it's safe to say we've never seen a
comic-book movie quite like this one
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we've met many different versions of
this iconic Batman villain over the
years but with the 2019 film joker
director Todd Phillips delivered a
uniquely grounded cinematic take on the
iconic character utterly lacking in
conventional superhero action or any
superheroes for that matter Joker is a
dark and gritty origin story that places
us in the perspective of the titular
character it was an incredibly bold and
risky film for Warner Brothers to
greenlight but the gamble paid off many
times over with the film going on to
make over a billion dollars and it did
so with an R rating no less shattering
records in the process the movie has
been nominated for a staggering 11
Academy Awards after picking up two
Golden Globes including Best Actor for
Joaquin Phoenix much like its namesake
character this film is one of a kind you
just wanted to make fun of me long
before it hit theaters Joker was already
generating substantial controversy the
mere concept of putting such a troubling
character in the spotlight generated a
media firestorm we have people that are
suffering with PTSD and the corporation
that is making money off of gratuitous
violence needs to be taken care of
society as well much to the frustration
of both the film's director and its star
due to the manner in which Joker
reflects the ugliness of society it
became the subject of much speculation
regarding the potentially negative
influence of art with some going so far
as to suggest it would result in mass
shootings and/or in cell type violence
inspired by the character when you make
a compelling film around a violent
killer you're crafting an inherently
challenging film one that demands
critical thinking from its audience
thankfully Joker doesn't seem to have
inspired any major acts of real-world
violence but it has generated greater
dialogue about its key themes they don't
think it's it's the responsibility of a
filmmaker
could you know teach the audience
morality or the difference between right
or wrong I mean to me I think that
that's obvious Joker is first and
foremost a film about mental health
more specifically the structures that
allow issues of mental health to go
unaddressed it's also a scathing
indictment of the divided society in
which we live a culture that dismisses
the poor as having failed to capitalize
on these supposedly equal opportunities
of the American Dream is it just me or
is it getting crazier out there it is
certainly tense people are upset they're
struggling looking for work these are
tough times the strength of Joker lies
in its ability to draw attention to
these dual societal failings
simultaneously by focusing on an
individual who suffers at the hands of
both as journalists Chauncey K Robinson
put it Joker is quote ultimately an
in-your-face examination of a broken
system that creates its own monsters are
you all right
well that was quite an entrance
Arthur Fleck is a man who feels ill at
ease in society he has dreams and
seemingly good intentions but he's
ill-equipped to realize them okay well
there's something special about you
Arthur I could tell where you from I
live right here in the city with my
mother okay hold on funny about that I
live with my mother before I made it and
so as life hits Arthur with repeated
reminders of its inherent cruelty
he's progressively worn down to the
point of snapping in this sense
he's a stand-in for the frustrated the
disenfranchised and those who feel
cheated by society's promises many have
identified him as a clear stand-in for
white male rage but to dismiss him
outright with these three words is to
oversimplify he undeniably checks those
boxes but he's also impoverished and has
a history of severe trauma and mental
illness he's a pitiable figure one whose
actions the film does not ask you to
forgive or apologize for but simply to
understand in order to better grasp how
people fall through the cracks his
problems extend beyond any assumptions
about what the world owes him he's in
desperate need of help but the solutions
afforded to him are woefully inadequate
in short Arthur is a stand-in for
disadvantaged and marginalized
individuals that society has failed just
taken to its worst possible conclusion
but I think if you're seeing it as
glorifying him you might be looking at
it wrong and I think really what the
movie is about is a little bit about
empathy and the lack thereof in society
today when we first meet Arthur he's in
a sorry state his life is going badly by
most metrics work friends family romance
health it's all bad but he has just
enough to hold on he's got a mother who
loves him a roof over his head a job a
social worker and seemingly a romantic
interest he also has ambitions however
unrealistic they might be here's a guy
who thinks if you just keep laughing
it'll somehow make you funny check out
this job in The Killing Joke Joker
famously says quote all it takes is one
bad day to reduce the sanest man alive
to lunacy you had a bad day once am i
right
no I am I can tell you have a bad day
and everything changed in Arthur's case
that translates into the loss of the few
things he did have Arthur has very few
good days but he sustains himself with
what little he does have when one has so
little however a loss that would
otherwise be manageable for a more
fortunate person is devastating and so
for Arthur the loss of his job is the
beginning of the end and as the other
pillars of his fragile life fall in kind
so does his sense of self as his world
crumbles
Arthur Fleck dies and the Joker is born
out of the ashes of Arthur's former
identity Rises something new and
extremely dangerous
an individual who having repeatedly
failed when claimed by society's rules
has chosen to jettison social norms and
conventions you don't listen do you I
don't think you ever really hear me it's
almost a survival mechanism and because
his new attitude is such a stark
departure from the norm he is utterly
unknowable to others yes he's free but
in this freedom he becomes an inherently
dangerous force of nature
his every movement is an act of chaos
and destruction knock knock the Joker is
a monster despite the sympathetic
backstory The Joker's actions are
indefensible and yet while we as viewers
are absolutely horrified by what he does
we simultaneously cannot look away one
argument is that were fascinated by him
because he's so fundamentally other he's
unthinkably different but there's also
an argument to be made that were
fascinated by the Joker because he
represents an aspect of all of us not
necessarily his violence or wanton
disregard for life but rather the act of
freeing oneself from expectation and
convention to live without fear of
consequence
even if consequences are inevitable
killing those guys is funny I do and I'm
tired of pretending it's not
by the time the film comes to a close
it's impossible to distinguish Arthur
slash Joker's reality from fantasy he's
shown us in a variety of ways that he's
an unreliable narrator
so while there has been much debate as
to what portions of the film or fantasy
and which actually occurred within the
on-screen reality at the end of the day
it doesn't really matter to quote the
Joker again sometimes I remember it one
way sometimes another if I'm going to
have a past I prefer it to be multiple
choice in while in Arthur's case this is
a symptom of mental illness there's a
universal truth to be taken from a -
about the subjectivity of our memories
and perspectives from would be mayor
Wayne - Arthur social worker and even
the mother on the bus we each experience
life through the scope of our own
first-person perspective which though
never entirely objective feels
undeniably real to each of us I don't
need you to tell me lies I know it seems
strange uncomfortable I don't know
wokers journey and its significance
functions outside the confines of
reality whether it happened in his mind
he drifted into fantasy halfway through
the film or he actually committed every
single one of those acts is beside the
point
when Arthur becomes Joker he
intentionally seeks to detach from
society and its rules and objective
truth is just a natural extension of
that which he rejects by the time Arthur
has become Joker he's abandoned the
pursuit of success happiness or
acceptance by conventional means and
instead finds power by choosing to
dismiss the reality of others outright
it's just you know it's been a rough few
weeks Murray ever since I killed history
Wall Street guys
okay I'm waiting for the punch line
there's no punch line
real or imagined however Joker's push
back against an uncaring society
inspires wider revolt all of you the
system that knows so much you decide
what's right or wrong the same way that
you decide what's funny or not it's a
testament to the fact that he isn't
alone in the dissatisfaction he feels
the circumstances that gave rise to the
Joker extend to countless other people a
broken society encourages people to
break free and kind and attempt to
reshape their reality civil unrest is
inevitable in any system that serves
some but not others and when society
turns a blind eye to those in need of
Health the film suggests there's no
telling what they might become and does
this by showing us the worst possible
outcome everybody just yells and screams
at each other
nobody's civil anymore nobody thinks
what it's like to be the other guy
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you're on your phone make sure you go
into your settings and switch on
notifications in the case of arthur
fleck the combination of poor
circumstances a lack of resources plus
mental illness leads to a catastrophic
push back against society and the birth
of something truly terrifying but also
preventable with greater care and
assistance to marginalized people what
do you get out of things when you cry
let's eat some what try the police I'll
tell you what you call the police do you
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