Armond White Reflects on the Aurora Shootings and He’s Not Holding Back
Armond White is very clear. Guns were not to blame for the tragic events at last week’s midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises. He’s blaming the filmmakers [Nolan, Soderbergh, Cronenberg, Haneke, Tarantino, Fincher, Aronofsky, Winterbottom] the pundits, the news media, the moviegoers, and yes, even the critics, noting that “[s]tandard praise for “dark,” “wicked,” “twisted,” “subversive,’ “transgressive” dramas or comedies has lowered film culture.” He continues, “[c]an we continue to pretend this has no effect? That it doesn’t influence the already deranged? That legislated gun control answers a spiritual and aesthetic crisis?” In fact, he states that he believes “promoting gun control is just a lazy, blameless reflex.”
He also calls out those unwilling to give the issue the “rigorous critical thought” it deserves, in the name of protecting Hollywood, and cautions us all that “our infatuation with dystopic behavior in movies has come home to roost.”
Right or wrong, he’s not afraid to point fingers.
Read more at cityarts.org.
