Our capitalist system generally rewards companies for manufacturing quality products, but that’s not always true of Hollywood. The new movie “Joker” is a vile concoction about a comic book villain, but set an all-time October record by earning $234 million in its opening weekend worldwide. Some hailed the film for its bleak, desolate view of society and humanity, along with its portrayal of a lonely, bullied, mentally ill protagonist achieving empowerment through murderous violence.

Jeff Yang, however, derided the movie’s exploitative nihilism as “an insidious validation of the white male resentment that helped bring President Donald Trump to Power.”  He described the anti-hero as a victim “who has been crushed underfoot by the elite, dragged down by equality demanding feminists, and climbed over by upstart nonwhite and immigrant masses.”

The president’s critics blame him for a lot, but a tortured effort to connect Trump to “Joker” is as loathsome and irresponsible as the film itself.