off-guardian | Joker does something that has been beyond the bounds of
acceptable Hollywood film-making for 20 years (if not more) – it holds a
mirror up to the real problems of society. It challenges the
American meme that absolutely everyone is just a day away from realising
their wildest dreams. It admits that some people truly are alone, with
no prospect of help or happiness. Ever.
The poor of this film are not Steinbeck’s “temporarily embarrassed millionaires”,
they are just poor. And will be for the rest of their lives. This film
dares to tell a secret truth – that for a lot of people, life is a
struggle. Not a “there aren’t enough black Oscar nominees” struggle, or a “this man whistled at me on my way home struggle”, or a “some guy on twitter got my pronouns wrong” struggle. An actual struggle. To survive.
The violence of this film is not the vicarious, sanitized catharsis
of a hero, nor the malign recourse of the soulless monster, a series of
disconnected incidents linked by nothing but the inhumanity of the
perpetrators. No, here, violence is a slow build to a sudden shock. Not a
disease but a symptom. A boil bursting out societal puss.
Understandable maybe, but not justifiable. Exactly the sort of subtle
position which today’s media are inoculated against.
The politics of this film are neither left or nor right. Puppets in
coloured ties don’t debate non-issues here, the world isn’t blue or red.
It is flat grey. Austerity measures kill off social programs which help
those with mental illnesses get medication, therapy and employment.
Thomas Wayne, a billionaire politician, goes on TV to berate,
belittle and insult the victims of poverty as “not trying hard enough”,
they never say which party he represents. They recognise it does not
matter.
An out of touch media class – personified by Robert De Niro’s
late-night chatshow host – punches down, mocking the victims of
society’s decline and protected, by his media bubble, from ever having
to see the way the world truly is.
In that sense, it’s a truly realistic comic book film. Joker‘s world could nearly be our own. All it takes is a little push.
Look at the months of protests in France. Look at the soaring poverty
and food-bank use here in the UK. Look at the homeless tent cities
sprouting like fields of crops around Los Angeles and San Francisco.
It IS getting crazier out there. But that’s a message the media are no longer capable of comprehending.
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Like I said earlier, Joker is not an all-time great movie. But it is a great movie for our time.
It tells a lot of hard truths, and explores ideas that are being
bullied out of vogue by the increasingly authoritarian “liberal” class.
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