CinemaCon is happening this week, and lots of new summer and fall films are debuting their new trailers and posters. The new “origin story” (or as Trump would say, Orange Story) for the Joker is coming out in October. This is the one which no one wanted and no one asked for – Joaquin Phoenix stars as Arthur, who becomes the Joker throughout the film. Did you know that the Joker was a kind man who was bullied? Did you know that he had an Oedipal complex? Did you know that he is a just a depressed man underneath all of the clown makeup? Did you know that he likely had repeated head trauma and that’s what turned him into a monster? Seriously, who was asking for the Joker to be humanized and explained? The Joker is terrifying because he’s an agent of chaos with little backstory. He is unknown. Except now he’s not. To be fair, it looks like Joaquin is acting his ass off in this first look trailer. But again, we didn’t need this.
Put on a happy face. #JokerMovie – in theaters October 4. pic.twitter.com/TxF3Jqxjjr
— Joker Movie (@jokermovie) April 3, 2019
Todd Phillips is the director, and I can already see that he’s borrowing heavily from Christopher Nolan’s color palette in The Dark Knight, especially as Arthur sinks deeper into depression and insanity. He’s also borrowing heavily from Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver by the look of it. I mean… I’m sure people will want to see this interpretation. But I sort of feel like DC just burned their greatest villain by “explaining” that he was just a bullied Motherboy.
Photo and poster courtesy of ‘Joker’.
I’ll take a pass. I do agree that there are heavy elements of Taxi Driver in this, though.
Makes me wanna watch it.
Anyway, Joker’s always been multiple choice about his history, mostly because it is irrelevant.
So he’s now Norman Bates with brain damage?? Sloppy, sloppy sloppy. This is the same story we’ve seen 5000 times. Hollywood needs to get their shit together as far as writers are concerned, and audiences need to demand better. He’s an unreliable narrator and a bit of an enigma, he should stay as much. The movie looks great cinematically, but I’m gonna pass. I’m so sick of the lazy storytelling these superhero movies are pumping out.
Exactly, Joker himself doesn’t seem to know his own origin to begin with.
tragique motherboi
I LOL’d at the sentence “Did you know the Joker was a kind man who was bullied?” good one Kaiser 🙂
I’d like to see a campy, clownish Joker for a change. I’m so over seeing him as this dark and complex character. Unpopular opinion, but I don’t think Ledger was that good, and Jared Leto in Suicide Squad is one of the most obnoxious performances I’ve ever seen.
So much, No Thank You.
“we didnt need this”, who is we? i like it!
I like Joaquin as an actor but this is a bad choice – the Joker has been done to death. Now Harley Quinn, thats the movie am looking forward to seeing – Margo as Harley was the best part of Suicide Squad for me.
Yeah, a standalone Harley Quinn movie would be good. And it would help solidify the DC Comics franchise as having better women’s movies.
I like Joaquin, but this is a no from me. Most of his stuff is. He always picks these roles that are total weirdos.
Looks good to me!
Looks amazing!
The Joker is one of the greatest villains. Personally, I always interpreted the Joker as the embodiment of chaos. This film seems to focus on mental illness. There seem to be a few darker films recently, like this and Bird Box, that seem to take on the theme of mental illness, but rather then take an new approach, they just repeat the same tired old trope. This movie seems to depict mentally ill people as inherently dangerous and immoral, and such a depiction yet again perpetuates the stigma against mental illness.
Caption for first photo of Joker in this article is: Angelina Jolie at UN for a Speech on Sexual Violence in Conflict 😀
Was wondering if anyone else saw that – AJ’s looking ROUGH these days!
I don’t like the idea of the Joker getting an origin story. I’m sure he has one in the comics (haven’t read them), but for someone who only knows him from films, I like that he is chaotic and mysterious. I don’t need to know why he is the way he is. I felt the same way about the Han Solo movie — that was not a character whose lame backstory I needed to learn about. Han was cool the way he was, with a shady and mysterious past.
I’m sure Joaquin Phoenix will do a good job, at least. Jared Leto was tragically bad in that role. I think Heath Ledger was definitive in the role, but perhaps Phoenix will prove me wrong.
Another group of white men trying to figure themselves out through making a monster origin film… There is comic book literacy, and I understand that and how it has inspired generations of people, especially boys and men, but there are other stories to tell. Hollywood’s leadership want to see themselves. They need to process their MeToo monsters, so they conceptualize this. I’m tired of them working out their psychology while working to lock out the rest of us who want to do it in film. This isn’t a universal story, or maybe it is because so many men are damaged and view themselves as having this “crazy” side as part of their personality, I don’t want to understand my abusers through entertainment. If this film can TEACH men, great. If it’s just the same old vanity crap, no interest here, because “understanding” abusers has already been shoved down my throat in really life.
Awesome point of view, thanks for the new insight.
I’m so glad you wrote this, Christina. You made a lot of great points. So tired of these same old stories, normalizing white guy violence. Thanks for giving me so much to think about.
LOL
I’m gonna have to disagree. Because I’m surrounded by males, and because I have to constantly move these ridiculously long, heavy boxes stuffed with comic books carefully placed in plastic cases, this movie just upped the ante and delved into the seriousness of the comic book fan lol. Yes, animation gave visual life, and I’ve seen far too many and roll my eyes every half second, but readers are deeply, emotionally ensconced in backstories and timelines. It’s weird, but aside from the illustrations which are paramount, the storylines are serious business, and they will fight you if you don’t afford it the time and effort to understand who the characters truly are lmao. Omg. It’s like they’re character philosophers delving into what-ifs and if this, then that.
And because the range of characters is so diverse, listening to their conversations is a study in philosopher salad. If you can, in one sitting, imagine discussing characterizations as they relate to Confucius, Socrates which begat Plato and Aristotle, Bacon and Descartes, Kierkegaard, Marx, Thoreau and Nietzsche to Sartre, frakkin’ Sun Tsu and yes, Ayn Rand, etc., then you get the idea. From ancient history to modern thought processing, they muse over favorites and why they’re actually favorites. I think I’ve conveyed how tedious comic book afficionados are lmao!
Anyway, the trailer actually looks good!
My own observation on Batman and Joker is that – shock! – most guys would love to be Batman but quietly acknowledge they are more likely to turn into Joker, one bad day and all that.
That said, the best iterations of Joker underline that he is hell-bent on pointing out civilization, as is, is not fundamentally civilized and although he has no regard for you as a person, he always seems interested in the person you could be. To me, that’s fertile soil for all manner of interpretations.
Because I surround myself with females, I too have had discussions about the back stories of comic books and other fictional characters. Comic books should not be – and are continuing to become less – gender-specific, for dudes only.
Once a piece of media is put out into the world, the idea of what is “canon” may change. Authors can put a new spin on old stories, hopefully making them more diverse (see Hamilton, recent Star Wars films, Into the Spiderverse, etc.).
We need to demand more women and diversity in media through our dollars. We also need to give these stories as much philosophical & archetypal thoughtfulness and depth as your male friends are giving the contents of their “ridiculously long, heavy boxes”. L.O.L.
Thanks gals, and yes, I’ve had female friends enjoy the genre. The ‘maleness’ around me comes from two adult sons, a teen son and a husband who has yet to evolve into a middle-aged man. All these years have taught me that comics are no joke (all puns intended). I’m so very thankful the female expansion is underway. Quite frankly, I’d love to see female illustrations without the 50-19-35ish measurements spewing out of a few strategically-placed pieces of fabric. And don’t even get me started with Manga. Sometimes, it’s akin to men confessing they read Playboy for the articles. Sure. Okay. But then they get going on about the stories, correcting each other and then putting personal spins on something they’d like to see happen. Conversations inevitably escalate until schools of thought come into p!ay when everyone sounds like Philosophy Bro. I just sit back, grin and s!ow!y shake my head with an occasional chuckle.
https://www.philosophybro.com/archive/aristotles-nicomachean-ethics-book-ii-a
Amanda Conner, look up her run on Power Girl as a good example of realistic cheesecake drawing.
Yes, it’s not needed and I hate DC comics but…Joaquin Phoenix looks phenomenal here.
Trailer looks great, especially combined with the soundtrack. That’s “Il Pagliaccio”, non?
The inner fantasy narrative of every mass shooter, now on film
Nothing against Joaquin Phoenix but we really didn’t need this movie.