Joker Stumbles with Good Character and Troubling Commentary

It’d be easy to gravitate toward the alternative route Joker presents compared to other comic-book movies. There’s no computer-generated spectacle or a routine plot of a villain’s scheme rule the world. There’s also no hero to save the day and no tidy bow to put on this story of the villain transforming into the antihero; this is a dark film. But it’s one that spends so much time bathing in its own maddening cruelty it merely meanders toward an aimless societal commentary.

Joaquin Phoenix as Joker. Warner Bros. Pictures

Joaquin Phoenix, for his part, delivers a mesmerizing performance as tortured soul Arthur Fleck. He works as a clown for local businesses and charities, becoming the target of bullies who beat him up and make his job a nightmare. He also has a mental condition that means he cannot stop laughing during inappropriate moments, making conversations in public difficult and his aspiring career as a stand-up comedian a monumental challenge. Still, he keeps working at this dream, hoping that he’ll one day be big enough to appear on his favorite talk show, hosted by Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro).

But things only go from bad to worse for Arthur. His job becomes more stressful, his mental-health caseworker is downsized, his medication is cut, and the world just seems to grow darker. Eventually, something snaps, and his rage results in the murders of some of the elites, igniting a class war in Gotham. Arthur doesn’t see the bigger picture of the capitalist structure of the city that has wronged him but notices that his actions have stirred some hope in the public. Many of Gotham’s residents feel good that some rich jerks who harassed people on the subway are dead. Perhaps Arthur will don his clown outfit and murder more of the snobs.

Robert De Niro as Murray Franklin. Warner Bros. Pictures

There are many observations as to why Gotham is crumbling. The class structure has led to the wealthy elite being ignorant of the plight in the streets. A political figure speaks down on the murders as cowardly for the actor hiding behind a costume, but there’s unrest in the streets over how he would rather condemn than fix the problems of the city. One newspaper headline literally reads “Fuck the Rich,” just in case the questioning of capitalism wasn’t obvious by the second act. The focus on mental health could be interpreted as what may happen when little thought or care is given to an individual who doesn’t fit a societal norm; Arthur has nobody to turn to when the healthcare system fails him.

But there’s a deeper conflict within Joker that has to do not merely with the grime of Gotham City but with the intent of the picture. Arthur seems aloof to all of these social problems as he slowly slips down the dark path to becoming the classic Batman villain. He doesn’t wholeheartedly believe in the cause of the many protesters against the elites; he’s just amazed by the spectacle of it all. He’s too lost within his mental distress and his comedy obsession to ever give much thought to how to restructure Gotham. But he knows what gets people as mad as he is and believes there may be some comfort if he keeps those fires going, no matter what or who he has to toss into the flames.

On the run. Warner Bros. Pictures

This is a fluctuating film of ideas that forces us to judge how aware Arthur is of his actions ad narcissism. By the time he has fully become the Joker, in his snappy suit and full makeup, he is asked whether his appearance is part of a political protest; he denies such claims, stating he doesn’t believe in anything, but this declaration itself is a political statement. Directly following this scene is a tense and awkwardly passionate moment when he delivers a rant about how subjective society has become that comedy and law have become relative and an enigma of taste. The world doesn’t make sense when Gotham seems to shun poor souls such as him, and Arthur more or less laughs at this hopeless state, offering no easy insight. This lack of reveal may be pleasing in its ambiguity, but it’s also frustrating in its distancing itself from the juicier issues.

Phoenix certainly put his mind and body through the hell of acting school for his role. There are many moments when he is so distraught and distant from others that there’s a constant look of unease on his face. He has a fearlessness in portraying Arthur’s agony, as well as the surreality when he has brief moments of bliss, taking them in with dancing. But it’s also troubling how so many of Gotham’s problems are used more like props for his character study rather than actually examined. So much of the film’s greater focus on a towering metropolis eating one man alive brings about more of a handful of intriguing actor showcase scenes than a progressive build.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Joker certainly gives a lot to munch on in its grueling study of a man mangled by a corrupt system. For as much as the film splashes about in its toxic pool of bleakness, it offers no comfort or reasoning for the darkness of Gotham, and Arthur believes there is no hope for the future. And when such a pessimistic character is the one we’re supposed to follow and pity throughout the picture, there’s a deeply disturbing and mixed message that trying to fix a broken city is an impossible and maddening quest.

Arthur’s nihilism merely melds him, unknowingly, into the system he despises. The structure will not change because if it did, how would Batman be able to afford all that fancy tech to stop criminals like him? The film brings up so many interesting aspects to how this city functions, but, from within the chaotic landscape of Arthur’s mind, a shrug for society’s bigger problems is favored more than one man’s descent into violent rebellion, seemingly aimless in its insanity. While that may be a higher aspiration than most comic-book movies, it merely scuffs the surface of a story that could be far grander than the Joker’s messed-up alternative origins housed within an artful character study.

Warner Bros. Pictures