Joker
My family and I went to see the new Joker movie, starring Joaquin Phoenix, this Saturday. After seeing it, I texted my sister and told her, "You have to see this movie." So I saw it again with her on Sunday. Obviously, I was quite impressed with what I saw. Not only was Phoenix's portrayal of the broken Arthur Fleck extraordinary (I have heard it described as feral. I like to use the adjective raw), but the movie takes on some important issues. In this post, I am just going to list some of the ideas I came away with after watching Joker. I have no doubt this movie will find its way into my bigger writing projects.
The first issue addressed by Joker that came to my mind was the effect of bullying. Now, granted Arthur Fleck is an adult, but he is an adult who is vulnerable because of his mental illness. He is misunderstood. And he is bullied by everyone around him. He is bullied by those he works with who consider him a freak. He is bullied by people who do not understand his "cents" of humor (this is a direct nod to a line in the movie). He is bullied by strangers who beat him up (twice) because he is different. He is even bullied by his mother.
This leads to an issue addressed in Joker that I did not think of until the movie ended. Arthur Fleck's mother has narcissistic personality disorder. Even before this is revealed toward the end of the movie, there are subtle clues. For example, Penny Fleck expects her son to take care of her. She plays on his sympathies in order to control him and keep him from leading a healthy life.
Another issue that is so important to the movie (and one that I write about regularly) is the results of classism. Arthur Fleck becomes a hero to those living in poverty in Gotham because he is a symbol of standing against the classism of the wealthy. In one part of the movie, Thomas Wayne, usually the fallen hero of Gotham, remarks that those who have not made anything of themselves are looked down upon by those who have made something of themselves because of clowns like the Joker. This spurs the poor of Gotham to don clown masks and riot against those who supposedly want to help them but really just want to turn them into carbon copies of the wealthy. This particular message in Joker coincides so well with the current research I am doing to continue my classism research. More to come on that later.
Joker is one of those movies that made a deep impact on me. It is really less like a comic book movie and more like a real-world movie that the Joker symbolizes all too well. I recommend it.
The first issue addressed by Joker that came to my mind was the effect of bullying. Now, granted Arthur Fleck is an adult, but he is an adult who is vulnerable because of his mental illness. He is misunderstood. And he is bullied by everyone around him. He is bullied by those he works with who consider him a freak. He is bullied by people who do not understand his "cents" of humor (this is a direct nod to a line in the movie). He is bullied by strangers who beat him up (twice) because he is different. He is even bullied by his mother.
This leads to an issue addressed in Joker that I did not think of until the movie ended. Arthur Fleck's mother has narcissistic personality disorder. Even before this is revealed toward the end of the movie, there are subtle clues. For example, Penny Fleck expects her son to take care of her. She plays on his sympathies in order to control him and keep him from leading a healthy life.
Another issue that is so important to the movie (and one that I write about regularly) is the results of classism. Arthur Fleck becomes a hero to those living in poverty in Gotham because he is a symbol of standing against the classism of the wealthy. In one part of the movie, Thomas Wayne, usually the fallen hero of Gotham, remarks that those who have not made anything of themselves are looked down upon by those who have made something of themselves because of clowns like the Joker. This spurs the poor of Gotham to don clown masks and riot against those who supposedly want to help them but really just want to turn them into carbon copies of the wealthy. This particular message in Joker coincides so well with the current research I am doing to continue my classism research. More to come on that later.
Joker is one of those movies that made a deep impact on me. It is really less like a comic book movie and more like a real-world movie that the Joker symbolizes all too well. I recommend it.
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