Joker Review

5/5

Todd Phillips’ ‘Joker’ portrays the more human and less villainous backstory of the ‘Joker. With clear references to Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and seventies cinema, this takes on a whole new perspective of comic book cinema.

Philips portrays Joker as one of society’s ‘outcasts’ as clichéd and overused as the term may be, the audience really does see a whole new side of the Joker rather than the simplicity of the ‘bad guy’. Arthur Fleck lives with his mother within the chaos and increasing poverty of Gotham, trying his best to become a stand up comedian but is constantly beat down, sometimes literally, which is when things take a turn for the worse.

Arthur is not taken seriously by anyone in Gotham city, not by his employer, not by Murray Franklin, and certainly not by the people who fund social services.

‘All I have are negative thoughts. But you don’t listen.’ Joker, 2019 https://www.moviequotesandmore.com/joker-best-movie-quotes/

Arthur’s counselor tells him the city is cutting funding for social workers, a key moment emphasizing the rich taking what they want from the poor and characters like Thomas Wayne representing “a man of the people” despite taking away basic mental health resources hence making a clear statement that Arthur is not taking his medication.

I am aware that the film received criticism for romanticising or idealising psychotic behaviour or mental health issues. I would argue that this is definitely not the case as stated previously, Arthur was not taking his prescribed drugs due to funding cuts. This is the main theme of the film, a man deprived of prescription medication for his mental health condition because of the selfishness of the rich. I have linked Mark Kermode’s review explaining “woke culture”. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/oct/06/joker-review-joaquin-phoenix-ace-turn

In no way does Joker romanticise mental illness or psychosis, nor does it justify his actions. Joker is a human story of a man beaten down by society. I really like the use of the title ‘Joker’ and not ‘The Joker’ as he is commonly referred to, this humanises him as the film does and simply tells his story through wonderful cinematography and the style of seventies film. This could perhaps redefine comic book cinema as more than just general comic book action. Joaquin phoenix gives an outstanding leading performance that deserves an Oscar nomination.