Movie Review #2 - Joker (2019)

In my 2nd ever movie review on this website, I decide to comeback with everyone's favorite villainous clown, Batman's soulmate, the Joker. Happy Halloween!

It’s not everyday that a movie based on a comic book super villain makes headlines for police shutting down screenings of it. "Joker" is a movie that shows how storytelling and character sympathy can have such a profound impact on people that it can lead to fears of real world violence.

But before we get into the movie...let's take it back a bit with some backstory...

The "Joker" (2019) Jokering Jokingly

The Joker is a super villain from the comic book series "Batman", and is the main antagonist to Batman himself. The character of the Joker was created by the collaborative effort of Bob Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Richardson. 

In a 1984 interview, when asked about the comic book character’s creation, Richardson said that he “felt that Batman needed a supreme arch-villain to test him…Batman didn’t need another crime lord like Al Capone. I felt he needed something more exotic…the strip needed an antagonist that would be more enduring; a continuing conflict in the literary tradition of Holmes and Moriarty or King Arthur and Mordred…[the Joker] was a diabolically sinister villain and yet had a clownish aspect. I found the idea of a sinister clown utterly fascinating.”

Originally intended to be killed off after only two appearances in a 1940’s "Batman" comic book issue, the Joker was spared by the editor of the series at the time, Whitney Ellsworth, who thought the character had potential. Throughout the Batman comic book issues, the Joker is established as the reoccurring archenemy of Batman and his sidekick Robin, and subsequently gained popularity as a result.

However, by the mid 1950’s, the Joker began to be portrayed as more of a pranking, neighborhood menace archetype rather than his original, murderous, psychopathic archetype. This is because of an idea that German author and psychiatrist, Frederic Wertham, popularized at the time. Wertham theorized that comic books were to blame for the increased juvenile delinquency and degeneracy in 1950’s youth, especially among young males. 

Wertham reading a comic book. In his 1954 book "Seduction of the Innocent" Wertham claimed that it was comic books, a popular form of literature at the time, that caused kids of that time to be delinquents.  

As a result of comic book backlash from parents and in order to keep their marketability, DC Comics decided to cater their material to children and appropriately steered away from the more mature elements of the older comic books.

By the time Joker was first portrayed on film in the 1966 movie "Batman", he was nothing more than a goofy trickster helping out other villains carry out their dastardly deeds. First played by actor Cesar Romero, the character of the Joker seemed more of a harmless clown than criminal psychopath. Romero’s performance in the film made the Joker seem more whimsical and cartoonish than anything else by using prank gags like an electric shock toy, or making flowers appear out of a magician’s wand.

Cesar Romero as the Joker in the 1966 film adaptation of "Batman". Not the most serious portrayal of Joker on the big screen.

It wasn’t until actor Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of the Joker in the 1989 film "Batman" that the Joker began to be depicted as a homicidal lunatic with a propensity for bleak humor. In other words, a Joker that was true to the original comic book material. Nicholson’s Joker set the foundation for future depictions of the character of the Joker, from his signature Joker laugh, to his tendency to revel in dire, life-or-death situations.

The real OG Joker, sorry Romero, but Jack Nicholson as the Joker in the 1989 film "Batman" is and always will be, the godfather of Jokers.

Joker’s likeness wouldn’t be seen on the silver screen again until the 2008 film "The Dark Knight". In this portrayal of the Joker by actor Heath Ledger, he shows up as an already established, unhinged crime boss complete with henchmen, illegal operations and an ongoing conflict with Batman. Ledger’s Joker, and any other cinematic depiction of the Joker after that, had always shown the comic book character as the well-established super villain bad guy, but it never actually demonstrated how Joker went from regular person to legendary antagonist of Batman.

Heath Ledger as the Joker in the 2008 film "The Dark Knight". Still to this day, my favorite movie ever. However, I have to concede the award for "Best On Screen Portrayal of the Joker" to Joaquin Phoenix. And that's saying something cause Ledger was PHENOMENAL as the Joker in this film.

The 2019 film "Joker" takes the once cartoonish villain and humanizes him in a sinister way. The film centers on Arthur Fleck, played by actor Joaquin Phoenix, who is the man who eventually becomes the film’s titular character, and it depicts Fleck as a deeply flawed human being whose disdain for the way people treat him isn’t completely unjustified. Joker makes the audience question, “Was Fleck simply immoral from the start or was he dealt a bad hand of cards that developed into a bunch of bad moves that led him down the path of super villainy?” 

Phoenix's performance in the film is really the heart of the film. The subtle maniacal  quirks that Phoenix adds to the character of the Joker is what truly cultivates the character as a man who went rogue after having enough of society telling him that he is worthless. In other words, Phoenix makes the Joker seem like any one of us could become the Joker if we were put in a series of unfortunates events like the one portrayed in the film.

Actions such as laughing at jokes at the wrong time or the painting of the tongue during a certain scene in the film is what makes Phoenix's Joker the most emotionally gripping Joker and in this writer's opinion the best on-screen portrayal of the Joker ever.

The problem with other depictions of the Joker in previous films, is the fact that Joker is just inserted in the story because there simply needs to be an antagonist to whoever the protagonist or "good guy" is in the film.

Historically, the Joker served as an agent of chaos, a force that merely shows up to cause havoc until the superhero comes and saves the day. There was no reason as to why the Joker did what he did, why he is the way he is or anything concerning motivation for his actions. There was a little bit of that in Ledger's characterization of the Joker but not enough beyond a tense monologue.

"Joker" is a refreshing film because the audience, after all this time, finally gets to see the villain's perspective. 

Along with Hildur Gudnadottir’s cello-abundant score keeping the tension thick and constant, "Joker" presents a reality where a society that doesn’t care, allows a man with nothing to lose, to rise up among others and become a deranged symbol for fighting back against the wealthy. And through it all, one revelation after another, the audience begins to feel a strange sense of empathy for Fleck. 

In the film, Fleck feels lonely, he feels like all he has are negative thoughts, his social service program just got its funding cut so now he cannot afford his medication and overall he can’t seem to catch a break because of one bad situation after another. The more grievances Fleck encounters in the film, the more it begins to reflect the lives of so many other ordinary, everyday people.

Still from the film "Joker" in which Arthur Fleck, played by actor Joaquin Phoenix, is telling his social service worker about all his woes. Phoenix gives a five star performance as the film's titular character.

According to an article in the New York Post, the United States Army circulated a warning to its personnel about the chance of incel extremists performing mass shootings at screenings of Joker. The article states that “the Army e-mail explained that incels ‘idolize the Joker character, the violent clown from the Batman series’ — an angry loner who turns to violence after too much rejection.” Which illustrates just how much the emotional impact of Joker could have on one person or group of people who can truly relate to the circumstances portrayed in the movie, for better or worse.

The character of the Joker takes humanity’s more taboo traits and amplifies them to an uncomfortable level, to the point, where it seems silly, like it’s one big joke. And it is one big joke until one realizes that within every joke there is a grain of truth. Although grim, the story of Joker in Joker is strangely enchanting all the way through.