Most people have probably heard by now about the tragic shooting in Aurora, Colorado. At the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, a man named James Holmes shot moviegoers with automatic weapons and threw tear gas at the audience. 12 people were killed and 58 were injured.
James Holmes
The massacre has shocked the world. Nobody knows why he did it if he had a reason at all. He was taken into custody and turned from a nobody into the most talked about man on the news. Holmes, 24, appears to be happy with his new fame. Dark Knight Rises director Christopher Nolan and several of the actors in the film have spoken out about the shooting. Christian Bale visited victims in the hospital today.
Christian Bale at a hospital in Aurora, Colorado
Now to get to my main point of the article. The upcoming crime film Gangster Squad is under pressure due to the tragedy. Gangster Squad is directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, 30 minutes or Less) and has an all star cast including Academy Award Nominees Josh Brolin (No Country for Old, Milk), Ryan Gosling (Drive, The Notebook), and Nick Nolte (Affliction, Warrior) as well as Emma Stone (The Help, Easy A), Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker), Michael Peña (Crash, Shooter), Giovanni Ribisi (Avatar, Saving Pvt. Ryan) and Robert Patrick (Terminator 2). The performance I am most looking forward to is Academy Award Winner Sean Penn as Mickey Cohen.
A poster for Gangster Squad
Based on a true story (how true is anyone's guess), the film takes place in Los Angeles in the 40s and 50s when the LAPD was at war with infamous Jewish mobster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn). Josh Brolin plays a detective who is ordered by Police Chief Bill Parker (Nick Nolte) to take Cohen down by any means. Brolin assembles a squad of detectives (Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Michael Peña, Giovanni Ribisi and Robert Patrick) to stop organized crime in Los Angeles. Emma Stone appears to be playing a mistress of Cohen who Gosling's character takes an interest in.
If you're wondering what any of this has to do with the shooting, I'll explain. The trailer shows a scene where a group of gangsters open fire into a movie theater (nobody is shown being killed in the trailer). The trailer has been pulled off of youtube but you can view it here. The theater scene is at 2:01
It's strange. Just a week ago, the biggest controversies that the film had were the rap music in the trailer (since the film is set in the 40s and 50s) and having a black cop in the squad despite the time period (Anthony Mackie's character is based on a real life black detective). These issues have been forgotten completely due to the Aurora massacre.
Another Gangster Squad poster
It has now been reported by that the theater scene has been removed and the film is being reshot to replace the scene. Warner bros. has neither confirmed nor denied this. If this is true, Gangster Squad will likely not be released on September 7 as it originally planned. The trailer was actually supposed to be shown at The Dark Knight Rises but for obvious reasons has now been removed.
Gangsters shooting through the movie theater scene in Gangster Squad
To voice my personal opinion, removing the trailer from The Dark Knight Rises was a smart idea. It only would have made people feel uncomfortable. However, the film itself should not be censored because of the actions of a lunatic. The theater scene was apparently a key scene in the movie and now the scene may never see the light of day.
I understand that the massacre was horrible. I mourn for all of the
victims and I think James Holmes is a despicable human being.
That said, why censor a movie completely unrelated?
I understand where people are coming from. I understand pulling the trailer from theaters. That makes sense. I
understand that some people might feel uncomfortable with seeing a movie
with a theater massacre a month after a real life theater massacre.
But what harm is there from keeping the film the same way?
A picture of the theater shooting scene in Gangster Squad
Everyone now knows that the movie has a theater shooting scene
whether they've seen the trailer or not. It's been reported like crazy.
If you're not comfortable with seeing the movie due to the recent
tragedy, that's fine. Just don't see the movie. Nobody is making you see
it. When United 93 came out, some people were uncomfortable with seeing
a 9/11 movie 5 years after the event. So what did they do? They chose
not to see it. Those who were ready for a 9/11 movie saw it when it came
out. Others waited until they were ready or simply didn't see it all
together.
It's not fair that a director has to censor his art because of what a
psycho did. I don't see the real life massacre and the film as being
connected, so I will happily see the movie with no problem. If anyone
isn't ready to see a movie with a theater shooting, then don't watch the
movie. Who actually benefits from changing the scene? The families of
the victims don't benefit. They still lost their loved ones. The movie
doesn't benefit. It's being censored. Only James Holmes benefits because
he gets more attention, exactly what he wants.
And besides, I highly doubt that the film glorifies theater
shootings. The trailer seems to imply that the guys shooting in the
theater are gangsters (aka the bad guys in the film) and their act is
not portrayed positively.
This film should keep it's release date and make no changes. If
Warner bros. wants the family to benefit in some way, they can donate
money to the injured victims and the dead victims' family members.
Just my thoughts . I apologize if I sounded insensitive towards the victims of the massacre because that was not my intention.
by Alex Bauman
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