Joker ~ Why Is There Evil

Why is there evil? Indeed, the timeless inquiry resurfaces. Todd Phillips promises to answer that question, at least regarding Batman's arch-nemesis in the film "Joker." As I walked in for my screening, I quickly noticed an armed police officer standing near the entrance.  I tend not to listen to what others have been saying, but with all the hubbub about mass shootings, I understood why he was there.  

The film opens on a busy Gotham street looking eerily like 1980s New York. Joaquin Phoenix ("Inherent Vice," "Walk the Line") portrays the unfortunate Arthur Fleck, adorned with white paint on his face, a rubber skull cap featuring green bozo hair, a silly small bowler hat, and a red rubber nose. He is twirling a sign in a gaudy clown suit. This scene is not the iconic image we all know from the past. He is in front of a store that is going out of business. I didn't realize that they had sign twirlers in the '80s, but hey. 

A group of kids runs by, grabs his sign, and takes off.  Arthur, in his giant, clumsy clown shoes, gives chase.  They lead him into an alley, and Arthur follows. As he sees his quarry in sight, he is blindsided by a kid with the sign, who slams him in the face, and Arthur goes down.  The kids viciously begin kicking him.  They kick him in the back, the side, the ribs, and in the groin. You immediately feel bad for Arthur. But that is what writer and direct Phillips wants you to explore. He wants you to feel sorry for Arthur. Don't fall for it. 

As origin stories go, "Joker" is superb. The scene is set. A cold, cruel world where the common man is marginalized. Arthur lives in a run-down apartment with his mother, Penny. Frances Conroy plays his mother throughout the film, as one would expect a loving mother with a disability to. "Put on a happy face," Arthur intones, saying it's what his mother always told him. Fleck also tells them his mother says he was put on Earth to make people smile. In the run-down apartment building that he lives in, we meet Sophie (Zazie Beetz—"Deadpool," "Atlanta") and her daughter in an elevator. Luckily for Fleck, that suddenly stops, giving them a moment to make eye contact and giving Arthur the moment to focus on a possibility.

As the film moves steadily towards his transformation into "Joker," we find Arthur and ourselves in a cold, dark world of class upheaval. A world fraught with rudeness and cruelty, where the truth is turned upside down. Sound familiar? It should.

When "Jaws" came out in 1975 and "Alien" in 1979, we had monsters whose evil was their nature. They killed the innocent because that is what they do.  In John Carpenter's original."

Halloween

," Michael Myers was just evil. He wasn't, as in Rob Zombie's version, a neglected and bullied child whose mother is not only single but a stripper, who ignores the signs that her son is spiraling down into madness. We already knew the Joker was criminally insane. Did we really need to know why? We knew that Dracula was not only a vampire but also evil. In both Bram Stoker's novel and in the 1931 Bela Lugosi classic, we are not told why he is a vampire or of any wrongs that God may have inflicted on the Count. It doesn't matter; he is evil. 

The picture that director Todd Phillips paints is one of a man, used and abused, just trying to fulfill his dreams.  What dreams are these? First, he wants to be like his hero, late-night host Murray Franklin. Enter Robert De Niro ("Family," "Godfather"), who plays the Carson-like talk-show host in a manner not unlike Jerry Lewis in the 1982 film De Niro starred in with the late comedian, "The King of Comedy." The talk show host is aloof and to some degree, cruel. Joaquin Phoenix's performance is excellent, and the story is both brilliant and direct. 

DC fans will both love and hate this adaptation, and I think that, in this politically charged, conscious gun debate, they will both adore and deride the film, with good reason for both points of view. Movies reflect our society, and this is precisely what this film is. I always said that a hero is only as good as his enemy or the villain of the story. When it comes to the Joker, Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson did it for me. That being said, go see this film, you might find something within you that finds "Joker" appealing. "Joker" runs 2 hours and is rated "R" for restricted.

Movie Data

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Year:  2019

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy

Director: Todd Phillips

Producer(s): Bradley Cooper, Joseph Garner, Aaron L. Gilbert, Walter Hamada, Todd Phillips

Writer: Todd Phillips, Scott Silver

Rating: R

Running Time: 122 minutes

Release Date: 10/4/2019