The main problem with both movies are Pennywise's powers. On one hand he's a shapeshifter that can mess with minds but on the other hand he creates other monsters. I mean... there are a few creatures attacking the Losers at the same time... Georgie in the flooded basement, Bevvy's FathePharmacist/Greta/Bowers attacking Bevvy and Cute Little Doggie turning into the nightmare fuel that scared Eddie and Richie. You may say that they're just illusions but... they can interact with losers so they're physical. This is so confusing. Let's just say that Pennywise's house is his own pocket dimension and he can do whatever he wants in it. This would fix most of the issues with these films. Also, I'd remove the entire "it's not real, none of this is real" bullcrap because... if none of this is real then how could you clean Beverly's bathroom from blood if that's just an illusion?
Zombie Patrick Hockstetter in Chapter 2 is confusing. Is he Pennywise? If so, why is he Henry's chauffeur? Can Pennywise even drive? I'd actually give Pennywise a new power, turning people he killed into mindless zombies fully controlled by him. This would make him even more interesting as a character. There would be an additional scene showing Pennywise using the deadlights to "revive" Patrick. He'd do this only if he has more than enough bodies to eat and he'd do that mostly to adults because they don't taste as good as kids. Also, I'd
maybe replace Zombie Patrick with Zombie Belch.
Also, the movies should be more consistent with each other.
Chapter 1:
I'd make it take place in 1990 (would be a cool reference to the release date of the original movie/miniseries).
I'd cut the scene where Bill says "Georgie hurry up" because it's pretty pointless and it's just an unnecessary jumpscare.
There would be just one barricade and Georgie would bump into in (it doesn't make sense that he bumped into the second barricade if he saw the first one).
I'd show Pennywise's hand extending unnaturally before cutting to Georgie being pulled into the sewer.
Bowers not bullying Bill because Georgie went missing doesn't really make sense.
Richie's little secret should be teased a bit in the first film.
I understand why Ben wasn't riding his bike (he was carrying the model) but Bill should be cycling home.
Betty Ripson signing her shoe is... kinda weird and out of place.
Ben follows the easter eggs until he hears something behind one of the books. He peels that book back off the shelf. He's blinded by the red light coming out of the shelf but then he can see something that looks kinda like a circus. The other books begin to fall revealing what's behind the shelf. Ben sees headless children and Pennywise the clown holding the red balloon but he has his back to him. Suddenly Pennywise does a 180 degrees turn with his head (and maybe also a head circle) before the rest of his body also turns around revealing a head in Pennywise's hand... Ben's head. Then Pennywise's balloon turns into Beverly's head and spine. Ben hears something behind him, he turns around only to see his own body, headless and scorched. He's chased by headless himself around the library before bumping into the librarian just like in the real film.
Ben shouldn't run along the river while escaping Bower's gang. This shot is beautiful but it would make more sense for him to hide between the trees.
Hockstetter's death is kinda lame. I'd change it. After Patrick sees zombie children, he freaks out and runs away to the exit of the sewers but he takes the wrong way and instead of the exit he sees the pipe with metal bars. He's trapped. The voices of children are becoming louder and louder. Hockstetter sees a metal pipe lying on the ground, he picks it up and is ready to fight the zombie children but to his surprise all he sees is a red balloon. He smashes it with a pipe and is splashed by blood that was inside of the balloon. More and more balloons start to emerge from the sewer water but instead of regular tassels, they have intestines hanging out of them. Hockstetter smashes them until he gets covered by leeches that were in one of the balloons. He desperately tries to remove the leeches from him body while the metal bars behind him disappear (they were just an illusion). Pennywise's hands appear in the pipe and they grab Patrick. We see Patrick screaming while being pulled into the pipe (
similarly to how Belch was pulled into the pipe in the 1990 miniseries) until he completely disappears.
After Bowers lets Mike go, Mike should spit some... you know... out.
Pennywise doesn't trip on the stairs in Bill's basement. Instead, he slowly crawls on all fours and grabs Bill by the leg. Bill is able to get out of It's grasp and Pennywise just smiles and slides down the stairs just like in the real film.
While Bevvy fights the hair tentacles, the balloon appears from the sink and starts to inflate before eventually popping and covering the whole bathroom with blood. It was kinda silly that Pennywise was trying to drown Beverly. Also, Bev's father doesn't see the blood but he touches her
wet hair...
really? Also later when she shows the bathroom to the other Losers, some blood should be missing... cause she was able to wash the blood out of her which wouldn't be possible without using the bathroom.
The Eddie & Leper scene was kinda silly. I mean... a verminophobic wouldn't pick the pills up from the ground... actually... I don't think anyone would do that. Also, Pennywise (Leper) chases Eddie just like pretty much every killer in every horror movie ever. Would be better if instead of chasing him, It would just grab him by the hand and maybe cough... which would cover Eddie in some slime. Eddie would get out of It's grasp and run away (just like in the real scene) and then he'd reach for his inhalator only to see his hand being covered in warts and rotting away. Then Pennywise would appear and
actually attack Eddie... I mean... come on, he was in It's backyard... anyway, Eddie would get away and his hand would revert back to its normal state.
The Losers would actually be able to turn the projector off and they'd all chill but Pennywise would pop out of the projection anyway... you know... because he's magical.
In the "beep beep Richie" scene, one of the clown dolls would be painted like Joker.
I can see why they didn't go to the hospital with Ben after Bowers tried to curve his name in Ben's belly but they really should have after Pennywise slashed his belly with his claws.
I'd add more missing children posters to the film.
Bowers' first knife he lost while chasing Ben should be a regular old fashion knife. Then he'd get a brand new switchblade from Pennywise.
There should be a scene explaining why Pennywise chose Bowers as his minion and why he wanted him to kill them all. If Bowers killed them all then Pennywise wouldn't be able to feed on their fear. Oh, and he could have just killed bowers too but for some reason didn't.
I wouldn't change Beverly's outfit.
After Bevvy killed/knocked out her father Pennywise was just waiting for her. This is kinda lame but I don't know how it could have been fixed.
I'd add a deleted scene where the other two bullies are dead in the car and Bowers talks to them.
The scene where painting lady turns into Pennywise would be more terrifying if we'd actually see Pennywise transforming into his clown form.
When Georgie (Pennywise) says "I couldn't keep up with it", Bill should actually say "her" instead of "she"... also, Pennywise is trying to make Bill cry even though he feeds on fear not sadness... and Bill should instantly know it's not Georgie.
While Pennywise is backflipping into the well, I'd add a sound effect similar to the one he makes while using Deadlights (that would indicate that he has no choice and he must hibernate).
The Losers swear right after the fight with Pennywise and Bill disinfects the piece of glass (using a disinfectant liquid Eddie would give him in this scene) before cutting the hands of the Losers. Everyone knows that cutting your hand with a dirty piece of glass covered in blood of your friends is a very good way to get infected. Then we see a scene of Stan's parents reacting to his head wounds, Beverly moving to her grandma, Richie changing "loser" to "lover" on Eddie's bandage, Mike staying in Derry and Bill's family moving. We actually see more of Bill's mum here. As their car drive away, the camera zooms on the sewer entrance. Than it cuts to black and we hear Pennywise's laugh. It was extremely disappointing and underwhelming to wait for credits to pass only to hear his laughter.
Chapter 2:
First off let's fix the Birds of Prey trailer that was shown right before the movie. In this trailer, the red balloon appears over Warner Bros logo, then DC logo appears and then Harley Quinn pops the balloon and says "Clowns are lame". That was pretty cool... but DC logo should appear after Harley said that. Everyone thought the movie is about to begin but then DC logo appeared and everyone realized that it's just BOP trailer. Even my friend said "I knew something's not right when DC logo appeared" so yea... it should have appeared a bit later.
The movie opens in the sewers. The sound of Losers fighting Pennywise at the end of Chapter 1 could be heard. Then we see Bowers being washed out alongside the corpses of children. Maybe we can also get a scene explaining how he survived the fall... if he was able to grab that one protruding brick or if Pennywise grabbed him... I don't know. There would be an additional scene in Chapter one of Bower's dad's girlfriend coming home, seeing him dead and calling the police. She'd also be present in the scene where Bowers returns home and is arrested. Henry actually tries to attack her and says he needs to kill them all before he's arrested (police just assuming he killed his father was kinda random... even if they knew he's a psycho). 27 years later, he escapes, just like in the real movie. He's the one who attacks Adrian and Don and throws them into the river. Pennywise eats them and after red balloons appear, Henry smiles and disappears in the darkness... and then the title card appears. It would make sense for Pennywise to free his minion right after he woke up from his hibernation.
Deadlights in the first film are shown to be a part of Pennywise and his tool to make the kids float... while in Chapter 2 they're honestly the worst part of the film. It is revealed that they're Pennywise's true form... which doesn't make sense at all. If they're It's true form then why are they in his mouth? Shouldn't they be... him? How on Earth is Pennywise able to live with Deadlights outside of his body and last but not least, why do Deadlights instantly appear when Losers do the ritual? Deadlights in Chapter 2 act more like a separated entity while in the first film they were a part of Pennywise and probably one of his organs. Hell, would be cool if in this version they were It's heart. Think about it, why would an intergalactic shapeshifter feeding on fear have a very human-like heart? I would expect It's heart to look weird and alien and Deadlights look just like that.
I'd add a lot of deleted scenes and I'd move some flashbacks to the first film.
There would be a scene of some people trying to demolish the Neibolt House but then they'd be scared/killed by Pennywise and his illusions. Also, nobody would live next door to this house.
In this film Pennywise would have a scacrack on his head that would be a reference to his head cracking at the end of the first film. I know he has a good healing factor and he resets every twenty seven years but it would be kinda cool non the less.
Bevvy's husband just giving up and not chasing her was kind of unrealistic. Instead Bevvy would knock him out (similarly to how she knocked out/killed her father in the first film) and leave. He'd wake up and go to Derry later in the film where he'd be killed by Pennywise.
In this film, the Losers don't remember each other... but they know Bill's movies which makes no sense. Would be better if they remembered each others (just never met in those 27 years) but didn't remembered that they fought Pennywise (because it was erased from their memory as soon as they left Derry).
The fortune cookie creatures wouldn't interact with the environment (because they're just illusions), the baby faced bug would be more similar to cicada (because Pennywise was compared to cicada in the first film [and that was awesome by the way]) and the flying cookie would have a claw/pincer just like the cookie from the 1990 movie. Also, Richie would smash the table with a chair instead of Mike. The waitress would ask "What's going on here?" and would tell them to pay for destroying the table but would later say that they don't need to pay after Mike or Bill would say "There was a rat on our table".
Vicky's mum would answer a phone call and look away from Vicky before she'd follow the firefly. Right now she just stares at people playing baseball and doesn't care about her daughter at all.
"The ritual won't work if someone will be missing" which doesn't make sense because Stanley is already missing. Also the fact that the Losers must search for their "artifacts" alone doesn't make sense either because they found Stan's hat when they were all together. It would make more sense if Mike just said they can't waste time and splitting up will allow them to find the artifacts faster.
A car that almost bumps into Bill rides too slowly... it would have a lot of time to stop.
Bill shouldn't believe it's Georgie in the sewer, and him getting his boat from the sewer is stupid as hell. It's kinda like if Pennywise gave him this boat. Instead of Georgie, the skateboard kid would be in the sewer and Bill would have doubts before saving him (he'd know it could be Pennywise) but he'd ultimately try to save him (after he started crying) before he would turn out to indeed be Pennywise. However, I have no idea how the boat thing could have been solved.
In the Mrs. Kersh scene, the little girl from the picture (which I assume is the real Mrs. Kersh when she was young) would blink to Beverly and smile in the creepy way and then the blood would start coming from the picture. While chasing Bevvy around the house PennyKersh would slowly rot and turn into even more terrifying version of the witch. Also, Bevvy would actyally kick the door out (it was kinda silly for Pennywise to just let her out).
While vomiting, the Leper looks really fake... his jaw shakes unnaturally and you can see that it's just an animatronic. I'd add some CGI there to make him look more realistic.
It makes no sense for Henry to stab Eddie in a cheek. Would be better if he tried to stab him in the neck but Eddie ducked. Also Eddie should be taken to a hospital after he got stabbed.
Bowers' death is changed. Mike and Richie cut him multiple times, gouge his eye out and smash him into the wall before he finally collapses to the ground. Zombie Hockstetter shows up in the library too and Ben kills him by collapsing a bookshelf onto him.
In the scene where we see Pennywise's origin and where he kills people while changing into the Thunder Bird and Wendigo, we'd also see him eating animals... you know... because he had to eat something before people arrived to Derry.
Would be better if Mike made the ritual up. If the Indians knew it doesn't work, why would they tell Mike about it? There was a chance that he'd steal the vessel and do a ritual anyway... and that's exactly what happened. Mike lying and coming with the ritual up would work better in my opinion.
While cutting Ben, Pennywise should actually use his claws. Also, Ben should have "H" scar on his stomach (because Bowers carved it in the first film).
Spider Stan should have one of his spider limbs growing out of his eye like on the awesome rejected concept art. Also, Stan's body in the fridge should have cut veins (which would be a reference to his death).
In the sewers, the Losers would see the floating corpses of children, just like in the first film.
While trying to drown Beverly, Pennywise would turn into a mutated and deformed creature with tentacles that have teeth and eyes on them.
The final design for Pennywise Spider was kind of disappointing. Spiderwise should have
multiple eyes just like real spiders do (maybe even eyes on his jaw just like on one of the concept arts) and his
spider legs should look like the ones from Chapter 1. Also, his extra eyes should rapidly look around in every direction (basically do what Skarsgård's Pennywise is known for) before glowing blue (which would be a nod to 1990 Pennywise's eyes glowing blue while using the deadlights). Also, while using the deadlights his jaws should split in half forming a Demogorgon styled mouth. That would be really disturbing.
At some point he'd swap his spider arms for tentacles (and take Cthulhu like form) because they were kind of foreshadowed in Chapter one... and they're creepy, right? Also, maybe he'd turn one of his tentacles into a snake because the fear of snakes is probably the third most popular fear right after the fear of clowns and spiders.
Eddie and Richie should actually check what's behind the "Scary" door.
There would be a scene where... let's say Bill is lured underneath Pennywise and then It opens the mouth located between his spider legs and tries to eat him but Bill escapes.
While locking Ben up, Pennywise would turn into a mummy (he turned his head into a mummy head in Chapter one and it was kind of teasing him taking this form in Chapter 2 but it never happened + Ben later calls him a [CENSORED] stupid Mummy).
Before grabbing Mike Pennywise would grew multiple fingers running all the way up the arm that would burn and decay to remind him of his parents. Also, he shouldn't just throw Mike away. Mike would slip out of his hand when the monster killing spear would stuck in his throat.
I'd remove the whole "make Pennywise small" and "all living things must obey the laws of the shape they're in" because Pennywise wasn't even trying to become smaller... even if he should just become smaller instead of trying to destroy the entrance to the cave in which the losers were hiding (or he should just get them from the other side) and he can change shape and change the rules of his shape. Instead, the Losers would just figure out that if they won't be afraid, Pennywise would become weak cause he feeds on fear.
There was this very cool scrapped form of It called "The Concentric Nightmare", it was basically Pennywise turning himself inside out. I'd add it to the scene where the Losers insult Pennywise to death. Turning himself inside out would be a desperate attempt to scare the Losers while getting smaller and smaller.
While dying Pennywise should say some curses and spells in the (made up) ancient language.
When Pennywise is getting smaller and smaller, Richie should actually rip the arm that killed Eddie off.
When Pennywise is in his baby form, he says that they can't defeat him because he still feeds on Richie's fear and he's about to tell Richie's secret to everyone but Richie interrupts him and then he overcomes his fear and tells the other Losers that he's gay which weakens Pennywise down. Then Pennywise would desperately try to use the Deadlights but Mike would stick the "monster killing spear" into them... or something... I'm... I'm not sure. Also, I would make Baby Pennywise (Babywise?) less splattered.
I'd add a scene where the turtle swims near the losers but they don't even notice it.
Also, I'd make It Chapter 3 and I'd reuse the deleted scene where Pennywise eats a baby as an opening scene for this film. Also, this would be a Pennywise spin off explaining his past even further. and we'd see how It wakes up from his hibernation.
submitted by I've wanted to write this before, and it's probably been done or already discussed, but I still see confusion or controversy over Joker as a film. Does it have something to say, is it good film, and why is it so polarizing. For me the challenge is not seeing its merits but rather disentangling them in a coherent discussion: plot, characters, directing, setting, tone, etc. Great cinematography, great photography, composition (go back and look at the color schemes/blocking), editing, sound, etc. I could go on and on and I think this film will be looked back on more highly as an excellent example of cinema craft then it even gets now. There's a lot more here than Pheonix's acting.
I think there are two central themes to Joker, one from the perspective of the individual or character of Arthur Fleck and the other from the broader social environment ("we live in a society..."). In the case of the Joker the question posed to audiences challenges their ability to be judges of morality or character and it is the problem known in social psychology as the
fundamental attribution error. We judge ourselves by our intentions, and we judge others by our perceptions of their actions: I
know I'm a good person who generally acts with good intent, even when I screw up because I have access to my own mental states, but I can only rely on
heuristics in judging the intent and subsequent actions of others. For a person with disabilities and limited skill-set like Arthur Fleck this is an impossible obstacle-course, particularly when set against the broader social theme. We live in a society that rewards the adequate and successful i.e. the more equipped you are to engage the world the more likely you are to succeed and thrive. In turn this success is used to further disadvantage individuals like Arthur Fleck who must navigate Kafkaesque bureaucracies to function; if they are cut loose as is done in defunding of his social worker they will be hopelessly adrift. This again follows the parallels of the 1970s and 80s when several high profile exposes of state run mental health institutions (such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) resulted in the
closure and subsequent "dumping" into homelessness and the prison system of the chronically mentally ill.
Perhaps the best starting point for a modern audience is to relate the genre of film Joker occupies, which is perhaps dissonant to more casual viewers because the intellectual property is ostensibly a super hero franchise. The Joker is one of the most iconic comic villains featured in various extremes from camp to true psychopath. The movie is a character study in the psychological thriller style rather like American Pscyho although very clearly an homage (
elevator scene anyone?) to the Scorsese film
Taxi Driver. Arthur Fleck is effectively a re-imagining of Travis Bickle through the lens of the DC franchise as set in a real world Gotham. It is not a big budget blockbuster of typical comic book production and has a more independent or art house feel, which already is a mismatch with audience expectations. Someone growing up on Christopher Reeve's Superman would have very different expectations going into Joker. Travis Bickle is a socially inept loner, the focus of the story, making his way in an alienating and harsh world. Importantly a major theme in the this more grounded look at at character's life is the idea of human duality; real people are complex and hard to cleanly categorize, in the case of Bickle his narrative could just as easily see him end up the villain as the hero; and he ultimately is an anti-hero unfitting of direct emulation or adulation.
I'll revisit the character of Arthur Fleck in a moment, but I want to branch off now and talk about the setting of the film. The DC universe of Joker and Batman exists within the fictional city of Gotham, a thin allusion to New York City, and what's fitting for this telling of Arthur Fleck's story is the parallel with Taxi Driver's (and real life) New York City set in the 1970s and 80s. It was a grimey, corrupt, crime ridden, dirty, unsettling place (another film that captures this time and place as I recall is Spike Lee's
Summer of Sam, Dog Day Afternoon, or Howard Beale's "Mad as hell" rant from Network). The garbage strike which is established as running background boiler issue that's set up and referenced throughout the movie is based on
true events. So too is the subway shooting that ultimately tips Fleck from down on his luck schmuck to heinous criminal,
which it parallels rather closely. Unlike the subway shooting though this film uses the modern day issue of economic disparity rather than racial tensions to craft a more relatable powder keg of social division.
The response was critical, as I understand it, to the "Occupy Wall Street" type commentary of the film which is arguably a bit of anachronism. Although there certainly was unrest over economic concerns during the 80s, notably the Volcker shock aimed at curtailing inflation, or the air line strike, I would argue the more apt analogy would be continued unrest of social issues which presents a thornier issue from a production stand point (subway vigilante shooting) and from an audience relation aspect. Events in 2020 aside I suspect in the wake of the past decade in 2019 there was more direct sympathy or understanding for a seemingly unfair economic system. From what I've gathered people were put off by how quickly the sentiment in the film boils over, but this is analogous to unrest of racial issues in the 80s for example the subway shootings or the
Central Park 5. The unrest was there historically, and is well established in the background elements of the film, needing only a catalyst; a spark to light the fuel. Until recently, perhaps, people have been sheltered from large scale riots, but from '68 to Rodney King they were not that uncommon.
I'm loath to inject politics too much into this analysis but there does seem to be parallels with Trump, himself a high figure in 1980s New York, a slumlord who made his fortune by inheritance (i.e. undeservedly) and
who publicly commented in favor of the prosecution during the Central Park 5 controversy. The young Wayne employee on the train who is ringleader (Wall Street 3) to the assault on Fleck is oddly similar in appearance to Don Jr. It re-contextualizes the philanthropy or stature of the Wayne family. Perhaps our sympathy to the murder of Wayne's parents would be altered if he were a Trump. Not to say that he deserves it, but perhaps you reap what you sow if your wealth comes at the expense and well-being of everyone else.
The film is well told in the language of cinema; right from the first scene we know Arthur Fleck lives in a world of shit, and without one word of dialogue we have visual symbolism of a
Janus-Faced existence and the lone tear smearing his make-up of the
Pagliacci type clown. Right out of the gate we know this is a character of inner turmoil who is not adept at expressing so. He puts on a mask (clown make-up) of sanity to function in the world. Life is constantly happening around him, though Fleck is removed. Note the audio at his work when one can constantly hear the goings on of his co-workers while Fleck often quietly set alone. And this symbolism continues, though not particularly subtle but most certainly effective. The lone trudge home after being a victim (emasculated no less, watch as he guards his balls during the attack) with multiple transfers on public transit just to have the last brutal climb up his
Sisyphean steps to his dysfunctional home is relatable imagery. The audience will ultimately feel put off by their empathy for Fleck (who has not returned home from a day in which everything has gone wrong feeling defeated?) but also with their general apprehension to him as a person; he makes one feel ill at ease. Which remember at this point in the film Fleck has committed no crimes, he's harmed no one. He earnestly puts in the work at his job despite not his own unhappiness to entertain and amuse.
The fundamental attribution error is explored in Fleck by his mannerism and lack of social grace making audiences uneasy (he's a creep), which ultimately leads to his breakdown. And the film plays up the elements that make him creepy, for one he's a clown. People are generally put off by clowns. There are several allusions to notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacye e.g. Pogo's Comedy club and the diamond face paint for Fleck's clown make-up. Fleck is not capable of reading people, social situations, or engaging others. He's offbeat in his humor (e.g. when he's taking notes at the stand-up routine and laughs at the wrong time) which leads him to be the the punchline to the rest of the world: being terrorized by the kids who steal the sign, being bullied by his co-workers, laughing uncontrollably, etc. An effective example is when he actually manages to tell a convincing lie to the detectives at the hospital, throws his cigarette off with perfect timing, to only run face first into the door; he doesn't even get 10 seconds of dignity. Or when he accidentally shoots the wall, some Charlie Chaplin shtick, his ability to be funny always comes at his expense. And when he otherwise is funny it's almost always a private joke. There are two parts to a joke, the setup and the payoff. When he murders his workplace bully, Randall, he first premeditates a setup by using the chain lock on the door. It's then darkly funny when he lets his other short co-worker Gary leave only for him to be unable to unlatch the door. It's a joke only to Fleck and one the audience shares with guilt. Or consider the joke featured on Murray, "When I was a little boy and told people I was going to be a comedian, everyone laughed at me. Well, no one's laughing now." It's an actual joke from a real comedian, arguably a bit dated even by 1980s standards of comedy, but it's well crafted. Fleck just doesn't know how to deliver it, he's constantly off the mark. He goes on the equivalent of The Tonight Show and tries to tell knock-knock jokes.
Despite all of this he is constantly challenged to explain himself to the world, again with this Kafkaesque onus of responsibility to an indifferent world. He genuinely wants to do the right thing: he asks to have his meds increased which he is compliant in taking, he cares for his narcissistic and abusive mother without question, he tries to entertain the child on the bus, and gives his all entertaining the children in the hospital (a trope of comic book movie actors). Fleck only desires to be recognized for his hard work as evident in his first Murray fantasy.
The premise of the film seems to jump off from a meme critiquing the concept of Batman as a superhero. Batman is a 1%er, a rich man who uses his extraordinary resources to go out and beat up poor people. Obviously the lore of the Batman universe is more nuanced, exploring his vigilantism through a surreal and contrived lens of wacky super villains with grandiose schemes. Bruce himself is the product of garden variety mugging. The real world of vigilantism is far more complex, hearkening back to the subway shooter scene. We as an audience are more willing to extend the benefit of the doubt to a fictional character like Batman because we understand as omniscient viewers his intent and character, because we see the moral code he carries in refusing to kill. This is a simplistic narrative device of many comic book dichotomies. Good and evil are clearly established and the solution is to punch or kill enough of the right evil characters. People want stories to lift their hopes out of the world in which Joker wallows. in the Joker there is the anti-hero's equivalent of a happy ending, significant only to him, the catharsis is wholly his at the discomfort of viewers. Releasing his murderous frustration is akin to the care-free way he descends the Sisyphusian stairs when he's finally shrugged off the burden of carrying on any attempt at a normal life.
Fleck is always expected to explain himself, a quick example of this is when his sleazy boss brings him in about the sign. In seconds his boss goes from questioning why anyone would steal a sign, to strongly suggesting Fleck would do so, insulting him directly from start to finish. Maybe now is the time to delve into what really kills this for mainstream audiences: Fleck is creepy. He's got that uncanny valley persona like he vaguely knows how people act or how to interact with people socially but like his comedy he just can't get the timing right. Intentions mean nothing if your audience is already ill at ease made worse by the fact he lives in his own fantasy world, has jokes that only make sense to him, his greasy emaciated appearance, his uncontrollable laughing, and the fact he's really not alright. It's like the feeling of being unsettled at a restaurant when a person with tourettes is having a problem with ticks. They're not harming or directly targeting anyone but a person making strange facial grimaces and randomly shouting puts one on edge. And Fleck doesn't read subtly, he's very literal and direct. His understanding of a stand-up act is "sex is funny", just shoot me becomes literally "I want to die" he's not good at figurative language. What's more his low weight, tics, or body contortions may be side-effects of the psychiatric meds he's on to attempt normalcy. Contrived as it may seem his off-putting elements are often the price of being a functioning member of society. He is both off-putting but inconsequential, his mother, his social worker, his boss; none of them listen when he explains his real problems or aspirations.
This leads me into the revelation of Fleck's childhood abuse. On the one hand I consider it borderline a cop-out to explain away his weirdness as a result of childhood trauma. You're putting the audience on the spot to either have antipathy to victims of severe childhood abuse or to attempt to condone their misdeeds as adults; it's very emotionally manipulative. Then again child abuse exists, the harmful repercussions of traumatic brain injury, maladjustment, heightened cortisol response, heightened risk to anti-social or maladaptive behavior is all based in fact. These are all aspects people will recognize on a surface level but have a harder time engaging as social ills. And these are hard social questions.
The fall. Once Arthur stands up for himself by killing the Wall Street 3 he's on a downhill ride. He experiences real life triggers: losing his job, his mother's ill health and revelations both about her relation to Wayne and his own traumatic life. It becomes easier for him to let his pro-social obligations slide and embrace his nascent anti-social tendencies. He embraces jokes that are funny only to him: punching out, "don't
forget to smile", laughing at the subway murders, etc. This is a film that builds tension the whole way through, but no one questions mistreatment of a weirdo like Fleck. For example the fact Fleck is brought on national TV to be mocked, that the segue way to his intro on Murray is talking about all the problems he has. There's a viciousness in the world that's tolerated as common experience, even if the person on the receiving end sees their place in the world is to make people happy as Fleck does. Joker is unsettling not simply for the awful things "unpredictable" people like Fleck do, but because we are not as good as we think we are. It's why Fleck ends up being the voice of something more to the general descent into madness of the city; our tendency of indifference to others and their struggles breeds disruption and malcontent. The Joker is a figurehead, a symptom of a sick society (
possibly literally); not an ethos.
Finally I have to address the vengeance once he fully lets go. The violence is visceral, the catharsis palpable. It's unnerving both how Phoenix portrays the indifference or satisfaction with which he carries it out, but then the subconscious aspect of the narrative which makes him an anti-hero. By the Arkham report we know his mother abused or allowed him to be abused terribly, then took him back in as if nothing as happened to be her own caretaker. Yet I doubt many would see the hospital scene in which he smothers her without a physical discomfort; a direct analogy would almost be something like Dr. Frankenstein destroyed by his creation. The coldness is unsettling but I suspect the subtext of possible justification is equally unnerving. But contrast there is violence we as the audience accept with less concern. No one feels as much discomfort as when the street hoodlums violently assault a sign-spinner, we don't care near as much as when the Wall Street 3 bully him on the train (it's almost welcome for them to redirect their anger from the female passenger to Arthur) and despite our disdain for his actions there is never equal disdain for Randall (his co-worker that bullies and manipulates Arthur) even when he is being his most self-serving and disingenuous (dude uses faux sympathy over the death of Fleck's mother to attempt to cover for his own crimes). There's an inconsistency in how we view misdeeds rooted in acceptable behavior. This is a critique of society crystallized in the lessons of Ledger's Joker, "Nobody panics when things go “according to plan”. Even if the plan is horrifying!" and it's the world the breaks characters like The Joker.
submitted by Release Date Free Comics Series Publishers Top Rated Top Selling Creators Genres Story Arcs Series Subscriptions Bundles Joker: Killer Smile (2019-) The Joker's Asylum (2008-2010) Joker: Last Laugh; Single Issues. View More; Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity (2019-2021) Issue #7; Batman: Three Jokers (2020) Issue #3; Batman: Three Jokers (2020) Issue #2; Batman: The Joker War Zone (2020) Issue Joker: Killer Smile #2 Writer: Jeff Lemire Artist: Andrea Sorrentino Publisher: DC Comics Release Date: December 18, 2019 Cover Price: $5.99 Critic Reviews: 9 User Reviews: 38 9.0 Critic Rating Writer: Jeff Lemire Artist: Andrea Sorrentino Publisher: DC Comics Release Date: October 30, 2019 Cover Price: $5.99 Critic Reviews: 20 User Reviews: 52. 9.0 Critic Rating. 9.1 User Rating. Everyone knows The Joker doesn't have the most promising history with psychotherapists. Joker: Killer Smile #2. Writer: Jeff Lemire Pencils: Andrea Sorrentino Colors: Jordie Bellaire Letters: Steve Wands Publisher: DC Comics Maturity Rating: M+ Release Date: December 18th, 2019. In Joker: Killer Smile #2 Dr. Ben Arnell can’t tell what’s real from what’s imaginary. With Arnell’s sanity splitting at the seams, could The Joker hold the key to his salvation? Release Date Free Comics Series Publishers Top Rated Top Selling Creators Genres Story Arcs Series Subscriptions Bundles Joker: Killer Smile (2019-) Issue #2. $5.99 5.99. Add to Cart. Joker: Killer Smile (2019-) Issue #3. $5.99 5.99. Add to Cart. About Us. Our Story; Contact Us; Careers; FAQs; More. Unlimited; Submit; Redeem; Mobile Site ; Ways to Read. iPhone/iPad app; Android app; Kindle Joker: Killer Smile #2 review. By. Casper Rudolph - December 18, 2019. 0. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Reddit Joker: Killer Smile #2 features colors by Jordie Bellaire. It has a main cover by Sorrentino and a variant by Kaare Andrews. It's set for release on December 18th, 2019 and the final order cutoff date for comic shops is Monday, November 18th, 2019. As an added treat, DC has shared the cover for the third issue. Everyone knows The Joker doesn’t have the most promising history with psychotherapists. In fact, no one’s even been able to diagnose him. But that doesn’t matter to the confident, world-beating Dr. Ben Arnell; he’s going to be the one to unravel this unknowable mind. There’s no way The Joker could ever get through the therapeutic walls Ben has built around himself. Right? There’s Joker Killer Smile #2. $5.99 Quantity . Add to Cart Add to Wishlist. Subscribe. VERY FINE/NEAR MINT (W) Jeff Lemire (A/CA) Andrea Sorrentino Ben Arnell promised his wife and child one thing: even though he spends his days attempting to reach the bottom of The Joker's insanity, he would never bring that madness home. No matter how dark the work gets, he would never allow The Joker's craziness In JOKER: KILLER SMILE Lemire and Sorrentino will share their own interpretation of one of the darkest characters of the Batman mythos—the Joker. For years, the Joker has terrorized Gotham, facing off with Batman time and time again. But now he’s found a new adversary, one that can deliver him from the purgatory of Arkham Asylum and set his madness free once more—the very doctor tasked
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