"I used to think that my life was a tragedy, but now I realize, it's a comedy."
The Joker is a character throughout fiction whose name is almost synonymous with evil, chaos, anarchy, and insanity. No sane person would ever describe him as "sympathetic" or "humane". But with Joaquin Phoenix, those are the words you would use to describe Arthur Fleck; gone is the anarchistic evil-genius who wants to watch Gotham burn, replaced by a weak, damaged man who just simply wants to fit in, to be accepted for who he is. Joker is not a "comic book movie"; it's a social commentary to raise awareness of people with mental illness and how horrible society is still treating them overall. A big contributing factor to this of course, is the drastically changed character of Joker.
The Joker has always had a consistent character: he's a psychotic genius and a leading figure in Gotham's criminal underworld who is obsessed with plunging Gotham into chaos; his backstory is also generally consistent: a criminal who becomes disfigured and insane after falling into a vat of toxic chemicals. But Joaquin Phoenix's Joker was created in a toxic society that didn't care about him or didn't attempt to understand him. It's like Arthur says, "Everybody's awful these days. It's enough to make anyone crazy". In the film, Arthur's laughter is involuntary. He suffers from a brain damage that causes a neurological disorder similar to tourette syndrome that forces him to laugh at uncontrollable times. This makes him a social outcast because despite his card explaining his condition, no one cares about him. Everybody just treats him like he's a freak and expects him to "normal" like everyone else. Arthur is clearly angry and saddened about this, as he writes, "The worst part of having a mental illness is people expect you to behave as if you don't" in his notebook of jokes.
What's interesting about this Joker is that Arthur didn't really cause most of the violence on purpose. He triggered a series of violent events that was essentially caused by an act of self-defence (sort of). I did like it though that he began to lose more and more of his humanity as he went on but still retained some of it at the end. This is very obvious as while Arthur does kill people mercilessly, his murder of them is not without reason (to an extent). Everyone that Arthur kills has objectively been cruel to him (the Wayne Workers, his abusive mother, the co-worker that got him fired, and Murray who mocked him on TV). He even says "I killed those guys because they were awful". And they were. Those people he killed were awful people; especially the Wayne workers. They were well-off, entitled people. Arthur even makes a statement about the imbalance between the wealthy and the poor: "Ugh, why is everybody so upset about these guys? If it was me dying on the sidewalk you'd walk right over me! I pass you everyday and you don't notice me! But these guys? Well because Thomas Wayne would cry about them on TV?"
It is true that people only cared about the Wayne employees because they were rich and because they were "normal" and "successful". The disparity between the wealthy and the poor is so big, and Arthur's right when he says "Everybody just yells and screams at each other. Nobody's civil anymore. Nobody thinks what it's like to be the other guy. You think men like Thomas Wayne ever think what it's like to be someone like me? To be somebody but themselves? They don't." While I won't agree or disagree, I won't deny that there isn't some truth to this comment; that maybe we don't care enough about "the other guy" like Arthur.
Political commentary aside, I can't finish this blog without commenting on the fantastic acting from Joaquin Phoenix. I had only seen him in Gladiator (2000) and Hotel Rwanda (2004), so while I knew he was a great actor, I didn't expect this amount of mastery going in. Phoenix's highlight scenes in this film are his laughs. Like previously mentioned, Phoenix's Joker laughs because of some sort of muscle disorder caused by brain damage, meaning that he can't control his laughter. Not only does he have the laughter down perfectly, but he also shows the immense pain Joker is going through so painfully well. You can see the pain in the rest of his face when he laughs and it becomes very hard to watch sometimes when a sob breaks out of the laughter once in a while, reminding you that this is a man in horrible pain. In nearly every line he says, you can hear pain and sadness and even anger towards a society that "abandons him and treats him like trash", and it makes you wonder if those people really did what they deserved because we finally get to see what it's like to be "the other guy". I can 100% see an Oscar nomination for Best Actor and Best Picture, and even though I think Phoenix would deserve an Oscar for this role, he's against very tough competition this year with Taron Egerton (Rocketman), Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), and a number of other actors who I'm sure is just as deserving.
WARNING: THE NEXT PARAGRAPH DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS, SO PLEASE SKIP TO MY CONCLUDING THOUGHTS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM YET.
This really has nothing to with the actual review, but I have a little theory that everything that happens after Murray's death (and perhaps a good portion of the film) is all in Arthur's mind. It is obvious that Arthur IS an unreliable narrator; he imagined being with Sophie (which took up a good portion of the film), and is prone to "fantasies". I think that much of the movie is an exaggeration of Arthur's mind. For example, it feels very silly to think that just because someone in a clown mask killed three affluent men, the city begins to fall into anarchy. I think that while there were "Clown Protests" going on, it was nowhere near as severe as the film out to be. At the most, I think it was just a small group of angry fanatics protesting against the corrupt Gotham.
However, I do think that Joker DID kill Murray, but much of that is likely exaggerated; Arthur suddenly becomes very "normal" and courageous: he dances like he never could before, he outrageously kisses one of the other guests without repercussions, and he no longer laughs uncontrollably. While the interview definitely DID happen and Arthur DID kill Murray, I think that the interview is an idealized version of what Arthur wishes the interview would have been like. The fact that other stations report Murray's death IS proof that the "execution" DID happen, but I think that Arthur was simply arrested and taken to Arkham State; he was never saved, he never did the bloody smile with that almost ridiculously large mob of people around him. And that's why other's laughing at the end. He IS the joke. He's not this great leader of revolution he believes himself to be through his delusions; he's just a crazy man who started a small movement that maybe did cause the death of the Wayne, but overall had no effect on society. His life is a comedy; a tragic comedy. His life is still a tragedy; he just chooses to see it as a comedy.
THE SPOILERS HAVE ENDED, YOU MAY CONTINUE READING.
What more do I have to say? I absolutely love character studies, movies that revolve about mental illness and psychology, and the Joker has also been one of my all-time favourite fictional characters. The slow pacing really worked to build Arthur Fleck as a character in this movie, the plot was definitely something realistic enough that we could sympathize with Arthur, but at the same time detached ever so slightly enough that it wouldn't incite any serious conflict in real life. Joaquin Phoenix delivered the best acting I've ever seen from an actor; hats off to Mr. Phoenix for bringing life to a Joker that is such radically different, yet will be immortalized next to the other greats such as Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamill, and Heath Ledger. Joker receives a 5/5.
What's interesting about this Joker is that Arthur didn't really cause most of the violence on purpose. He triggered a series of violent events that was essentially caused by an act of self-defence (sort of). I did like it though that he began to lose more and more of his humanity as he went on but still retained some of it at the end. This is very obvious as while Arthur does kill people mercilessly, his murder of them is not without reason (to an extent). Everyone that Arthur kills has objectively been cruel to him (the Wayne Workers, his abusive mother, the co-worker that got him fired, and Murray who mocked him on TV). He even says "I killed those guys because they were awful". And they were. Those people he killed were awful people; especially the Wayne workers. They were well-off, entitled people. Arthur even makes a statement about the imbalance between the wealthy and the poor: "Ugh, why is everybody so upset about these guys? If it was me dying on the sidewalk you'd walk right over me! I pass you everyday and you don't notice me! But these guys? Well because Thomas Wayne would cry about them on TV?"
It is true that people only cared about the Wayne employees because they were rich and because they were "normal" and "successful". The disparity between the wealthy and the poor is so big, and Arthur's right when he says "Everybody just yells and screams at each other. Nobody's civil anymore. Nobody thinks what it's like to be the other guy. You think men like Thomas Wayne ever think what it's like to be someone like me? To be somebody but themselves? They don't." While I won't agree or disagree, I won't deny that there isn't some truth to this comment; that maybe we don't care enough about "the other guy" like Arthur.
Political commentary aside, I can't finish this blog without commenting on the fantastic acting from Joaquin Phoenix. I had only seen him in Gladiator (2000) and Hotel Rwanda (2004), so while I knew he was a great actor, I didn't expect this amount of mastery going in. Phoenix's highlight scenes in this film are his laughs. Like previously mentioned, Phoenix's Joker laughs because of some sort of muscle disorder caused by brain damage, meaning that he can't control his laughter. Not only does he have the laughter down perfectly, but he also shows the immense pain Joker is going through so painfully well. You can see the pain in the rest of his face when he laughs and it becomes very hard to watch sometimes when a sob breaks out of the laughter once in a while, reminding you that this is a man in horrible pain. In nearly every line he says, you can hear pain and sadness and even anger towards a society that "abandons him and treats him like trash", and it makes you wonder if those people really did what they deserved because we finally get to see what it's like to be "the other guy". I can 100% see an Oscar nomination for Best Actor and Best Picture, and even though I think Phoenix would deserve an Oscar for this role, he's against very tough competition this year with Taron Egerton (Rocketman), Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), and a number of other actors who I'm sure is just as deserving.
WARNING: THE NEXT PARAGRAPH DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS, SO PLEASE SKIP TO MY CONCLUDING THOUGHTS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM YET.
This really has nothing to with the actual review, but I have a little theory that everything that happens after Murray's death (and perhaps a good portion of the film) is all in Arthur's mind. It is obvious that Arthur IS an unreliable narrator; he imagined being with Sophie (which took up a good portion of the film), and is prone to "fantasies". I think that much of the movie is an exaggeration of Arthur's mind. For example, it feels very silly to think that just because someone in a clown mask killed three affluent men, the city begins to fall into anarchy. I think that while there were "Clown Protests" going on, it was nowhere near as severe as the film out to be. At the most, I think it was just a small group of angry fanatics protesting against the corrupt Gotham.
However, I do think that Joker DID kill Murray, but much of that is likely exaggerated; Arthur suddenly becomes very "normal" and courageous: he dances like he never could before, he outrageously kisses one of the other guests without repercussions, and he no longer laughs uncontrollably. While the interview definitely DID happen and Arthur DID kill Murray, I think that the interview is an idealized version of what Arthur wishes the interview would have been like. The fact that other stations report Murray's death IS proof that the "execution" DID happen, but I think that Arthur was simply arrested and taken to Arkham State; he was never saved, he never did the bloody smile with that almost ridiculously large mob of people around him. And that's why other's laughing at the end. He IS the joke. He's not this great leader of revolution he believes himself to be through his delusions; he's just a crazy man who started a small movement that maybe did cause the death of the Wayne, but overall had no effect on society. His life is a comedy; a tragic comedy. His life is still a tragedy; he just chooses to see it as a comedy.
THE SPOILERS HAVE ENDED, YOU MAY CONTINUE READING.
What more do I have to say? I absolutely love character studies, movies that revolve about mental illness and psychology, and the Joker has also been one of my all-time favourite fictional characters. The slow pacing really worked to build Arthur Fleck as a character in this movie, the plot was definitely something realistic enough that we could sympathize with Arthur, but at the same time detached ever so slightly enough that it wouldn't incite any serious conflict in real life. Joaquin Phoenix delivered the best acting I've ever seen from an actor; hats off to Mr. Phoenix for bringing life to a Joker that is such radically different, yet will be immortalized next to the other greats such as Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamill, and Heath Ledger. Joker receives a 5/5.
So next film review will be about an actor that has been my favourite for many years. It was watching him that sparked my interest in acting. Even though he is no longer with us, he is still an inspiration to me; he is my Captain. As always, thank you for reading my blog, and I always will enjoy hearing from all of you, so if you have any comments, feedbacks, opinions, suggestions, etc., please feel free to comment, and I WILL respond to ALL comments!
P.S. Also I AM aware that all of my posts have been very, VERY positive with the scores (my last two along with this one and the next one had a 5/5). Don't worry, I will actually actively criticize things too. I just wanted to write some positive things about movies & books that I really love.
