From bad reviews and overlooked introspections of the human condition, Joker’s reception highlighted how audiences don’t want to think anymore. As a film lover and over-thinker, I think the film did a great job at highlighting how what we see as a villain and what we perceive as evil is a complex thing with multiple dimensions.
In the 2019 movie Joker, directed by Todd Phillips from a screenplay he co-wrote with Scott Silver, we’re introduced to the on-screen backstory of the Joker, played by Joaquin Phoenix. Prior to this film, Batman fans knew the Joker as the bane to Batman’s existence and Harley Quinn’s over-demanding and psychotic boyfriend. The Joker was a true menace to society who would always find a way to escape the grasps of the law. Unphased and lacking a moral compass, he was the iconic villain.
In the 2019 movie, audiences were invited to understand his motivations and backstory. By showing us the heart-breaking experience of Arthur Fleck, we’re asked to understand a man who suffered in a society that disregarded his mental health needs. As we witness the effects of his experience with a broken mother figure and his experiences of bullying both verbally and physically, the 2019 film sets us up to view him as a helpless individual with limited choice.
What connected me to his character was his child-like interaction with the world and particularly his pursuit of self-help as he confronted reality. I found myself sympathising with him and seeing a lot of the experiences of myself and others in society, until I was left understanding the complexity of his villainy. Are we all just one choice away from being found guilty until proven innocent?
In the sequel film Joker: Folie a Deux, we get the sense of a real, deeper, and truer exploration of the implications of a villainised individual both internally and externally. From the very beginning of the film, we’re introduced to the complexity of the human condition and how perception can be easily defined by one choice to speak into the mic. I enjoyed the opening animated sequence, showing a psychological battle with the shadow that holds our darkest desires. It sets the tone for an artistic exploration of madness and it foreshadows the film’s use of music and theatrical elements to explore the internal reception and perception of the character’s experience. I was left investigating the subtle signs connecting reality and the mental through song lyrics, character dynamics and the overtones and undertones of performance.
Throughout the film, we still see the conflicting role that Arthur Fleck plays in being the Joker. There’s a real separation between who others want him to be and who he is through the stillness of his tone and pace in interaction with characters such as the officers, his lawyer, and Harley (Lady Gaga). He struck me as a well-contained manifestation of his lived experiences.
The series of events between him and Harley highlighted how the inner workings of his mind as Arthur and reality as the Joker relied upon each other to subsequently justify and contextualise both his and the role of others in action and existence. From love at first sight, which became the justification of existence, to his later conscious acknowledgment of the shift in power dynamics in his mind. The juxtaposition between theatricality and the film’s portrayal of reality helped us see a clearer picture of characters such as Harley, who further signposted Arthur’s character to make meaning through her manipulation and idealisation of the Joker.
The trial of Arthur acted as a perfect climax where different perceptions and desires came to battle in what felt like an incubator. It felt like I went into the trial with Arthur as an additional part of his emotions like in Inside Out, but the sense of being locked out gave an interesting depth to the film. And when it ultimately all blew up and the dust settled, both during his performance in the defence of himself and when a further reality intervened, the explosive transition left me with a lot to contemplate.
One thing that struck me as different to most films was the ending. It felt like the film had broken this 10th dimensional fourth wall and was asking me whether this could realistically exist in the world of Batman and Gotham City. Accompanied by the chilling laughter of a new villain in the making, I couldn’t help but wonder whether the director’s acknowledgement of the differentiation of the Joker from its host meant that the character’s duplicity was a signal to accept something darker in the structuring of heroes and villains in Gotham City.
Joker: Folie a Deux is in UK cinemas now. To read more, check out our article on the Joker 2 box office and why movies need to stop pretending they aren't musicals.
0 Comments