When the real-life shooter is dressed up as the fictional screen villain, I don’t know how anyone can claim there’s no connection. There IS a damn connection-same as the legion of spree killers inspired by Natural Born Killers and the juggalo attacks and murders by idiot feral teens in the Insane Clown Posse “family.” This isn’t the first murder inspired by this franchise either: remember the Dendermonde nursery attack when Kim De Gelder, dressed as the joker stabbed two babies and a teacher to death. This Dark Knight/Joker thing is nothing more than demonically inspired torture porn-I have no interest in seeing it or polluting my children’s minds with it. Life often imitates art.
He wasn’t dressed like the villain, the villain doesn’t wear a bullet proof vest or riot helmet. There were ZERO spree killers inspired by Natural Born Killer. Juggaloos are nuts, much as I hate ICP you can’t really pick your audience. The Dendermonde attacker did not dress up as the Joker, just had died hair and some make up.
So far all of your “incidents” of life imitating art didn’t happen. Meanwhile out here in reality there are nutty people and there’s no torture porn in the Dark Knight.