The ‘Joker’ Controversy
Joker, directed by Todd Phillips and starring Joaquin Phoenix, hit theaters this weekend. The film previously won the Golden Lion awards at Venice Film Festival, but has otherwise been getting some very mixed reviews. The reason why: there is currently a massive Joker controversy. If you haven’t been following the film media outlets or the #BoycottJoker hashtag on Twitter, here is a very short explanation of the situation.
There are two points raised.
Point one is the general public fear of seeing Joker because of the 2012 Aurora shooting. Back when The Dark Knight Rises premiered, there was a mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. There were 12 deaths. People are cautious of something like this happening again because of the nature of the new feature and because some authorities have stated that the shooter in Aurora called himself The Joker, leading many to believe he was inspired by the comic-book character.
(This is a legitimate concern and the fear is completely understandable. Be cautious and alert.)
The second point raised is the political nature of Joker. With no spoilers ahead, all we will say is that yes, to some extent, this film does present a certain radical political angle. If one intended to view it from a certain frame, Joker could be viewed as supporting anarchism.
But it doesn’t.
In no way, shape, or form does Joker inspire anarchism. It doesn’t aim to motivate anyone to do crimes. It doesn’t justify it or encourage that in any way. So don’t go into this film wanting to see an anarchism movie because that’s definitely not what it intends to be seen as.
Joker presents a different perspective. It presents a society, it presents what could happen to a society, it’s gritty and raw within its own universe. That universe may or may not be applied to our current world, depending on whether you want or don’t want to apply it. But the Joker does not enforce anything; it’s a film and it exists in its cinematic reality.
Many are using the #BoycottJoker and attempting to cancel this film. Many are refusing to see it because of its political nature. Two problems arise from this. Main one is: it is absolutely ludicrous to state an opinion or advise people on something that you yourself haven’t even seen. You cannot boycott a movie that you haven’t seen. You cannot have an opinion on a film you haven’t seen. Go and watch it – and then you can tweet anything, no opinion is ever wrong. But to form an opinion on something you definitely, undoubtedly, and 100% need to first see that said thing.
The second problem is the fact that Joker is not unlike thousands of other feature films.
The only difference – it’s a wide, mainstream release. So it’s reaching the general public and more people than usual feel the urge to form an opinion on it. But Joker is not different in its ‘political’ nature; it’s not different in the exploration of something corrupted, or the exploration of an antihero.
Why hasn’t there been an #BoycottFightClub? #BoycottAmericanPhycho? #BoycottAmericaHistoryX? Do those films glorify their protagonists like some people claim Joker glorifies its? No, they definitely do not. They are films, and good ones at that. They presents a different perspective to the world and the people living in it. It is not cinema’s job to present morality or teach something; films are stories and stories can be anything. And these are all good stories and should be respected as such.
We encourage you to go see Joker. Because we’ve seen it and we can actually form an opinion on it. It’s a great movie and definitely worth your time. It’s a good mainstream release and those are really, really rare these days. So do see it. If you hate it and think it’s political and encouraging crime, that’s completely your opinion and you are worthy of it. Our opinion is that it doesn’t. But all parties need to see Joker before we can have a discussion around it.
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Some character analysis pieces here.
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— Pouty Boy