Upsetting People is Not Revolutionary

Well, The Joker just hit theatres, and honestly, I’m not sure whether I’m going to see it.

Quite a few cultural critics I admire and respect have panned it, still others have said it was boring and unambitious — and frankly, it’s no secret that I’m not the biggest fan of comics, for a variety of reasons. I’m curious, sure, but based on what I’ve heard from various podcasts and Youtube shows, as well as friends’ chatter and Twitter, it’s basically a dumbed-down Taxi Driver or Fight Club, without realising that those movies were critical of the main character’s perception of the world.

Of course, there’s also the problem that the director, Todd Phillips, talked about “triggering people” dismissively in some interviews, and both he and Warner Brothers seem to want to have it both ways — to upset people, to flirt with inciting violence, and to insist that it’s just art, which cannot be censored (and that criticism is the same as censorship…which it isn’t, by the way.) Phillips also complains about “woke culture” with the sort of embittered smugness that generally demarcates other failing comedians — such as Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K, Jerry Seinfeld, and other men who have mistaken their own prestige for talent.

Joaquin Phoenix, the twee, breathy method acting star, also seems to have made the same mistake. “I wasn’t comfortable while making the film,” he insisted. But while I really loved his acting and the movie Her in general, I can’t help rolling my eyes at this take.