https://www.chron.com/business/article/Police-theaters-brace-for-violence-as-Warner-14490003.php

Steven Zeitchik, The Washington Post

As it prepared to roll out its new movie “Joker,” Warner Bros. faced protests from the families of mass-shooting victims, pundit criticism that the film could inspire violence, a warning from a theater chain and even comments from its director that he was fueled by resentment for liberal Hollywood.

And that was before the New York Police Department decided to deploy undercover cops to screenings.

“Joker,” the new Joaquin Phoenix movie about a marginalized middle-aged white man who finds salvation in violence, hits theaters Thursday night. For a modern film business that scrupulously avoids controversy – shunning ideological content in its scripts and coaching stars to avoid politics in interviews – the movie has become the most unusual of modern products: a lightning rod produced by a major studio.

Hollywood’s spokeperson. The “F” man. Distilling domestic policy into two words.