Joker was a movie I intended to see, but it took me a while to get around to it, mostly because movies that are widely hyped usually fall to the bottom of my list. I do enjoy movies based on comic books, and the Joker has always been an interesting character. I remember being fascinated by Jack Nicholson’s version in Batman(1989) and the character is always entertaining in the comics.
I expected the over-the-top, devious, hateful but morbidly amusing Joker from the comics and previous big and small screen performances. I expected a typical comic book movie. Turned out I was wrong and Joker is so much more. What I got was a surprisingly layered character with a sense of honor, taking revenge on those who have wronged him in some way–at least until the end.
Instead of a supervillain and a movie filled with lavish special effects (fun as they might be), this is a story about a flesh and blood person–one who is both easy and impossible to relate to. Arthur Fleck is that person you see in passing or maybe even on a regular basis whom you want to reach out to help, but you’re afraid to. He’s also a reflection of ourselves. Who hasn’t felt completely alone at one time or another? Who hasn’t borne the brunt of either cruel words or violent actions–perhaps even both?
Arthur Fleck/Joker is a beautiful character, so imperfect, sad, captivating, and frightening, yet one we want to see win on some level. Beaten by strangers, ridiculed by coworkers, ignored by a bored counselor, and worst of all deceived and twisted by his warped mother, he understandably teeters on the edge of sanity. On the train when he was getting his butt whipped again, we waited with eager anticipation for him to fight back. Though Arthur underwent major changes throughout the movie, morphing from the punching bag to the fist that strikes it, there were glimpses of Joker before he fully emerged.
This movie raises so many questions, not only about the character whose story is hard to define due to his shifting sense of reality, but about our values and how we treat each other.
Joker is easily the overall best comic book based movie I’ve ever seen, and I wish I had watched it sooner. Sometimes all the hype is justified.
Links courtesy of IMDb.