By Joshua Chen
The character of Batman’s arch nemesis Joker has always been one of the most intriguing and polarizing villains in comic book history. He’s the complete antithesis to everything that The titular Dark Knight represents, an out of control monster who is somehow more in control of his actions than the people running his country.
Joker makes for an interesting villain because he’s not just a chaotic out of control villain, he’s a scheming one, with cold calculations running every hospital he blows up and every gunshot he fires.
The relationship between Batman and Joker is so intriguing not only because Joker challenges Batman intellectually, but also ideologically. They’re polar opposites, and yet they’re one and the same. Watching them figuratively cross swords was always worth watching, two madmen fighting to make their mark on the world, fighting for understanding.
And so, when the Joker movie was first announced back in 2017, the hype was real. Finally, one of the most terrifying and dangerous comic book villains would finally get his own standalone movie. No quirky jokes and no bad film-making that audiences had been disappointed by with the previous big DC Extended Universe films. Instead, an edgy, dark and gritty film that dives deep into how a twisted mind like Joker can be created by a cruel and unfeeling society.
Joker opened itself in 2019 to a huge box office success, making over a billion US dollars, beating out even The Dark Knight. What made it even more impressive that it was made from a mere 55 million dollars, not a lot when you’re talking about a film sponsored by Warner Brothers here. People loved it, the media hated it, it was a perfect recipe for a film to break boundaries.
Now, given the title of the essay, you might be a little bit surprised to say that I respect the hell out of this film. Todd Philip’s vision of a dark gritty Gotham is brought to life here, the cinematography is fantastic, Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck as well as Robert De Niro’s Murray Franklin both portrayed so many complex emotions and feelings that brought the film to life and told a story of heartbreak, anger, and mountains and mountains of pain.
And yet, no matter what, I can’t bring myself to love this movie. I do love Joaquin Phoenix’s raw portrayal of a mentally ill loner. I love how real Gotham feels, and the moody atmospheric tone.
My problem with the film is its disillusionment with humanity. Sure, the movie is filmed from the perspective of Arthur Fleck, but most of the time that’s where the issues lie. Arthur feels alienated, he feels like the world is out to get him. He’s constantly getting bullied, scorned, and laughed at, and it’s a defining trait for him. In all his anger and his mental illness he believes he must get the world back for putting him in such a terrible position, and yet even after he’s taken revenge, even after he’s done such terrible things, there is no consequence for him. The world offers him no consequence, he’s swept up by a wave of people who believe in his cause, who revolt against the upper class. Society doesn’t condone him for his sins, instead, it’s like the movie revels in it, as if to say, “I told you so.”
Recently, officer Derek Chauvin has been convicted for the second and 3rd degree murder of George Floyd as well as manslaughter charges. I condemn him. Society condemns him. He murdered a black man for seemingly no reason. And yet, still, most of the general populace hail Joker as a symbol of mental health empowerment. Joker, the man who brutally shot and killed two people in a subway ride, who set the city on fire, started a movement.
Isn’t the point of Joker empathy? Isn’t it to understand the true reasons on how revenge stories are born? Isn’t it a representation of how we as a society can make a monster like Joker?
The never-ending cycle of hatred is only made worse by Joker. Joker creates other Jokers. It creates people driven by anger and hatred making sure that this never ending cycle never stops itself.
Joker is a one of a kind movie. Even after so many years, it’s still talked about. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t parts of the movie that I absolutely loved and adored. It’s a movie that society needed, but not necessarily one that we wanted.
But in the end, in trying to tell a story about sympathy and hatred and what causes a madman like Joker to exist, it doesn’t tell the stories of the affected, the stories that truly matter, the families of the victim that fell ill to somebody that had nothing to do with them.
Thank you for reading.
