The Joker Movie

It's actually alright! Some bits made me a bit ehhh, but the more I think about it the more I like it.

It's a solid origin story for a Joker rendition, which is as it ought to be: bizarre and disquieting.

I find it weird how people were worried about making a mass murderer relatable. I don't understand it at all. I'm trying to get my head around the argument against this movie, which now that the movie has released, seems like the arguments have shifted. Nonetheless, why not make mass murders relatable? IMO, if we try to understand why people get to that point maybe we could do something. Oh but you can't be sympathetic... Let's just call it "evil" so that we don't have to confront it.

I think the last third act of the movie is where it really shines, when he finally transforms into the Joker.

I will say though, this movie is exposing people in a lot of ways. The dumbest fucking hot takes and theories I've read over certain scenes is giving me a headache. It's the scene in which he leaves his 'girlfriends' apartment, people think he killed her. I have no idea where the basis or idea comes from considering it's established in the very next scene that he has no ill will towards people who didn't directly harm him.

Both the hype and controversy over "Joker" were overboard. It doesn't give sympathy to a mass murderer, but it touches on unchecked mental health and idolizing a cult figure for the wrong reasons. Ultimately it's just a character study to a legendary comic villain with a damn good actor taking center stage.

But I don't count it as the best movie of the year. Until I see "Uncut Gems" later this year, "Parasite" is the best thing I've seen.

Society has survived Rock n Roll, Led Zeppelin's "backward masking", Reefer Madness, Travis Bickle, the KISS Army, Heavy Metal, Patrick Bateman, Marilyn Manson, and all the other boogeymen various hand-wringing groups have screamed to the heavens about in the last, oh, 60 or 70 years. I'm confident people will survive The Joker just fine.

It is a really tense and uncomfortable movie. I really liked it. While a lot of other depictions of the Joker makes him goofy and zany in a chaotic evil way this highlights the pure terror such a character would instill in me. The more "grounded in reality" reasons for why the Joker is the way he is moves the character from a cartoon to a "real" horror. As someone who loves horror movies, but hate jump scares, this kinda read like a horror movie to me. Phoenix also did a tremendous job, from the painful laugh to the frankly unhealthy body work. And the music was excellent. Hildur Guðnadóttir really captured the evil that builds there.

But then there is all this crap surrounding the movie. How anyone would think this would inspire anyone to act like the Joker in the movie after watching it just baffles me. He is not painted as any kind of hero. Everything from the cinematography to the acting to the music screams "this is an awful human being, there is no sympathy to be had here".

I think it was a really good movie depicting a more realistic origin of a comic book villain. That's it.

@dashibuya: I will have to watch it again, but I swear you could hear sirens approaching the building in the very next scene from his apartment. There are things that indicate that he might have killed her. But as with several things in the movie, it's not clear, and I bet is supposed to be not clear.

I thought it was way too long and kinda boring, but a few scenes made it worth a watch. Pretty forgettable overall, though Phoenix did a great job in the role. The fact that this is the movie stirring up any controversy is somewhat pathetic, it's not worth getting worked up over at all. Just a retread of a concept that has been done better, with a Joker reskin.

Give me an 80 minute version of this and I might watch it again though. The violent bits were pretty cool and there was good usage of licensed music. Also appreciated the anti-capitalist themes, showing how marginalized folks are shit on and neglected under capitalism. Thomas Wayne can get fucked.

I saw the movie now I've gone crazy hahahahahaha!

Or I just thought it was pretty decent. I found the whole class warfare more prevalent, handled pretty well, and actually existing in the movie as opposed to this radicalized incel shit that was going to spawn all this violence the media was so worried about.

@jaqen_hghar: So, I don't think the concern is that people will think he is a heroic or sympathetic character, but that people will sympathize with him. People who, like him, feel that society has rejected them and instead of continuing to suffer in silence, come to the conclusion that hey they have nothing to live for anyway, so I might as well just enact my vengeance on others. When you feel completely powerless, and unwanted, that sort of thing can be an appealing offer of power and purpose.

Haven't seen it yet but I've heard a lot of good things and it seems like the sort of film I'd like. I managed to watch American Psycho without trying to cram a cat in a ATM or murdering anyone really so I reckon I can manage to watch this without wearing away the fabric of society.

Thanks for the concern though duder, nice to know someone I've never met is looking out for what I should and shouldn't be watching or doing.

10/10

Great film and incredibly well done

Its also killing it at the Box Office. No pun intended

Whenever people say no pun intended the pun was indeed intended.

So you sir are a liar when you say no pun intended.

well actually i realised the pun after i wanted to say its killing it at the box office. So no the pun wasn't intended. It just feels intentional because i said it afterwards. Which is foolish of me regardless.

@kmj2318: Just saw it, and the Joker makes a complaint, that sounds very much like the director talking through him, about how we all just shout at each other instead of understanding each other.

It’s my biggest complaint about modern culture.

I do think relatable villains are important to have. It’d why biblical characters were as they were, cautionary tales and the like. Seeing something in a villain or cautionary character that you can connect to is an important and interesting component of character work, storytelling, and the reflection that comes with it.

Of course, being able to reject the horrific leaps this shared thought or trait pushes the villain toward making is an important part of that process, too.

Joker was a sympathetic villain/protagonist. That doesn’t mean the things he does, while empowering and freeing to him, aren’t vile, fucked-up, and causing greater pain in the film’s world.