, but I still have some form of passion for it. I wouldn’t call death threats exactly passion. This sounds like an unreasonable crowd who was never told that other opinions existed. It is also unsettling because there seems to be some deep psychological problems with codependence if this is what you choose to imply violence for. There are wars and economic problems that deserve more of an emotional response to than a movie created for entertainment. This movie won’t cook you breakfast or save you in times of peril. It just exists as entertainment.

Sure, these cases may be menial, but what if these people really react? I found these threats to be troubling, if not because the masses have lost a sense of priority. I also take the extreme side on this case that passion can influence violent actions. One of the more perplexing cases in cinema-related violence came from Taxi Driver. John Hinckley Jr. infamously tried to assassinate President Reagan to impress Jodie Foster, who he was also stalking. He was found not guilty by reasons of insanity. Hinckley was passionate. That doesn’t make his passion right.

Now imagine if the Dark Knight Rises or the preceding films inspired violence of this scope simply because a critic didn’t like the movie. Hinckley may seem like an isolated case, but life imitating art is still common. This year Project X inspired house parties that got out of control, even resulting in some deaths. Even Samuel L. Jackson got in on the action for the Avengers. He slammed A.O. Scott, stating:

“#Avengers fans, NY Times critic AO Scott needs a new job! Let’s help him find one! One he can ACTUALLY do!”

While this isn’t nearly a death threat, Jackson has a loyal audience. This is a rather irrational way to handle one bad review for a movie that essentially won over audiences without help from the critics. People getting worked up over these blockbusters getting bad reviews must realize this. We’re not writing to be mean. We’re just writing to provide insight for those who want it.

Then news broke on Friday about an unfortunate shooting in Aurora, Colorado. A man named James Holmes claimed to be called the Joker, threw a gas can and opened fire on a midnight screening, leaving 59 injured and 12 dead. While this isn’t exactly inspired from the movie, despite the fact that he was wearing a gas mask similar to that of Tom Hardy’s Bane character, there is little to prove that he has seen the movie.

This logically took away the buzz from those who were looking forward to the movie. Many would speculate that it is going to harm ticket sales by people avoiding the theaters. The release in Paris was also pushed back because of this. Theaters also are prohibiting costumes for safety measures. This isn’t necessarily the thing I wanted to hear about when I got home from watching the movie. It still bugs me, if not because of the high body count, but also that this movie seems to be attracting a bad crowd that now makes the critics death threats seem like child’s play.

I have many reasons now to be scared of living a life as a fan of movies. Over the course of a week, things escalated from anonymous death threats to a theater shooting. I worry that the unexpected may happen and that this isn’t the end. Maybe Holmes wasn’t one of those angry at critics, but what if one of the anonymous commenters finds someone? A movie is not worth taking a life over. Obsession to details in a movie is one thing. Disagreeing with someone in a violent nature is another. There is little that separates any piece of film from inspiring the next Hinckley.

Why are we attacking movies so harshly? The medium is meant for entertainment and critical analysis of what visually can be achieved. People can walk out of movies and decry whole franchises, but there is no need to outright kill someone over it. I am aware that I have let my tongue slip a few times and that I may have said some unfair statements, but I have been working to better myself as I try to elevate my position as critic. However, when I hear on my favorite podcast Operation Kino that someone didn’t like Super, calling it terrible, I didn’t hate him. In fact, I just saw another side to a movie that I have this bizarre attraction to. I accepted seeing a differing opinion and never once considered tracking him down to shoot him.

We just have to learn that opinions are opinions. Some may be disturbing, but for movies, there is not one worth dying or killing for. It disturbs me that people like Hinckley exist to tarnish classics like Taxi Driver. Now Holmes is a footnote to the Dark Knight Rises on Wikipedia because of his decisions. When people as rich and powerful as Jackson are telling fans to send hate mail to critics, it only begs the question: when will all of this chaos stop? We need to regress and realize that we are watching movies. Some are good. Some are bad. Most of us would hate to see the latter, but they do exist.

So while I am planning on heading back out to see the Dark Knight Rises soon, I cannot help but share my concern for fans who just watch these movies for fun. I don’t want people to die. Most of all, I worry that if incidents like this occur more often, I may become part of the victims of hate mail. I don’t want to be like that. If you don’t like critics, just be like Kevin Smith and work your way around the incident. Don’t make it your goal to take us down.

We bleed like you. We think like you. We go to the movies to be entertained. We want to promote movies that we like, just like you do. We may not always see eye to eye, but do know that I am not writing a bad review to insult your intelligence. I’m just writing to share my opinions in a eloquent way. Even if you have a basic understanding of language, I would love for you to do the same. I leave you with a quote from George Takei involving this case:

Check out more of my work at www.nevpodcast.com where I post every Wednesday and have a podcast called Nerd's Eye View.