Is Todd Phillips’s ‘Joker’ as Dangerous as the Internet Represents Him?

Have you watched Joker, directed by Todd Phillips? Despite the film winning the Golden Lion at the Venice film festival, there have been a lot of negative comments on the release.

Some viewers consider Joker to be toxic and exaggerating. Some would call it violent or rebellious. Other viewers think that film is a biting comment on the ruling class. This movie has everything – danger, rebellion, and outrage.

Joker is a black comedy completely different from previous Phillips’ releases (The Hangover franchise). At the center of the film is Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), who is living in Gotham City around 1981. The exact period of the piece is not provided, but we can conclude it from the context of the story.

Arthur lives with his mother and works as a clown for hire. At the same time, he suffers from a rare condition that causes an outburst of laughter at inappropriate moments. He dreams about appearing on a late-night talk show hosted by Robert De Niro (in the role of Murray Franklin). During the film, Arthur falls into a psychosis, and he soon realizes his talent for violence rather than comedy and starts behaving accordingly.

There’s not a lot charming people in the film, unlike the folks who run Vera&John That might be because the film takes place well before the Internet started, which, of course, could have changed Arthur’s life had it been around. But since this is an “origin” story, all bets are off , except at Vera&John.

Despite all the violence and craziness in the movie, there is one constant: Arthur’s laugh, which comes to its fruition at the end of the film..

According to Phillips:

“That laugh in that scene is really the only time he laughs genuinely,” Phillips said to the LA Times. “There is the laugh from Arthur’s affliction and then there is his fake laugh when he’s trying to be ‘one of the people’, which is my favorite laugh. But at the end, when he’s in the room at Arkham State Hospital, that’s his only genuine laugh in the movie.”

Joker reminds viewers of similar offbeat and dark releases. For example, we can point to films such as the Death Wish series, Star Wars, The French Connection, The King of Comedy and the amazing Taxi Driver. Joker also reminds us of a previous Phillips’ release – The Hangover and one of its main characters, Alan (played by Zach Galifianakis). Alan has the role of a dysfunctional figure who doesn’t even know how  to pronounce the word retard.

Joker has some weird elements. Some viewers have observed a clock several times that was showing 11:11. It appears at three points in the movie and raises the curiosity of viewers There are suggestions about the hidden meaning of the number: “awakening of the soul” or Biblical interpretations. However, the director noticed:

“It’s a coincidence. No, I mean, I don’t know. I think it’s a coincidence.”

 

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