Joker director blames 'far left' for film's controversy: 'Outrage is a commodity'

People are addicted to being outrage. The film looks amazing

It looks like a stupid, irresponsible movie.

"Oh, we poor white men are being maligned by the left and right! Pity us! Now pay $15 to see a violent movie about white male rage, conveniently promoted by threats of mass murders from angry white straight male violent incels."

All this shit aside, I feel horrible for Joaquin. If something does happen he’ll be consumed by guilt, despite the fact that none of any of this is his fault, and yet people will still blame him.

I probably don't have the most sophisticated understanding of the situation, but I doubt this film inspires violence or radicalizes anyone. Whoever will be a mass shooter has likely already been radicalized and is just waiting for the proper moment... I just don't know that The Joker's gonna be that moment.

I think the more the media talks about how dangerous the film is, the more dangerous they'll make it.

They don't understand that they sound whinier than the people they're complaining about! What happened to a simple response of something like "we understand people disagree but we feel the movie has a place in cinema today" and moving on? No they just have to have a temper tantrum and complain about those icky liberals and leftists!

I didn't even have an opinion about this movie but now that they're being divas I'm definitely going to avoid.

I don’t care much about the movie, but I feel like the fear mongering about the movie being the next mass shooting location is a social media campaign made by Disney.

Its only 3 days since what would have been River's 49th birthday, I imagine that Joaquin is not in a good place at the moment.

Someone needs to clarify to this oaf director the difference between a leftist's cinematic critique and a rightwinger's actual threats of violence. He's a dumb cunt and his movie will suck dead dog dicks.

If Disney's involved in the fear mongering, they certainly didn't start it. You don't need a whisper campaign to see why certain people would be concerned, but this could easily be another Y2K situation where once the film gets here, people will ultimately be wondering why we made such a big deal.

Well the military is warning its ranks about the insidious influence of this film. Are the armed services leftist?

If something bad happens at one of the Joker screenings, Joaquin is definitely going to be committing suicide. First River and then a mass shooting? Yeah, they’ll find him hanging in his closet.

That would be a great loss, r12.

We need Joaquin to keep Rooney Mara away from sets!

I go to the movies a lot and I HATE that these days "don't talk and text" has become "identify two emergency exits"

I can't wait to see this movie!

You can FORGET about me seeing this in a theater. Never goin to happen. Too many rightwingers love this kind of depravity.

I think the movie studios drastically misread the pubic mood.

The thing was undoubtedly produced by white male studio executives who assume that everyone in the world sympathizes with the problems white men face. But in the time between the greenlight and the release there have been many mass shootings, almost all committed by white men, a rise in worry about the batshit "incels", racial tensions have increased and women have thrown the #METOO fit... and now people are that much less ready to root for a white male antihero who feels victimized to get back at his enemies. Which sucks for Phoenix and everyone else who helped to make this film, but those are the breaks.

I mean...a Joker film that isn't The Killing Joke just bores me

R17: "women have thrown the #METOO fit"

A fit? Thousands of women coming forward about being sexually harassed, assaulted or raped is , to you, a "fit?"

You sound like the inane subject of the film.

R17 R19 You're both crazy

[quote] The thing was undoubtedly produced by white male studio executives who assume that everyone in the world sympathizes with the problems white men face.

Explain how the problems white people face is any different than the problems experienced by the majority of the country.

[quote] and now people are that much less ready to root for a white male antihero who feels victimized to get back at his enemies.

Nobody is supposed to root for the Joker. You are an idiot.

Wasn't there a similar concern about the last Joker film? Or was it the one before that? Hopefully the director can make amends in the next one when the Joker meets Spiderman and together they thrash the Transformers.

Stop with the fucking Joker movies.

The last guy who played The Joker (Heath Ledger) killed himself through overdose.

He actually said that getting into the character of The Joker, took a heavy toll on his mental well being.

A little while later, he was dead.

Those of you predicting the same for Joaquin, might not be far off.

I think that it's a very dark role, and there's something very strange that surrounds the character.

At least HIS movie got released.

You wouldn’t catch me dead watching this film in an American cinema on opening weekend. They need to offer a “Watch Safely at Home - Live Through This” VOD day/date viewing.

In 20 years the soy mob will be forgotten much like the Christian pearl clutchers who came before them.

Are we supposed to pretend wealthy people are. Victims now?

I really have no desire to see this. Phoenix is "Amazing" in it because it's probably not that much of a stretch. If feels like Oscar bait wrapped in pretentious anti-Oscar breading. YAWN.

It^^

Fuck, the DC Comics universe is BORING.

Video games are not responsible for Violence.

Movies are not responsible for Violence.

Gun nuts are nuts, they don't kill because of a movie. They can use the movie as an excuse but they would have kill anyway.

[Quote] Hopefully the director can make amends in the next one when the Joker meets Spiderman and together they thrash the Transformers.

I'd actually watch that.

[quote]there have been many mass shootings, almost all committed by white men, a rise in worry about the batshit "incels", racial tensions have increased and women have thrown the #METOO fit..

What the hell, you list everything very matter-of-factly then lash out with "oh those damn women having FITS," what is even your damage?

It looks terrible. Two hour downer. The Joker was our most fun, sexiest villain. Jesus, generation X are literally the worst cultural custodians.

It is NOT the Joker to be a moody little bitch.

From the first time I heard of this film, and then saw the first trailer, I was completely uninterested and could genuinely not understand why a lot of people seemed to think it looked really good. It looks very boring but I will likely still go and see it as I tend to see all comic book movies - I even saw the latest Fantastic Four movie which is probably the most irredeemable dreck ever produced.

Todd Philips is a putz, don't blame an entire generation for him.

This "controversy" was created by the studio to sell tickets.

R39 Sure.

They sound like whiney little bitches. They're so MAD that someone somewhere maybe doesn't like their shitty, overinflated, humorless piece of garbage that they STORM OUT OF THE INTERVIEW. Drama queens.

[quote]Joker director blames 'far left' for film's controversy: 'Outrage is a commodity'

Is anyone surprised?

[quote]Todd Phillips is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is best known for writing and directing the comedy films Road Trip, Old School, Starsky & Hutch, The Hangover Trilogy and Due Date

LOL - "I feel horrible for Joaquin. If something does happen he’ll be consumed by guilt, despite the fact that none of any of this is his fault, and yet people will still blame him."

Consumed with guilt - I very much doubt that anyone who makes statements like he did would be consumed about guilt afterwards.

Joaquin is a weird one for me. I think he's a talented actor, but at some point I began to dread his work. It is amusing watching the boys get pissy their comic book movie isn't be universally heralded as ART.

I see Marvel fanboys are angry.

Awe, its a film made by 'misunderstood' white men, about a lonley, violent white man who's mental illness causes him to feel misunderstood, marketed to white guys who feel lonely, misunderstood and who enjoy living vicariously through violent acts depicted on screen.

All the white dudes who already feel a kinship to Phoenix's Joker will Risk It All to see the film on opening Weekend, probably more than once. Maybe they'll wear their cleanest (least jazzed on) black tactical pants and combat boots, so they'll look 'badass' in case they need to do any hand-to-hand with a shooter, at the cinema. After they get back home and tuck mom in, they'll go to Rotten Tomates to rate Joker FRESH!

The characterization of the groups of people on both sides of this are laughable and silly.

People are just making crap up about the "Other" without any actual basis.

R45 You're really, really full of shit.

The most excited guy I know for this movie is actually a black guy.

I wasn't in any hurry to see the movie, but would probably have gotten around to it when it arrived on streaming.

This kind of comment, though, basically makes up my mind that I'm not going to see it at all now.

While he’s not wrong about the state of political discourse in America today — outrage being a commodity, the far left sounding just like the far right a lot of the time — I think he’s glomming onto that to make himself a victim. Which is doing exactly what he claims is the problem!

Most of the complaints I’ve read about the movie center on the dumbness of creating an origin story for someone who has always been, in the story arc, a personification of evil. By doing so, you totally defang the character. It’s like telling the poignant origin story of the Alien Queen, who was a nice and helpful counter cricket in the big city until driven MAD by the NYC garbage strike of 1975....

^^^ country cricket

You’d think auto correct would be right at least 1% of the time ....

Problem is you think the movie is about making the Joker a sympathetic figure.

It's dumb, it's like saying the Fall was about making Hitler some poor misunderstood guy.

See the movie then give your opinion.

It sounds like the movie is garbage and he’s just riling up the right to go see it as their “Patriotic Duty”!

The real problem is that America no longer wants art that provokes thought and challenges held opinions. It only wants entertainment that has been tested to death to avoid ever offending anyone,

I really miss the 70s.

The movie looks like it's a love letter to incels. You are misunderstood? Oh, poor you!

From the clips I've seen there's nothing at all to indicate it's thought-provoking. It looks like a Taxi Driver ripoff and Oscar bait.

R47 It's no use talking sense to these people. They insert their "straight white male" nonsense into every fucking thread.

I saw the trailer and it looks squalid, miserable and punishing.

Joaquin Phenix is pretty much expecting his Oscar, just as Heath Ledger did.

The film is apparently is filled with intense scenes of violence, yet liberals are most critical of the fact that Joker has a black love interest. How dare they not make Joke a racist. I'm so relieved I escaped the SJW cult. Theirs is a pathetic existence.

^ mental Chop Suey

It’s another example of the mob mentality that rules today’s public opinion. Headlines pop up saying the Joker is a dangerous movie that regurgitates alt-right views, so people who haven’t even seen the movie avoid the movie on the premise of the exact same thing, which causes more people to avoid it, and so on. It’s a dumb, boring comic book movie that made the mistake of trying to be faux-deep in a time where the public sees everything in black and white and politics infect everything.

It shows how far the intellect of society has plummeted that if you want to tell a story about the disintegration of a person into madness due to unbearable stress and alienation, you still have to use a fucking comic book character as a vehicle.

Sad!

It's just a fucking movie.

R60 DL has no edit function. What's your excuse for your dumb posts?

Holy shit. When did DL become such a pearl-clutching censorious safe space for old stiffs? You sound like a bunch of Tipper Gores. No wonder the humor here has dried up. I hope Trump loses in 2020 if only to make you cunts less miserable.

Get over yourselves: White men aren’t trying to kill us.

R65 There appears to be a growing faction who think that racism is the biggest problem in America. Non hispanic whites account for 42% of all people in the country living in poverty. Most whites have more in common with other minorities than they do with those people in power, yet those same powerful people who are themselves privileged since birth (including Cory Booker who now brags about living in a ghetto), are lecturing the entire white population that they are privileged. You also have people in this thread saying that nobody will sympathize with white men, when it's apparent that people of every race are excited to see this movie. It's really disgusting what's happening.

The Latino guys at work are really excited to see this movie.

Jack Nicholson never went through any psychosis playing the joker. Don't these fuckers know it's acting and just a role.

Jack Nicholson didn't play the Joker as a seriously disturbed freak of nature. His portrayal was more in line with Cesar Romero's Joker from the old tv show.

Joaquin Pheonix is "peculiar".

He had a breakdown for each of his movies.

Jack Nicholson was already disturbed by the time he played The Joker. He didn’t need to lose his sanity over the role because he’d already lost it playing Jack Torrance years ago.

Joaquin Phoenix had such an insane upbringing, it's no surprise that he's a very odd person.

I adore Joaquin. He's the only reason I'm interested in the film. Could care less about the director.

Terrible thread. You should have posted the article. Some of us are on our phones

"The film is apparently is filled with intense scenes of violence, yet liberals are most critical of the fact that Joker has a black love interest. "

Really? Then the studio can kills the alt-right/incel audience goodbye!

Incel Cinema

I see one of two outcomes:

1. Nothing happens whatsoever... the film comes out, people respond to it... positively or negatively, we have a bit of discussion about the film, and then move on. At worst, feelings are hurt, and all the fear mongers look like clowns.

2. Something does happen in a self-fulfilling prophesy-type manner, and we all look like goddamn fools for endlessly talking violence into existence. This type of media glorification is exactly what psychologists say not to do. Don't sensationalize this specter threat of inceldom, lest it actually become something.

Furthermore, I'm mad that fucking Todd Phillips of all directors made a film that somehow is having a cultural moment. Feels undeserved coming from him. Were this a Scorsese picture, which it's clearly trying to be, then maybe this conversation would be worth having, but we already had it in the 70s when Taxi Driver came out.

I'm bored!

4. If there is a mass shooting, all the victims will be dumb shits who went to see a shitty film, so no great loss.

I'm much more inclined to believe that those calling people incels or calling all straight white men oppressors are more likely to commit violence since they represent a fringe group. The only thing the liberal left lacks is the balls to call out the nuts who identify with their party. But that may soon change when Joker makes a gazillion dollars and these losers will keep going on about how nobody wants to see the movie. You also have more liberals who hate Trump calling out cancel culture. As the culture gap widens, more people on both extremes are going to be jumping ship.

I don't want to see this anyway bt even if I did I'd be scared to watch this in a US theatre.

‘Joker’ Premiere Disinvites Interview Press From Hollywood Red Carpet

Geez. We've made ourselves crazy.

R57 ‘s colorful use of adjectives makes me proud to be of the homosexuals.

No one feels bad for white men trust me. It's like being president, everyone is coming after you because your president and your above the law and there's privileges and advantages that go with it that no one else gets.

So you become a target. In the case of white men, rightfully so. They have to pay for history at some point.

Nothing is free.

I can comfort some white men in their time of need.

[quote]So you become a target. In the case of white men, rightfully so. They have to pay for history at some point.

You could go live in a country where white men aren't in charge of things, if you hate them so much.

Oh, wait...

R86 Sounds very sensitive and soft.

Oh, wait....

Who else will have to pay for history at some point? The Turks? The Japanese? Who else?

Just white men.

R84 is an obvious troll

Maybe nothing will happen, the movie will come and go and be forgotten in six months.

I thought the film addresses the consequences of poverty when fat cats rule and the impact of cuts to mental health services. No shit, this is how Phoenix has described the movie. It is not a love letter to incels, it examines the culture that creates them. If this is true, the film could be something special. If it’s not true, then it is your usual violence porn for spoilt kids. I guess we will know soon enough.

Well said. I mean, I hope there's at least some interesting ideas at play, and I'm really gonna be there for Joaquin. I find most of the talk about it absurd, and I hope that we'll look back and see how silly this whole situation was and at the very least smile because Joaquin finally has an Oscar or something.

Ultimately I just wish film mattered for better reasons, you know?

I’m see this at a black movie theater(magic Johnson) theater to avoid any incel violence. Yes I’m black/biracial I also don’t see this movie as making the audience feel sympathy for white men. Everyone at some point in their lives has felt misunderstood or ostracized. The joker is the personification of this. I have been super excited to see this since I saw the trailer. It’s different than other comic book films that have come out. I was disappointed and let down by the killing joker. I think this film can achieve what the killing joker set out to but failed to do.

"those calling people incels or calling all straight white men oppressors are more likely to commit violence "

R79, you're a dumb rightwing cunt crumb who ignores facts and data; a typical Trumpcunt.

Jeez, the level of bullshit we have here.

If you don't want to see the movie, good, we don't care.

But let people who want to see it alone, they're mostly nerds and Phoenix's fans, not really the most dangerous population in the world.

[quote]Problem is you think the movie is about making the Joker a sympathetic figure.

Problem is...your statement is both pompous AND wrong. The Joker has NEVER been portrayed as a sympathetic figure and nothing about this movie indicates that’s the direction they’re taking.

My issue is that I am so GODDAMN tired of both the Joker AND Batman. As much as I am of Spider-man. I mean...this is a Joker movie WITHOUT Batman. Like the Venom movie without Spiderman. At its core, the idea of solo movies about infamous arch-villains without their protagonists seems very gimmicky.

R97 Great bitch.

Just don't go, that's enough to make your point.

While I agree with him, he needs to state his points clearly, and refrain from walking out of interviews. He’s a fucking actor, not a teenager who just had his feelings hurt. Answer the questions. Explain why you’re not mired to the current incel culture due to a role you played on film.

Walking out on interviews is silly. You got paid lots of money to do a job, and allegedly, you did it well. There’s nothing to defend, or to be outraged over when people ask you stupid yet relevant questions.

R99 It's Joaquin Phoenix, he has always been a nightmare in interviews.

He won't change today.

I’m tired of idiots blaming ‘the far left’. Particularly in a country in which the Right, the religious Right mostly, have so much power and influence.

But it’s way too risky to call them out. They have the money.

R99 Joaquin is absolutely right to be pissed when it's the media, and not the film itself, that have been stoking the fires of resentment. What percentage of the population even identifies as incel? That's a term the press has been trying to foist onto a huge section of the population primarily due to their race. They are being totally reckless and irresponsible which is why they were disinvited to the premiere.

While these lame articles won't ultimately effect the movie's box office or reception among general moviegoers, they may affect Joaquin's Oscar chances, and he might be upset about that as well, but I think he's just tired of the nastiness. He was also one of those actors who got bad press during the whole Casey Affleck saga, so I think he has every right to be skeptical of interviewers.

The Media have become a bunch of Cassandras - not because they’re actually concerned for our collective well-being, but in order to hook us for ratings - they should be put on ‘ignore’.

Which is a shame, because a mainstream media that existed to inform rather than manipulate would be useful and appreciated right now.

Joaquin Phoenix is an over privileged "straight" white man I don't respect. Why the fuck does he walk out of interviews when he should be answering the questions asked?

This is his job and his career and it's a damn easy one to. He's spoiled and entitled like most white males are. A black actor would never be able to get away with how Joaquin behaves.

I my personal opinion, he's just another Trump. Can do whatever the fuck they want without any consequences whatsoever. Completely untouchable it seems. And you wonder why white men are demonized in today's world. It's been long overdue, they've been allowed to run free for centuries and do whatever to who ever.

Joaquin is definitely an asshole like most white men are.

Fuck him, no wonder he's such a mess. Nobody ever checks him.

R104 You need to do something about your anger issue.

Keep away from the guns, you sound unhinged.

[quote]What percentage of the population even identifies as incel? That's a term the press has been trying to foist onto a huge section of the population primarily due to their race.

It would be like labeling all young black men as illiterate, violent thugs. Of course there would be outrage, and rightfully so.

R105 your apart of the problem.

R106 Actually white men are the violent thugs, please look at history.

"He was also one of those actors who got bad press during the whole Casey Affleck saga, so I think he has every right to be skeptical of interviewers. "

Oh please, he went out and deliberately courted bad press, because he was feeling sorry for himself and he thought if he made that stupid documentary about playing the hammered fool then other people would feel sorry for a spoiled actor who makes millions of dollars a year, but whines because he can't control the press. And he was stupid enough to think that people who don't make millions of dollars a year, and who aren't free to quit work and pull stupid stunts, would feel sorry for him too!

He's wise to avoid publicity if he doesn't have a project to promote, because he seems to be quite a twerp in real life.

[quote]Actually white men are the violent thugs, please look at history.

Men in general are violent thugs, if you're going to go trolling by using history.

People like R110 never want to hold white men accountable for anything.

It's always another group or everyone, but never exclusively white men.

Millions of people strongly disagree with you.

Troll r111 there are plenty of countries in the world you can move to and never see another white face again.

AT THE SAME TOKEN, when directors, writers and actors act like THEY HAVE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT THEY PUT OUT THERE IN THE WORLD!?! the whole bullshit deflection excuse of "hey, we are just making what people want to see, it' s not our fault!"....

perhaps the bigger question is 1) they could create anything but they want to make this and put out there? 2) they know theirs a audience for it and it's about money, money, money, hardly "for art sake"! 3) perhaps we should question WHY this is entertainment for people and what kind of people find it entertaining? and lastly 4) oh sure nutjobs are already nutty, but do we need matches for the fire?

guess i'm just a "prude" and a "old fart" but the older i get i figure "the reality of the world is bad enough, do i need to see it and PAY for it when it's "entertainment"? for me, the answer is NO!...

R113 Just stick to nick and nite or OTA satellite and you should be fine.

R112 Calls anyone he doesn't agree with a troll.

You call it trolling, millions of other people call it reality and the truth!

Everyone doesn't live in an over privileged bubble of entitlement like you and your entitled idiot frat buddies.

I do feel slightly sorry for the filmmakers, some people are attacking a film they haven't seen, because they think it ties into current issues that they're worried about. They're using a film they haven't seen to discuss the issues, which isn't completely fair to the filmmakers.

On the other hand, I never have more than minimal sympathy for people who think that yet another comic book movie is their short cut to the gravy train. If they misread the mood of the public and suffer for it, tough shit.

Focking Weenix!

R111, BRAVO! That has long needed saying.

[quote] On the other hand, I never have more than minimal sympathy for people who think that yet another comic book movie is their short cut to the gravy train. If they misread the mood of the public and suffer for it, tough shit.

This is not yet another comic book movie. It's one that totally subverts the genre. If anything, it might wean peoples' appetite off of the Marvel verse, which are basically cartoons for adults.

Maybe it will be transformative for the genre, r119. One can hope. The standard Marvel superhero movies are so predictable at this point. Maybe Joker will shake things up.

Todd Phillip has always been an asshole. He became famous for making a stage documentary about fraternities.

A Hollywood director who's an asshole? You don't say!

Bill gets it right here.

Of course Todd Philip's is an asshole hollywood is full of overprivliged jewish man babies like him.

I'm torn, but I DO get it.

Despite his overly-dramatic reaction, Pheonix, this douche-string director, and their elk obviously have their heads firmly planted up their collective asses NOT to see the possibility of incels reacting to this movie. "Don't hate the player, hate the game" aside. THAT'S the kind of bullshit we live in, and YOU KNOW something inspired by this film will happen. It just will. That, of course, doesn't mean that they bear any responsible for it, BUT he had to expect that kind of question on a press tour. What else are you going to ask this monosyllabic asshole? Who he's voting for?

Not to mention, we're going to be stuck with Joker costumes for eternity. Shit, people are STILL dressing like The Crow.

^^Phoenix^^ my spell check didn't pick it up.

Anthony Lane from the New Yorker really did not like it and I usually trust his taste in movies. And I think he went to it with an open mind. In his view, Phillips made it controversial *on purpose* which seems quite possible. He cites, as interesting example, the decision to use a Gary Glitter (ugh) song on the soundtrack as a deliberate provocation.

For years Hollywood glamourized serial killers. Mass killers are sort of the new serial killers in the public imagination, and so I suppose it was inevitable that a movie would sympathize a mass killer. I have great affection for this character from a lifelong love of comic books. But I feel increasingly less likely to see the movie.

I also think Phoenix is a terrific actor but can be very unpleasant. I've never rewatched "The Master" despite my admiration for PTA and interest in its subject matter, mostly because his character was such an unpleasant heel to watch.

Sorry, meant to link that New Yorker review. Forgive the cheesy headline, the review is much better:

Thanks for sharing. Is the piece spoilery? I want to read intelligent think pieces on the film, but honestly I'm just ready to see the film for myself. Friday can't come soon enough.

Dammit... is the score out yet? I want to hear the score.

With films you never now. Irreversible is a very homophobic film full of violence and with a very uncofortable rape scene (the gay guy who is very bad feel in the mood to rape Monica Bellucci) and it was sell as high art

This is perhaps the money shot from the New Yorker review.

[quote]Here’s the deal. “Joker” is not a great leap forward, or a deep dive into our collective unconscious, let alone a work of art. It’s a product. All the pre-launch rumblings, the rants and the raves, testify to a cunning provocation, and, if we yield to it, we’re not joining a debate; we’re offering our services, unpaid, to the marketing department at Warner Bros. When Dalí and Buñuel made “L’Âge d’Or” (1930), they wanted to start a riot, and they succeeded, but “Joker” yearns for little more than a hundred op-ed pieces and a firestorm of tweets. With ticket sales, naturally, to match.

r129 I would call the review medium-spoilery.

R131 I'm sorry but why would they disinvite the press or cancel interviews if they were selling outrage? A film like this was already front loaded on the comic property and Joaquin Pheonix. I don't buy it for one second, just as I don't mind the effort to tank the Rotten Tomatoes score for Captain Marvel a work of the studio. Is there any proof that reviewers were paid to write a negative review? If true that they are trolling us about this, then one could only reasonably come to the conclusion that their in the business of manufacturing outrage.

[quote] just as I don't mind the effort to tank the Rotten Tomatoes score

Don't think

[quote]He actually said that getting into the character of The Joker, took a heavy toll on his mental well being.

I remember Ledger saying that and I thought it was so silly. He played a character from a fucking comic book and that was upsetting to him? I wonder if that was just part of the pre-film hype.

[quote]Pheonix, this douche-string director, and their elk obviously have their heads firmly planted up their collective asses

Who is their elk? Is he related to DL’s Christmas Moose?

You fuckers don't know what 'far left' looks like.

A few days ago, some queen basically tried to argue me into seeing this cinematic incel shit; dismissed every published critique I referenced.

Sorry, I don't pay money for scenery-chewing or the work of asshole directors.

Joker Is a Movie for People Who Want to Blame Everyone Else

-

Joker is incidental to the movement around him. It's kind of incredible how inessential he is to the biggest thing happening in his own movie. The class war doesn't need him, and the film depicting that class war doesn't seem interested in understanding it. Instead, it makes Arthur Fleck, a delusional man with a vague mental illness, a mouthpiece decrying the end of civility and a surfeit of institutional neglect that leaves the disenfranchised with no option but violence. Tellingly, Joker has no interest in any disenfranchised characters beyond Fleck and the superficial, retrograde depiction of his illness.

In fact, Fleck spends much of Joker laboring under the dead-eyed stares of the disenfranchised, a small host of black Gothamites working thankless jobs in underpaid clerical work, riding mass transit, living in housing projects. We're never given any insight into their interior lives; they're entirely omitted from Joker's depiction of class struggle. Instead, they're symbolic of society's indifference, when anyone with half a damn brain would recognize that they've been left out in the cold too.

[quote] In fact, Fleck spends much of Joker laboring under the dead-eyed stares of the disenfranchised, a small host of black Gothamites working thankless jobs in underpaid clerical work, riding mass transit, living in housing projects. We're never given any insight into their interior lives; they're entirely omitted from Joker's depiction of class struggle. Instead, they're symbolic of society's indifference, when anyone with half a damn brain would recognize that they've been left out in the cold too.

For god's sake, the film is called the Joker. Why do we need to explore the interior lives of "black Gothatmites". We spend enough time with the other clowns as it is.

Yes, R140, because the struggles of deranged sociopathic white men gets so little coverage...

I just saw it. Best film all year but I've loved the crazies of the Batman mythos since Catwoman in Batman 2. So many provincials in this thread who want white to be a dirty word.

R141 We can agree on one thing. It doesn't get a disproportionate amount of coverage considering the fact that mental illness and drug addiction are not just a white problem.

We can agree on one thing. It does get a disproportionate amount of coverage considering the fact that mental illness and drug addiction are not just a white problem.