The night before Halloween, the usually joyful atmosphere in Tokyo became dark after an unidentified man, aged 24, stabbed one of the passengers on the chest. He then went to start a fire in the vehicles. Afterward the suspect told the police that he was planning to kill to ensure that he could receive the death penalty. He added “I wanted to be like the Joker.”
While Batman’s Batman character has been in a variety of television shows, books and films however, it is reported that the attacker was specifically referring to Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar-winning performance in the film Joker.
Normally, award-winning and high-grossing films like this one would be scheduled to air on broadcast TV at this point. But, a source in the industry of TV tells Tokyo Sports that there’s a possibility that it could end up being “permanently shelved” under the present circumstances.
The source focuses on the scene where Phoenix’s character murders three passengers on an express train as the motive. In addition to the crimes in Halloween, there have been several recent incidents that have occurred on trains in Japan which included an arson attack on a Shinkansen train on November 8 and an attack on another Shinkansen route on the 9th of November. Also earlier in the year there was an assault on an express train near Tokyo on the 6th of August.
With all the recent train-related murders, casting a film that featured a pivotal train murder scene was difficult, but the fact that someone was who was dressed as Joker appeared to be the nail that would be hammered into the coffin. Reaction online has mostly stood in support of the film and said that the finger should be pointed at people who committed the crime and all of the attention that they receive instead. They also comment that the movie will still be available on streaming services hence it is somewhat pointless.
Incredibly, the numerous comments in support of the film appeared to ignore the fact of Joker’s somewhat smug message about how important having proper medical support for mental health could make it a better film to screen in the light of the recent circumstances.
Source: Soranews24
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