Joker is Modern Cinematic Perfection, and Here's Why

Joker may be unfairly controversial, but it’s also an excellent movie

By: Keaton Marcus

PREFACE:

Since this film released in 2019, it has been quite the topic among the film community, and moviegoers in general. There wasn’t any consensus in the people’s overall opinion. Plenty thought it was horrible, some said mediocre, and a vast number of viewers claimed that it was one of the best films in recent years. It took three watches, but on the third, I realized that Joker is unparalleled cinematic perfection. One of the greatest movies of all-time and ultimately perfect in almost every respect. I will try my best to address some of the criticisms in this hopefully condensed analysis.

PREMISE:

Set in 1981, it follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City.

MY OPINION:

Just to begin, I would like to voice my general opinion on the film. Joker is a brilliantly directed, crafted, structured, and especially acted movie. A compelling, haunting drama about a character’s descent into madness and violent revenge against a world that ignored and malnourished him his whole life. The quick and entertaining pacing, the dialogue, the score, and the cinematography perfectly capture a city in decay. It’s understated and without any big special effects that comic book movies normally have. The film is always solely focused on its main character, his journey, and the actor who plays him.

JOAQUIN PHOENIX’S PERFORMANCE:

Speaking of the performance, Joaquin Phoenix is chillingly phenomenal. He keeps your eyes glued to the screen from start to finish. He’s evidently lost plenty of weight for the role, and it pays off. His gaunt face and weirdly misshapen body help, but his mannerisms are what really drives this home. His movements and whole being are something to focus on. I’ve never seen an actor play so many facets of a character simultaneously like this. It’s truly incredible to witness, and Phoenix deserved his Best Actor award. He easily goes from vulnerable, weak, and pathetic to devastated to threatening, murderous and psychotic. One thing you must focus on is his eyes. He doesn’t solely change the look of them, but their very essence is altered multiple times in one moment. The rage, frustration, depression, vulnerability, and vengeance is all in this glorious spotlight of a performance.

THE CHARACTER:

This movie constantly pulls the rug out from under you, catching you off guard, asking viewers to reevaluate and examine who this man really is. It asks you to consider his perspective of the world and society’s view of him. This character is written and crafted so well that even at his most insane and psychotic moments, there’s a core of pain and sadness for him. The fact that you’re able to feel sympathy for this maniac is commendable by itself. When he dances in the bathroom, raves about how society has treated him, he isn’t some calculated, smart psychopath. He’s a wounded, deeply hurt soul taking his issues out on a world he doesn’t yet understand, and which doesn’t understand him.

INCITING VIOLENCE:

This brings me neatly along to not understanding this movie. Upon its release and even leading up to it, some of the social media pounced on the fact that they thought this movie glorified and could possibly incite future violent crimes. Plenty of people who simply don’t grasp this movie or horror films, in general, have claimed that it has glorified violence, inspiring people similar to Arthur Fleck to hit back at society and the world. There have also been issues with his supposed “weird sexual relationship” with his neighbor, but there isn’t anything odd about it. He occasionally fantasizes to be with her, but there isn’t necessarily anything sexual about their encounters. He’s simply longing for human connecting, a companion, a light in his grim world. The revolution incited in the film is the story of the poor and marginalized rising up against their capitalist overlords. No violence in this is actually justified or even glorified in the movie. Both sides, meaning the rich and the poor, are terrible in their treatment of each other. It’s a vicious cycle that eats itself until the city eventually collapses. The people who join Arthur’s revolution are portrayed as angry, murderous thugs who use this uprising as an excuse to spread mass destruction throughout Gotham. They are never once put on a pedestal. On the other hand, the more fortunate people of the city are depicted as arrogant, self-centered, dismissive, and detached from the horrible reality they’re living in.

DERIVATIVE OR INSPIRED?

Joker has also been heavily criticized for being derivative off of Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy. I’m really only half-qualified to address this because I have only seen The King of Comedy at the moment, but let’s give it a whirl from that perspective. First of all, I think Joker is a far superior film, with better writing, acting, and directing. It’s also just more entertaining. While I thought The King of Comedy was a great movie, it dragged in places and wasn’t nearly as appealing to the eye. Robert De Niro was good, but his performance wasn’t anything special. I also think Joker was more inspired than a deliberate copy of this film. It has a few really similar elements, such as having a comedy show, De Niro starring in the film, and Phoenix portraying a character who wants to be famous. In no way, shape or form does that justify actual quality, however. We all take from someone. Scorsese was probably derivative himself. It’s practically impossible to create a wholly original work nowadays. The age of creativity is gone. However, I do believe that Todd Phillips has invented some sort of art-house comic book movie, and it really works.

IN CONCLUSION:

This movie is just simply glorious overall. People argue that it glorifies depravity, the character writing is one-dimensional (I laughed at that criticism) and it blatantly stole from past movies. Hopefully, my arguments have allowed readers to see things from a new perspective despite likely not convincing them to switch sides. Again, the purpose of this was to analyze one of my favorite movies, not tell people to agree with me.