Is it Wrong to Like the Joker? A Movie Review
A world without kindness can make a million more Jokers. The 2019 full-length solo movie of Batman’s mortal nemesis delivers a compelling story and a summary of great works, enough to make us think of things after seeing the film. Despite all of the controversies hounding this movie, Joker is undeniably Todd Phillips’ masterpiece to date.
In Joker, we were introduced to a miniature world that is Gotham, pre-Batman period, crumbling to pieces due to corruption and criminality. Kindness is rare among the people living in the City, and for this, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix, everyone! Please stand up and applause) struggled to keep his sanity. One has shown kindness, but they always made fun of him because of his size, making his gestures trivial and unappreciated, even by Arthur who needed it the most.
Joker has a simple story. In fact, it is everything I predicted after watching the trailer. This is surprising considering how complicated and twisted this DC’s popular villain is as we all know. The simplistic narration works because the material wanted us to focus on Arthur Fleck’s horrifying transformation into the Joker before destroying Gotham City until we don’t know anymore what’s playing on his mind.
Phoenix’s version of the Joker is both different and the same with Heath Ledger’s version in The Dark Knight. We’ve seen Ledger’s Joker already an established criminal, which every screen time sends a shiver to spine, but Phoenix’s Joker has a more human aspect to it, at least before the tragedies in his life happen. They also have different Joker signature laughs — Ledger’s laugh was lower and more taunting (hee hee hoo hoo), while Phoenix was high-pitched and has a hint of pain coming from the inside (ha ha ha). So many emotions were felt with Phoenix’s portrayal but feeling afraid of him has been constant.
Cinematic highlights of the movie that probably made Todd Phillips and Joker winner to film festival(s) include the seamless camera works particularly during Arthur’s fantasy of meeting Murray Franklin (the ever magnetic Robert De Niro) on his talk show, the full transformation of Joker strutting down the stairs to the music of Rock & Roll Part 2, and the introduction to his character in Murray’s show as a guest. Without exaggeration, every inch of the reel in this movie is an art. You can pause any scene with Phoenix in it, have it printed and framed for an exhibit, it will surely be admired.
Joker is a villain movie. At the end of the story, his perspective about humanity has shifted at extreme heights: from simply bringing a smile to people’s faces to seeking the pleasure of making them suffer or killing them, which made him a very dangerous entity. This is the controversial aspect of the movie that prompted some sectors grew concern over its release considering the sensitivity of its themes (mental illness and violence). Thus, it raised a question, is it wrong to like the Joker?
Admiring Joker’s twisted philosophy and his antagonistic acts, the answer would already be obvious. I’m sure Phillips doesn’t intend for anyone to like the character in that manner. However, if you admire the overall quality of the movie, its artistry, the brilliance of the Joaquin Phoenix, and the cinematic experience, then you are on the safe track (Well, at least for me).
Much more, if one can comprehend the important message it is trying to convey, the more it is okay to like this movie. The villainous version of Arthur was born due to deprivation of mental healthcare support and, most importantly, of moral support. Arthur may be simply seeking sympathy and understanding for his sorry state, maybe also friendship and kindness to people that might stabilize his overwhelming thoughts, but he was deprived of those. He only had a talk show host for a father figure, a mentally and physically ill mother he’d been taking care of for most of his life, and coworkers whom he can hardly call his friends.
The imbalance within its social system, where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, made the people of Gotham preoccupied to fend for themselves or feed their own interests, by hook or by crook and forgetting their humanity. Here, showing compassion is considered a weakness or a waste of time (the government cuts off the funding for social works that assist the poor, tsk tsk). In a nutshell, Joker shows how the world would be in the absence of kindness and compassion, and its possible effects on a person, or to some of us.
[SPOILER] The important scene for me is the meeting of Arthur and Bruce Wayne (as a child) at the gates of Wayne Manor. There are two possibilities that could happen with this scene: one is that he might be redeemed by befriending the boy (believing they were brothers) and finally feel a sense of family he was longing for (despite his weird way of making him smile), or there might be no Batman in the future if he was thinking of harming the helpless Bruce. These possibilities were disrupted when the family butler (Alfred?) came to rescue Bruce and shattered Arthur’s delusion of being Thomas Wayne’s illegitimate son.
Had Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen) only showed a little kindness to him, or if Murray didn’t mock his stand-up stint to his viewers, maybe Arthur can still find reasons to hold on to his prior beliefs and his transition to a nihilistic version might be prevented. Be kind, you might save a person, perhaps that’s what the movie was trying to say.
Robert Pattinson is the new Batman for the latest incarnation of the character in the highly-anticipated movie set to be directed by Matt Reeves. There were reports that Phoenix’s Joker will not likely crossover to Pattinson’s Batman because Warner Bros is not planning to push with the DC Extended Universe. It would’ve been a momentous cinematic event if they will give it a chance to the hands of two very capable filmmakers today. Surely, DC movies are getting more and more exciting. What do you think?
