The National Air and Space Museum no longer plans to show the movie “Joker,” citing "contractual reasons."
The museum had planned to show the controversial movie Thursday. The museum said it will reimburse those who already purchased tickets.
Some had criticized Air and Space’s plan to show the movie because it is a government-run museum.
The new Warner Bros. film depicts the mental breakdown of the Joker that sets him on a spree of violence. The plot hits close to home for many survivors and parents of mass shooting victims like those in Aurora, Colorado, where a gunman killed a dozen people at the premiere of “Dark Knight Rising” before telling police he was the Joker.
The movie concerns people like Jamie Burroughs, who knew the 16-year-old who was shot and killed at a Saint Mary’s County, Maryland, high school in 2018..
“Definitely, when you think of the parallels between that and the Aurora shooting, I know people are really nervous about that,” she said.
Parents connected to the Aurora shooting sent a letter voicing their concerns to Warner Bros. The company issued a statement that says in part: “Make no mistake: Neither the fictional character Joker, nor the film, is an endorsement of real-world violence of any kind. It is not the intention of the film, the filmmakers or the studio to hold this character up as a hero."
