By Godwinna Koroma-Coker
November 13, 2019
Joaquin Phoenix as Joker.
Joker, directed by Todd Phillips, has taken a lot of heat from moviegoers. With so many “love it or hate it” reactions, I needed to see it for myself to see what all the fuss was about.
Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is a lonely and pathetic loser. He lives in Gotham with his mother, Penny Fleck (Frances Conroy), in her stuffy apartment sometime in the 1980s. Penny, clearly not in a healthy state of mind, believes that Arthur’s purpose is to bring joy and laughter to the world. He suffers a mental condition that causes him to laugh uncontrollably at the worst moments.This condition unfortunately is the cause of many of Arthur’s problems. He develops a crush on his neighbor, Sophie (Zazie Beetz) based an interaction that lasted about 5 seconds. Arthur’s main goal in the film is to become a comedian, which he pursues by studying his favorite generic TV host, Murray, or as Arthur would say “Murr-ahy,” Franklin (Robert De Niro). Sadly, the closest thing he can get to being a comedian is a job as a clown in typical clown makeup and outfit, twirling a sign which causes him to get beat up by a group of teen thugs.
After watching many pre-release trailers, I knew that Joker would be extremely different than previous comic book-based movies, but I wasn't prepared for how different. Let me be clear: Joker is not part of the superhero film genre. It’s in a league of its own.
The film is heavily based on society’s impact on others and whether society is to blame for the problems of others. Arthur believes that he and the many other troubled of Gotham are a product of society's neglect on the mentally ill and that society “made him that way,” which sparks a city-wide protest.
As an audience member, I found myself sympathizing with parts of Arthur. Seeing him suffer from his disorder and the only thing somewhat keeping him sane was his medicine that was cut off due to lack of government funding was heart wrenching. But it is Philips’ portrayal of a character that strays from the rules of human ethics and morality, making viewers question if we are supposed to sympathize with Arthur, but hate the Joker, blurring the line between the two, and to letting us decide for ourselves at what point Arthur goes too far, is what made me love this film.
Phoenix's acting is electrifying. With every action, he brought the Joker to life in every way possible. His interpretation of the Joker’s laugh is enough to win an Oscar on its own. Joker is a must watch for anyone interested in serious filmmaking.
Report abuse