In Regards to Joker ~ Nick Ventresca

About a year ago, I heard that they were making a movie about the Joker. As an expert in all things dorky, I couldn't be more ecstatic. With Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker in 2008's The Dark Knight easily being one of the most iconic comic book movie roles of all time, a movie focused entirely around the "clown prince of crime" was sure to be one for the books.

As time went on and more information about the film and some behind-the-scenes footage were slowly released, the hype for this film was growing. I specifically remember being on the internet a few months ago after it was announced that the film would be
rated R. People were beyond thrilled hearing this news. Fans were excited for what they claimed would be an "accurate representation" of the legendary villain. At this point I was sure, I would be seeing this film.

Now when the movie came out, my family was busy with quite a few things at the time. However, I was careful to avoid spoilers so my enjoyment of the film wouldn't be soiled by inconsiderate internet-users trying to ruin someone's day. As the weeks went on and more and more time passed between the film's release, I had friends and family talking about how the movie was, "really good" and "super messed up" (super specific guys, great job). Yet these vague descriptions that gave little to no information did nothing but increase my excitement levels. Finally about a week or two ago, my dad and I were able to find some time to see the movie.

So I watched it, and it was...something.

Let's backtrack for a moment. A week before I saw the film, the internet was once again buzzing with news of the film. It had officially become the first R-rated film to make over one billion dollars in the box office. In this category of films was also Deadpool 2, another comic book movie that was filled with action sequences and much more vulgar language than your typical superhero movie. Yet this film made 300 million dollars less than Joker, a film that made a point to emphasize the lack of large CGI action sequences. Not only was this film, topical but also brought in the box-office revenue to back it up.

Though after watching the film, I was left with only one question; Why? Why was this film so successful? Why did people continually take time out of their days to see this film over all of the other entertainment options available to them? This film was wrong on so many levels. There were uncomfortable amounts of graphic violence displayed throughout the film, and seeing the thought process of this deranged individual made me worried about the people surrounded by the film's titular character. I suppose that the closest thing I could compare watching this film to was when you're watching a horror movie and you want to scream at the character's not to go into the cursed mansion where there was a murder and just get into their cars and drive away. It was this sense of urgency for the character's well-being that was felt whenever Phoenix's character was speaking to anyone.

Despite how disturbing this film was, I liked it. I thought the actors played their roles flawlessly, the directing was fantastic, and most importantly, the film felt real. It felt as though this could be another one of those increasingly popular documentaries featuring murderers and sociopaths that can be found nearly all hours of the day. I thought the film was great, and yet I was worried.

I was worried about what this means for the future of entertainment. This movie grossed a ridiculous amount of money, yet it focused on a character that is iconic for his sadistic methods of murder and villainy and it didn't sugar-coat this aspect of his character at all. The film capitalizes on it and makes his psychotic antics some of the film's high-points. There were times that I found myself rooting for this character even though I was fully cognisant of the fact that what he was doing was wrong. I wasn't the only one in this position either. One of the film's more memorable moments [SPOILERS AHEAD] was when a much shorter character is unable to open a door that would allow for his escape from the Joker. People in the theatre were laughing at this moment, and I was horrified. While yes, it was slightly humorous, I refused to let myself laugh at this moment of pure fear being shown by the character, not because of it's lack of humor but because of what I feared my laughter at this scene would show about me.

It was at this moment I realized what this film was. This film was the glorification of a mentally ill individual taking his frustration out on the corrupt societal system that didn't allow for him to receive any of the help that he needed. The film was wrong and yet hundreds of thousands of people, myself included, took the time out of our lives to watch this movie. What does that say about our society that we allow a film such as this to be so successful? Are there people out there that sympathized with Joaquin Phoenix's character and felt that his atrocious actions were justified? Why did I even want to go to this film when I knew that it was going to be messed up?

At the end of the day, I think this film deserved the success it got, even though that worries me. I also think that Hollywood has to avoid to continue to glorify psychopaths in these films and others (for example, the Ted Bundy biopic starring Zac Effron) to avoid the normalization of these actions. I believe that this film did not do the best job of criticizing the Joker's actions, and left that job up to the audience, whom I believe may idolize his actions, much like some of the characters in the film. In summary, the movie was great but may have put the actions of the main character on a pedestal that I'm worried viewers will idolize rather than despise.