Tyler Purdy ’21
December 12, 2019
Though I am a self-proclaimed Marvel fanboy, buying a ticket to every movie and gushing over some arguably mediocre pictures, I would like to think I can appreciate art of all sorts. Even though I stand across the proverbial fan aisle, the announcement of a stand-alone Joker movie had me begrudgingly excited to throw my money at yet another superhero movie.
As the release date loomed closer, however, it became quite glaringly obvious that this was going to be no ordinary superhero film. Accusations of endorsements of white supremacist ideals and incel culture began to be slung from one pop culture website to another, whipping many into a frenzy over the possibility of tragedy repeating itself in the form of an all too common mass shooting.
Now we are broaching into some dangerous territory here. In an age where it seems that politics is inescapable, many flee to the refuge of the enclosed theatre to relax and step away from an ever more complicated world. While I genuinely sympathize and would agree with this stance to a degree, the politics of Joker must be addressed. It is by no means my aim to turn this review into a hot political take, rather, I would like to examine the full scope of this movie which very much includes the political controversy surrounding it.
The date of release came and went, luckily without tragedy, the tension seemed to fade and the political football seemed to be punted to another court and I set about nervously watching the film to properly critique it and I must say: I am absolutely enamored with this film.
At this point in the review, I would attempt to go into some vivid detail about the plot butJokeris a bit of a different animal. The base plot is quite simple, in fact, if I were a betting man I would have put money on the probability that you have seen this plot unfold. A man, in this case, our main character Arthur Fleck, must care for an elderly parent in poor circumstances and is seemingly mistreated and wrong by everyone around him.
Eventually, the pressure gets to be too much, he snaps and commits murder, and inspires others to follow in his footsteps as he becomes the revolutionary head of the mistreated. Somewhat specific sure, but many movies follow a similar enough pattern to have many people roll their eyes at such a contrived plot.
What makes Joker special, what puts it heads and shoulders above the rest, are the amazing intricacies and details found within the movie.
The elephant in the room here is Jaoquin Phoenix’s incredible performance as the Joker, and the way he weaves in a mixture of pure insanity and sympathetic disposition sells the entire movie. It is captivating to the point where I cannot quite capture it in mere words and it is an absolute must-see as soon as possible. That in tandem with clever art direction and brilliant use of the soundtrack, the aesthetic of a 1980’s Gotham is sold, a place not too far off from a distant New York, yet distinct in its own identity.
What left the largest impact on me however was the seeming misinterpretation of the messages of the film. Rather than it is the story of some heartless monster who is vilified by the film for no reason, I interpreted it as a critic of the mental health system and the failure of bureaucracy in everyday society. Arguably what causes Arthur to spiral into the Joker persona is the failure of the city to properly care for him, as the film establishes that he is deeply mentally unwell and unfit to truly care for himself, but, he is dropped by his concealer as the funding has dried up for Gotham’s mental health system.
Even in the background, crime is shown to be rampant as the very movie opens with Arthur being mugged. The super elites seem to flourish, as the Wayne family (yes Batman’sfamily) specifically the patriarchy is running for mayor for reasons that are shown to be quite self-centered. The narrative of the alt-right incel being praised by the movie for being a monster is seemingly untrue in my eyes, given all the evidence that the movie provides.
While the movie is imperfect, as there are some lulls in the movie and the plot is quite predictable, what the movie does well knocks it out of the park. Frankly all the hullabaloo aside this film is an absolute must-watch. I’d rate it a solid 4⁄5 stars even a possible 5/5 stars, worth every minute of your time.
