But... we're not talking about real life, we're talking about a film and its screenplay and storytelling. I wasn't talking about moral dilemmas when I said the film was on the nose with its portrayal of the protagonist. I simply didn't think it was elegant or subtle, and I was really annoyed by the very obvious way the character was written and portrayed. This has nothing to do with whether or not people like him in real life are treated this way or that way.CASE wrote: ↑October 10th, 2019, 4:14 amAnd speaking of scums.
I bet that those Wall Street pieces of crap would kill Arthur with no blink if they would be sure that they wouldn't be caught. Just for fun. That type of people.
I just like the message of this movie: be nice people to each other, have some empathy because somebody maybe will run out of it. Don't make jokes of someone because he's diffrent. And especially don't make such jokes in american highschools
Joker (2019)
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CASE wrote: ↑October 10th, 2019, 4:14 amAnd speaking of scums.
I bet that those Wall Street pieces of crap would kill Arthur with no blink if they would be sure that they wouldn't be caught. Just for fun. That type of people.
I just like the message of this movie: be nice people to each other, have some empathy because somebody maybe will run out of it. Don't make jokes of someone because he's diffrent. And especially don't make such jokes in american highschools
Posts: 81
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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/09/movi ... versy.html
This review perfectly sums up what me and my friends discussed after the movie. In a big blockbuster movie tied to a notorious and beloved character, what's the likelihood you'd see a white director cast this many black folks. Why were most of the women Arthur interacted with black? And why didn't any of them have a name? It was so jarring as a black woman to see in this kind of movie. But what struck me the most is that we never see this kind of exploration or empathy given to a black character who does crazy, devious shit. He'd probably wouldn't even be able to do most of the stuff he got away with. I'm not sure I would have even thought about that as much if Phillips hadn't cast so many black people to underscore that fact. But I'm left wondering if Phillips had another intention for doing that, or if they're just easier props used to make Arthur *more* sympathetic. It's just a really odd movie. Well made, but I'm not sure what the racial angle is and why it's there. And it's there.
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Still, what struck me most is that what the film wants to say — about mental illness or class divisions in American society — is not as interesting as what it accidentally says about whiteness. For it is essentially a depiction of what happens when white supremacy is left unchecked. It shows the delusions that many white men have about their place in society and the brutality that can result when that place is denied.
Though Fleck is pursued and investigated by Gotham’s finest, his whiteness acts as a force field, protecting him as he engages in the violent acts of the latter half of the film. Consider his appearance on the live talk show hosted by Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro). A black man acting as strangely as Fleck does would not have been allowed to go on the air. But the white Fleck is given access, and bloodshed soon follows.
Or look at how Fleck interacts with others. He is frequently in conversation with people who occupy a lower rung in society than he does: a state-appointed therapist he sees early on; a protective mother who chastises him for playing peekaboo with her son on the bus; his possible love interest, a neighbor who lives in the same building; and the psychiatrist he sees in Arkham Asylum. Every one of these characters is a black woman with whom he eventually has confrontations. Phillips consistently places Fleck in an oppositional or antagonistic position to these women.
I don’t know if this is intentional on Phillips’s part, but it is significant. When we learn that his relationship with the neighbor (played with artful restraint by Zazie Beetz) was merely a figment of his troubled imagination, the way he leaves the apartment implies that this realization has led Fleck to kill her and perhaps her child. After his final conversation with the Arkham doctor, his bloody footsteps suggest that he kills her as well.
Fleck kills white men because he cannot access their status and is ostracized by them, but his black female victims are so invisible that the film does not bother to show their deaths. We as viewers can and should take note of them.
There are other ways that whiteness informs Fleck’s character. He anticipates he’ll be treated as a son by the Wayne family, and assumes he’ll be given medical records just by asking the hospital orderly (played by the great Brian Tyree Henry). The privileges that come with Fleck’s race set him up for these unrealistic expectations. When they’re not met, the consequences are deadly.
Whiteness may not have been on the filmmakers’ minds when they made “Joker,” but it is the hidden accomplice that fosters the violence onscreen.This review perfectly sums up what me and my friends discussed after the movie. In a big blockbuster movie tied to a notorious and beloved character, what's the likelihood you'd see a white director cast this many black folks. Why were most of the women Arthur interacted with black? And why didn't any of them have a name? It was so jarring as a black woman to see in this kind of movie. But what struck me the most is that we never see this kind of exploration or empathy given to a black character who does crazy, devious shit. He'd probably wouldn't even be able to do most of the stuff he got away with. I'm not sure I would have even thought about that as much if Phillips hadn't cast so many black people to underscore that fact. But I'm left wondering if Phillips had another intention for doing that, or if they're just easier props used to make Arthur *more* sympathetic. It's just a really odd movie. Well made, but I'm not sure what the racial angle is and why it's there. And it's there.
I really underestimated how much my sister liked this stupid movie. She was talking about how people on Twitter have been hating on it and with full 100% confidence she says "People need to realize that it's a good movie with just a few flaws."
Smh.
Smh.
your sister is right
she is not. this is a hill i am willing to die on even though there are way better hills to die on
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Even though the film is somewhat divisive among critics and hardcore cinephiles, it is connecting with mainstream moviegoers. It has been putting up really great weekday box office numbers. It will be over 135 million already going into it's second weekend.
Of course it is. It's giving normies just enough "edgy" visuals and low-hanging-fruit themes ("boy bobby do you think that movie was about class and mental health?" "gee billy I think you're right!") to feel elevated and engaged by the material.radewart wrote: ↑October 10th, 2019, 11:57 pmEven though the film is somewhat divisive among critics and hardcore cinephiles, it is connecting with mainstream moviegoers. It has been putting up really great weekday box office numbers. It will be over 135 million already going into it's second weekend.
I don't even think that's a bad thing, and that's not to say Joker is incapable of thoughtful positive takes by thoughtful people (they're out there), it's just an explanation of why some average viewers are connecting with it. Without missing a beat, every single one of my non-movie friends loved it. I'm sure I'll be labeled condescending or patronizing for this comment, and maybe it is, but I don't think that means I'm wrong.
-Vader
this movie has given me oodles of entertainment without even watching it
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Here's the thing: this is a superhero/comicbook movie that is a slow-paced, R-rated character study (no matter whether you think it is superficial or even good) without tons of CG explosions or even a happy ending...none of these things are what the general moviegoing public associates with comicbook/superhero films at all so to many people watching the film this seems new and potentially a bit more mature for the genre it operates in. People are not used to this kind of storytelling from films that deal with DC or Marvel characters and I think if people in the future try to do more character studies without big explosions and lots of CG effects acting as substitutes for character and theme that can potentially be a good thing, no?
