The Joker – 4/5 stars

Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Robert De Niro and directed by Todd Phillips, was released Oct. 4. It follows the story of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a mentally ill man who wants to become a stand-up comedian. But, despite his best effort, Gotham City, the divide between rich and poor, and the mistreatment of the mentally ill by society keeps beating him down again and again driving him to madness.

First off, Joker was insane. I left the theater confused on how I should feel, wanting to talk about it and to sit in silence to think about it all at the same time. The movie was both disturbing and illuminating, and very different from what I was originally expecting, and I knew that even though it would be difficult to review, it was one I had to do. Instead of a violent mob movie, we got a psychological drama and more of a commentary on mental illness. Having processed the movie more, I could think and discuss it for so long in depth, which I think is the point. Discussion. For us to talk about this extreme movie to see it’s reflection in our world and the changes we can make.  

Getting to see the Joker’s backstory is what confused me because I’m an avid fan of Batman and Joker is always just the bad guy. But seeing his story and how badly a mentally ill man was treated by everyone, it becomes clear that his descent into madness wasn’t really his fault but society’s. It was society, who constantly mocked him, beat him up, took away the funding for his therapy and medication, never listened or gave him a chance that created the Joker. And what confused me was that even though he was killing people and doing terrible things, I was rooting for him. How could I not? Some of the scenes were so heart-wrenching. All he wanted to do was become a comedian and instead, people laughed at him and punished him for his mental illness without seeing the person underneath.

Spoilers ahead

In one scene of the movie, we get a glimpse of Arthur’s diary/ joke journal and it reads “The worst part about having a mental illness is people expect to behave as if you don’t.”

He was beaten up more than once for laughing at inappropriate times (a condition of his mental illness), which occurred when he was angry, embarrassed or nervous. No one stepped up to help him and he was utterly defenseless, at least until he got a gun.

I think we are better at understanding mental illness today, but the movie takes place sometime in the late 70s and early 80s when the mentally ill were social pariahs. At one point, on a Late Night show that Arthur watches every night, the host, Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) shows a clip of Arthur trying and failing at stand-up comedy and makes fun of him. He later invites Arthur on the show to make fun of him in person. This would never be seen as OK today, but back then, well, it may have been a different story.

The acting was phenomenal and Joaquin Phoenix definitely deserves some award for his performance. Seeing how unhealthily skinny he got really showed his dedication to the role. Actors get buff for movie rolls every other day, but getting so skinny that it’s scary to look at, well, that’s something else entirely. He also did a great job with his laugh so that you could tell he didn’t want to but just couldn’t stop himself, and that he was uncomfortable to the point that he was in pain.

It was crazy toward the end of the movie when it was revealed that his “girlfriend” which he grew closer to throughout the movie, who came and saw his comedy show, who he went on a date with him and who sat with him while his mother was in the hospital, barely even knew who he was. None of those memories really happened. Well, they did, she just was never there. He was delusional and created all those memories to help with the pain, which was crazy because it then brought everything else from the movie into question. What was real and what wasn’t? There could be multiple interpretations like all the good stuff was made up and all the bad actually happened. Or, that the entire movie could be made up and Arthur could be sitting in Arkham Asylum creating this story in his head. The beauty of it is, I’m not sure if we’ll ever really know.

Overall, this was a great movie but seeing it made me uncomfortable. Just the thought of someone with a mental illness being so mistreated in society to the point that he gives in to the madness and becomes the Joker was unsettling. And while the cinematography and score were great, they added to this unsettling, uncomfortable feeling. We know he’s a villain and that what he’s doing is wrong, but seeing his backstory sheds some light on the terrible things that led him there. The movie was a lot to process, but the more time that passes after seeing it, the more I want to go back and see it again.