The Joker, a Psycho Movie

The Joker is a movie set in place in the 80s that was published in 2019 and directed by Todd Philips. Todd Philips has directed many movies that have become household names such as the hangover trilogy or even the blockbuster movie, War dogs. War dogs which is a movie that is on my list of supposedly great movie I need to watch. The main actor is the great Joaquin Phoenix. Joaquin phoenix is known for his part in Gladiator and more recently, for his part in the movie Napoleon. This movie is particular for his role as the whole movie follows him and there is no other focus than him. There are very few scenes that do not follow him. This introduces us to the style of the movie that wants us to feel immersed in his life. The movie received criticism very early for being “crazy” and almost defending the character. Personally I think that that is the strength of the movie, the fact that since we follow his complex life in a dystopic world where no-one has ever been nice to him makes us feel like society is what created the monster. This introduces the idea of a opposition view. 

By an opposition view I mean that all the batman saga movies focus on batman and tell us that Joker, Bane and all other villains are simply ill and bad. However in this movie Todd Philips wanted to focus on the other side of the equation. We notice this in the first catalyst scene where the Joker kills the rich finance friends. The idea of opposing social status where the Finance workers feel empowered to harass a lone girl on the train and make fun of the seemingly gentle Joker who has a disability. We notice this concept of social level when the Joker is kicked out of the Wayne Mansion. The rich feel like no-one can challenge their supposed rights. However we, as viewers, are placed in the head of the “Crazy Lunatic” that shows his day-to-day and the way that he unintentionally creates a social movement of people criticizing the “rich society”. Thus introducing the theme of ethics and the battle for good. 

The theme of good and the ethical implications of the joker is what sets this movie apart from other dystopic movies. The moment where I personally stopped feeling empathy for the character is when he started to plot his vengeance. He had lost this idea of “killing” a man and destroying a life. During the first murder he feels bad and he hides his emotion yet when being interrogated by police he almost owns up to it. Since he had always been looking for that fame he loses this concept of destruction which leads to his self-destruction. This is particularly apparent when he is saved by his fellow protesters who kill the police officers leading his convey. When he steps onto the car he truly embodies the character of a man who has lost all reason and has only one thought, to kill and destroy in order to remain popular and stay important. When writing this sentence I cannot help but make the link to what social media has down to us as a society, influencer will do anything to cling onto this concept of fame and importance which is only present due to a follower count. In a way this dystopic world is not far from us.