Re: The Movie Spoiler Thread. You've Been Warned
Now that I've slept on it my opinion hasn't changed much. I'm still not sure if I want to see this again. When I watch something like Schindler's List there are parts I skip because they're too heartbreaking to see but I love the overall story: A pro-Nazi war profiteer becomes a savior to over 1000 people. This story has no such redemptive arc. Even in the final frames of the film Joker is still killing people.
The larger question for society that I've seen debated far and wide is how people will react to this movie. In particular, how will people with different political viewpoints see this.
The Left: Joker portrays an Incel as sympathetic. Sorry, but that's what he is. A single, white, under-employed man who lives with his mother; fantasizes about killing people and imagines himself some great Romeo. Sound familiar? It should.
The Right: Joker glorifies violence against the wealthy and exaggerates the class divide. The Hollywood Elite should stick to stories about heroes and leave the fake social commentary to the braindead talking heads on cable news.
The reality is that they're both right. And both wrong. Yes, we can sympathize with Arthur Fleck. Manipulated and betrayed by his mother, beaten by bullies, ignored by strangers and just treated like trash by...everybody. Admit it. When he shot those Wall Street brokers it felt good. They deserved it. They were going to assault that woman until they were distracted by his laugh and she escaped. They ridiculed him. They beat him and might have left him for dead until he flipped and started shooting them. And that felt good. It felt like justice. Let's be real, if we were in a court of law, who would believe three rich upstanding citizens were beating him up after almost raping a woman? No one. We know it wouldn't happen. So when he shoots them it was karma. They got what was coming to them. The movie has successfully manipulated you to the point you are cheering for the bad guy. And that is where many people will check out. They won't be able to accept it. We've cheered for the villain before, but there was a side to Tony Soprano and Walter White and Cersei Lannister that made them someone we could respect, even admire; even if what they did turned our stomachs. There is no redeeming quality to Arthur Fleck. He smothers his hospitalized mother, he imagines a relationship with a neighbor, he kills a co-worker. He has no admirable qualities.
What I hope we can do is turn this disturbing film into an opportunity to have a discussion. Yes, this is dark. Yes, this is disturbing. This is also an accurate depiction of our society. We have Incels walking around with guns. There is a divide between the wealthy and the rest of 'us.' Should we as a society pay for services like the doctor Arthur Fleck sees or not? And what are the repercussions? We should embrace this as a chance to further the debate. I doubt that will happen. It's too uncomfortable, too difficult. Easier to just dismiss this as dangerous fantasy or the work of the liberal Hollywood Elite and move on to the next story.
