MOVIE TITLE: Joker
DIRECTOR: Todd Phillips
YEAR: 2019
GENRE: Psychological Thriller
RATING: R for violence, swearing, and disturbing themes
GRADE: Extra Credit
Humanizing a violent criminal is a tall task in and of
itself. Getting sympathy for any kind of character is harder than it looks
(trust me, I’ve tried). When you watch this movie, not only will you have
sympathy for Arthur Fleck a.k.a. The Joker, but you’ll cheer for him as well.
There’s more to building a sympathetic villain than throwing in a tragic back
story and calling it a day. This movie went above and beyond in developing the
Joker character. He’s mentally ill, he’s rejected by society because of his
awkward behavior, he’s impoverished, and he’s the target of violence just as
much as he’s the instigator. While people wouldn’t under any circumstances
condone his violent behavior, they will at least understand it. They might even
learn to treat fellow members of society with respect. Nobody starts out as an
evil person. They’re slowly built into one by the forces around them. Again, it
doesn’t excuse Joker’s murders nor does it give the incel community an idol to
look up to. But the more we see each other as human beings, the more we act
like human beings.
Of course, none of this sympathy would have been possible if
not for the brilliant acting work of Joaquin Phoenix, who played The Joker. In
fact, Mr. Phoenix might be telling Heath Ledger to hold his beer (no disrespect
to Mr. Ledger). The pathological laughter, the nervousness around strangers,
the poor cadence of his jokes, the sadness when he’s alone, they all looked
believable coming from Joaquin Phoenix. Mental illness is a lonely obstacle for
someone to overcome. Nobody wanted to be around The Joker when he was at his
worst and the actor brought that loneliness to life through his character work.
It took a lot of studying and reading in order to get this villain down
perfectly. Mr. Phoenix’s passion for what he does is obvious in his roles. If
he doesn’t get an Oscar for this performance, I’m going to be very surprised
and upset. Granted, I won’t give the Army nervous fits with my level of
disappointment and nor should anybody else. You hear that, terrorists? Be nice!
Somewhere in this nature vs. nurture debate, there’s a
modern day dystopia happening all around The Joker. Garbage is piling up, rats
are infesting the city, the disenfranchised are being bullied, social programs
are being cut, and poverty is at an all time high. When politicians and
oligarchs use their influence to enrich themselves at the expense of others,
distrust starts to build between the social classes. It doesn’t always end in
riots and violence, but sitting down and doing nothing doesn’t cross their
minds either. In many ways, the dystopian politics of this movie reminds me a
lot of what’s going on in the real world under the Trump administration. So we
have a realistic Joker and a realistic political system. Superhero movies get a
bad rap for being cartoonish and comical, right? You know what Joaquin Phoenix
and the rest of the crew says to that? “Hold our beers.”
Everything that could go right with this movie did go right.
It’s gritty, it’s real, it’s dark, and nothing was out of place. Keeping a
smile on your face all of your life is close to impossible. It’s okay to feel
bad sometimes. Toxic positivity did nobody any good. But if you must rage
against the machine with a nihilistic point of view, don’t cross the point of
no return like The Joker did. An extra credit grade will go to this modern day
masterpiece. Now THAT’S something worth smiling about!
