Curious to know what people thought of the Joker 2019 movie. I was skeptical at first. I was debating whether or not I should watch it. I used to think the Joker didn't need an origin story because i felt he was more mysterious that way. When i thought about it, he had one in the Killing Joke so heās not that mysterious. That's why i watched Joker, even if i wished another villain would have his/her own movie. I didnāt think this movieās Joker would be on the same level as Heath Ledgerās Joker. I was mind-blown by this movie and my expectations were blown away. This movie tackled some deep issues like society's hypocrisy, lies about equality, child abuse, mental illness, etc. I was shocked at some scenes which crossed some boundaries. What made this movie great was how it didn't just tell the story of how a crook fell in a vat of chemicals and became the Joker. It made me think about alot. It had loads of emotion and some ambiguity. When the Joker laughs after a tragedy, it's hard to tell if he's laughing or crying.
The scenes about mental illness spoke some harsh truths about how mentally ill people are treated today. Hence, why Arthur Fleck wrote in his notebook āthe worst part about mental illness are people expecting you to behave as if you donāt have one.ā Arthur Fleck tried hard to get help for his mental illness, but it seemed like society showed no support. They donāt want to acknowledge mental illness exists much less understand it. Itās as if people just want the mentally ill to be locked up in a mental institution and be done with it.
It also had some harsh truths about equality. Society cares more about status than about equality. The poor are expendable.
People criticized it for its violence, but I think they were disturbed. Because there was no Batman, we had no one to look to as a savior. The movie forced us to look at ourselves and our relationship with people like the Joker. It raises disturbing questions like how much of a role we play in creating someone like the Joker and how accurate are his perceptions? Throughout the film, it was hard to tell if the Joker was seeing things correctly or just being delusional.
People criticized the film for this Joker not fully embracing the evil and chaos in him like say Heath Ledgerās Joker. I donāt think this criticism is valid. People forget this is a different Joker before he became THE Joker. Thatās why its an origin story. I was about to criticize this Joker for his lack of clever punchlines and criminal schemes but realized thatās the point. The Joker was a failed comedian trying to get by in the world. He didnāt have any intention to turn to a life of crime. We see a very vulnerable side of the Joker thatās not there in most Batman films.
It had some flaws. I disliked how the laughing and references to Taxi driver were a bit overdone. I also thought the Jokerās love interest didnāt need to be there. It was not how i imagined it would be. I thought the comicās version of the Jokerās wife made more of an impact than Jokerās girlfriend. I thought the film couldāve been much darker had it taken a different approach with his love interest based on the comics. I disliked how some songs like those of Frank Sinatra didnāt fit well with the theme of the film.
Perhaps the movieās biggest flaw was how it focused too much on the Jokerās mental illness rather than his emotional turmoil. I was expecting to see a blend of emotions and mental illness. Lots of people have already included hallucinations or the āreality vs. fantasyā motif in films on mental illness. Itās become too cliche. The film couldāve been more powerful if it stuck to creating drama while balancing out the Jokerās mental illness.
Nonetheless, I loved it and highly recommend it to any fan of the Joker.