Last Friday’s shooting spree inside of a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises has prompted the usual response from the public — who should we blame?
Some are pointing their fingers at violence portrayed in film and television, while others are blaming gun control. With the tragedy occurring just a week before the release of Matthew McConaughey‘s NC-17 trailer park noir, Killer Joe, the actor and the film’s director have weighed in on the debate.
William Friedkin, an Oscar-winning filmmaker who most famously scared the crap out of us with his interpretation of The Exorcist, sided with gun control and stated:
“I├óΓé¼Γäóm clearly on the side of the argument that say we simply reflect [violence in society]. That crazy motherf—– [in Colorado] had an AR-47 and 6000 rounds of ammunition. Anybody who would point the finger at us and our little fried chicken movie, as opposed to the ability to buy 6000 rounds of ammunition, is out of their goddamn mind.”
He didn’t hold back, now did he?
Remaining slightly more elusive, McConaughey believes the answer to the question isn’t necessarily so simple.
He explains that, first and foremost, our society needs to stop labeling real-life acts of horrific violence as “unbelievable” and start believing that bad things will happen. However, he admits he can’t possibly suggest a solution and elaborates:
“Well, it├óΓé¼Γäós a lot longer answer than I can give you now, but I will just say that is, one thing that we shouldn├óΓé¼Γäót be saying in society when something like that happens anymore, we shouldn├óΓé¼Γäót be saying ├óΓé¼╦£unbelievable.’ It happens, and we don├óΓé¼Γäót know the answer to it right now, but there├óΓé¼Γäós definitely, people now more than ever, people can make a very murky line between reality and illusion. They can make a very murky line between the games that are played and civilization, without any thought of consequences at times. And so, that├óΓé¼Γäós a murky line and a dangerous line that we should consider somehow.”
We agree that the answer is not so simple and can’t place any blame, if any at all, on a single scapegoat. What side of the debate are U on? Let us know (below)!
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