I think that Arthur is a character made in the mind of the Joker. Arthur is the soft side of the Joker that no one likes. In this movie the Joker realizes that his soft side must die off in order to have power and the love of his life (Harley). The sequel is the fall of humane Arthur and the uprising of the Joker. The real Joker that is imagining the whole thing is the prisoner that offs him at the end.
I really enjoyed your review and thought that it brought both clarity and sanity to the reviewing scene of this movie. I was honestly quite surprised, halfway through the movie, at how invested I actually was in it, mainly because of all the previous negative reviews and opinions I’d heard about it just before actually watching it. By the way, I'm a huge fan of the first Joker movie and remember it leaving me both completely shocked and speechless at the end. The sheer rawness, realism, brutality, and anguish showcased in that movie, of course with the help of that terrifying musical track, left it lingering in my mind for longer than I want to admit. It honestly scared and terrified me more than the vast majority of horror movies I’ve ever watched. I think what the majority of reviewers and people in general failed to understand about the two Joker movies by Todd Phillips is that, as you said in your review, the movies themselves aren't really about the Joker we are all used to from previous franchises… This one-man-army persona. Seemingly an unstoppable/unkillable genius maniac who's always two steps ahead of you, sitting on top of Gotham's pyramid of criminality and pulling all the strings and cords of its vast underworld just to satisfy his triad obsession with chaos, pain, and destruction. Just from the description alone, one can conclude that the existence of such a man, let alone a "creature," in the real world is nothing but mere fantasy. Having all of these aforementioned traits manifest in one individual is basically unheard of and quite frankly impossible. I think Todd Phillips's take on the Joker's persona in his two movies is an attempt at formulating an origin story for the Joker that could still work and be plausible in the real world. But as I said before, the characteristics of the Joker that we're all familiar with can't really be manifested in an individual from the real world. This would, of course, mean that the Joker created in this seemingly "realistic" world would be less intelligent, much weaker, much less powerful, much less dominant, and lastly, much more human than the one we are all used to. Another thing that made Todd Phillips's Joker movies stand out to me is his choice for the individual who will eventually become the first Joker of Gotham City, Arthur Fleck. He could have opted for a serial killer, a psychopath, a sociopath, or some sort of crazy political anarchist, etc. But what he actually chose was this seemingly completely innocent and misfortunate man, Arthur Fleck, who has been constantly and viciously wronged and tortured by his environment (since childhood)-from parents, to friends, to working colleagues, and even his heroes/favorite celebrities. A man who doesn't really carry an evil persona with him, nor does he seem to have any bad intentions toward the people who are just neutral toward him. A shell of a man whose persona is closer to that of a child rather than an adult. At some point in his life (probably since childhood), Arthur finds a way to "cope" or deal with his vicious environment, and that's by basically "zoning out" of reality itself. This "zoning out" can manifest itself in two very different forms. And by different, I mean that they are totally opposite mechanisms. The first one is a simple, all-glamorous, and overly optimistic fantasy of himself achieving and living his biggest dreams of: 1. Becoming a super popular and successful stand-up comedian and easily making people around him laugh. 2. Meeting and becoming friends with his favorite hero/celebrity/stand-up comedian. The second iteration of "zoning out," on the other hand, is on a completely different spectrum. In this form, Arthur basically abandons all of his aspirations, fears, and boundaries, becoming this all-confident and nonchalant "Joker" person. He unleashes all of his anger and pain onto the world, especially onto the people who have previously wronged him. He enjoys that feeling of revenge or "justice" that he gets by torturing or killing them, "giving them what they deserve." This way of telling the origin story of the Joker gives us insight into how such an anarchistic and destructive force can be born into our real societies-not only from origins of psychopathy (lack of empathy), greed, lust, or hunger for power-but also from seemingly the weakest, most broken, and most abandoned individuals. This is also emphasized in both movies by showcasing the constant approval of a large portion of the masses of the Joker's actions and their embracement of his outer look and persona (the masks, the makeup, and the rioting). The masses see Arthur's Joker as the hero who broke the silence about the social and economic injustices from which they've all been suffering from throughout their entire lives. Arthur's final "outburst" or "zone out" as the Joker, leading him to go on that killing spree, was nothing but a mere spark that ignited the feeling of revenge and "justice" (through rioting, killing, and destruction) in the hearts of all Gotham’s other Jokers. The Joker of the real world isn’t just a single person but rather a persona that is lingering in all of our hearts, waiting for that bleak opportunity of total weakness, loss of hope and mental collapse, to finally take over... Simply put: "The Joker resides in all of us"
As a critique of your review, great visuals and narration, found the backing track relaxing, complementing the tone of the narrator. Made some compelling arguments which I neither agree or disagree with but it gave me pause for thought, however from my perspective I found the switch of tone to describe a differing view distracting and you almost lost me. Screen crush can pull it off as he uses the gimick of the dog, didn't think it worked for you. (My humble opinion). Glad I stayed, was a good take on the film
Appreciate the feedback! Definitely gotta still work on the craft since it’s my first official review but I definitely love the critiques so I can learn to be better👍🏼
