Tag: gun violence

Brainiac On Banjo #054: Masks Don’t Kill. Joker Kills.

Brainiac On Banjo #054: Masks Don’t Kill. Joker Kills.

As we await all the violence and mayhem at this weekend’s debut of Joker, theaters all across this great nation are advertising: “If you’re a dejected, pissed off incel who couldn’t get laid on the night they cure AIDS and you’ve got a gun, we’ve got the movie for you!!!”

There are problems we create, and there are other problems we create by trying to fix them. The law of unintended consequences reigns supreme, but that never stops us from baiting the tiger-of-the-month.

In anticipation of the latest DC movie that has little to do with DC Comics, movie theaters are banning their patrons from arriving in costumes, masks and/or make-up. As we all know, the mere sight of a Batman villain in costume causes Batfans to go batshit and reach for their AK-47s.

Now we see the gigantic and fan-favorite Alamo Drafthouse theater chain going to great lengths to promote how they’ll have “additional” security at their sundry Joker screenings. Yeah, that’ll stop shit just fine. A couple thousand people in a dark theater who are physically incapable of exiting the room in an emergency are going to be saved by a freshman rent-a-cop working for minimum wage. Happens all the time.

Give me a break. These measures are so insipid they don’t even qualify as band-aids. They address neither the problem of gun violence nor the problem of wandering vicious miscreants who are looking for an excuse to blow away the masses. All this so-called solution will do is promote the fact that the theater owners think this movie is so violent they should follow their insurance company’s orders and deploy useless measures that actually promote the anticipation of violence… and that little trick does more to foster evil than it does to prevent it while at the same time making a truckload of money.

Is Joker too violent? For that matter, what is too violent? We survived the genius of Sam Peckinpah, Quentin Tarantino, Walter Hill, Martin Scorsese, and John Ford. Their movies were violent. They keep on grinding out Evil Dead movies and RoboCop remakes. Brian DePalma hasn’t died for anybody’s sins. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo #054: Masks Don’t Kill. Joker Kills.”

So Long and Thanks for the Fish, Man #044: “I want to take your guns away.”

So Long and Thanks for the Fish, Man #044: “I want to take your guns away.”

I’m done making excuses, personally. I’m done forgiving, allowing exceptions, or offering platitudes to the other side. I have been lucky that no one I know has been affected by gun violence specifically. That even in that assertion I am not fully sure of it — considering all of the recent mass shootings — seals the deal. My name is Marc Alan Fishman, and I absolutely want to take all your guns away from you and everyone you know. Continue reading “So Long and Thanks for the Fish, Man #044: “I want to take your guns away.””

Kickstarter You Should Be Backing: Shots Fired, A Comic Anthology to Fight Gun Violence

Kickstarter You Should Be Backing: Shots Fired, A Comic Anthology to Fight Gun Violence

Readers and followers of our site know that we are always looking for crowdfunded projects that are worthy of our support. It appears to be time for a new wave of Kickstarter projects to grab our attention.

A new project that we have been aware of even before it went live is the focus of this spotlight post. The project is called Shots Fired, and it is an anthology of comic format short stories aimed at calling attention to the tragedy of gun violence in America.  While there have been other excellent projects aimed at supporting the victims of gun violence. This collection is committed to using profits from the book to support violence prevention.

Continue reading “Kickstarter You Should Be Backing: Shots Fired, A Comic Anthology to Fight Gun Violence”