A brief thought on the surging critical article "Joker": the empty "theater" in the context of the global protest wave

Federico 2022-03-21 09:01:09

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I basically disagree with the views in this article, except that everyone agrees with the "mask personality".

This "madness" is outside the "normal society"-this is the first place I strongly oppose. Isn't this madness just the revelation and amplification behind the so-called mask of normal society, the truth of normal society? How to talk outside the normal society? This noble separation of the so-called normal society is very Nazi.

Second, the distinction between clown violence and mass violence is problematic. The movie only reveals the heart of the clown, not the heart of the crowd. How do you know that the crowd is different from the clown? The masses are one of the majority? Abstracting the masses as a symbol and giving a single personality is violence. The clown personality mask that symbolizes violence and resistance, and the life experience and psychology of each clown behind the mask cannot be completely singularized.

Third, although the performance of the clown has had an impact on protests around the world. But to reverse the connection between the film that took several years to produce and the current reality, the cause and effect are reversed and simplified.

Replenish:

At the beginning of the movie, the clown puts on makeup and goes to the street to work. The billboard was snatched by a gang of hooligans. ——This shows the evil of human nature, not class hatred.

In the film, the polarization between the rich and the poor and the psychological processes formed in the survival of the human society and family are intertwined.

The key to several psychological outbursts: the breakdown of the observant performance relationship between mother and son. The mother's treatment of clowns from physical violence to hidden violence in life control has something to do with the gap between the rich and the poor behind the mother's narcissistic personality, but it is not the only relationship. And the actual control of a mother's life (the kind of fragile and artificial mother's behavior and voice are too expressive!) is violence in violence, destroying the core of a person's trust in the world.

The daily ridicule of colleagues in the troupe is another form of neglected violence. The relationship between people is very cruel and cruel. Although the clown was unemployed, the dwarf and his colleagues who had laughed at the clown expressed kindness, but the clown could not escape the old account when the accumulated and enduring hatred broke out. Only the kind dwarf is immune from revenge.

Individual psychology and collective psychology have a convergence, and there is a side that needs to be represented and symbolized; but they are not equal.

The two levels in the film, the fragmentation of people in the family society in modern life, the hurting relationship and the structural violence, the two cannot be equal, they are mutually related and different. This is the more profound aspect of this movie. This situation is a common phenomenon in different countries and systems, especially in places where history has never been faced and the collective trauma will never be repaired.

The expression and symbolism of collective consciousness and violence in the film appear to be single and powerless. This is the focus of many criticisms. This point can be discussed more.

View more about Joker reviews

Extended Reading

Joker quotes

  • Arthur Fleck: [Arthur goes to Wayne Manor where he sees young Bruce and does a clown rooting form before talking to him through the gates] Hi. What's your name?

    Bruce Wayne: I'm Bruce.

    Arthur Fleck: Bruce. I'm Arthur.

    [He sticks his hands through the gate, puts his fingers on Bruce's face lifting the corners of his mouth as if to make him smile]

    Alfred Pennyworth: Bruce! Bruce! Get away from that man.

    Arthur Fleck: It's okay. I'm a good guy.

    Alfred Pennyworth: How do you do? Who are you?

    Arthur Fleck: I'm here to see Mr. Wayne.

    Alfred Pennyworth: Well, you shouldn't be speaking to his son

    [Giving back the fake flowers Arthur gave Bruce]

    Alfred Pennyworth: Why did you give him these flowers?

    Arthur Fleck: No, they're not real. It's magic. I was just trying to make Bruce smile.

    Alfred Pennyworth: Well, it's not funny, is it? Do I need to call the police?

    Arthur Fleck: No, please. My mother's name is Penny. Penny Fleck. She used to work here years ago. Can you please tell Mr. Wayne I need to see him?

    Alfred Pennyworth: You are her son?

    Arthur Fleck: Yeah. Did you know her? I know about the two of them. She told me everything.

    Alfred Pennyworth: There's nothing to know. There is no "them." Your mother was delusional. She was a sick woman.

    Arthur Fleck: Don't say that.

    Alfred Pennyworth: Just go. Before you make a fool of yourself.

    Arthur Fleck: Thomas Wayne is my father.

    Alfred Pennyworth: [Alfred starts laughing, causing Arthur in anger to put his hand through the gates around Alfred's neck and starts to choke him] Let go of me! Let go! Let go of me!

    [Arthur looks at Bruce watching with fear, he turns and runs off]

  • Detective Garrity: Mr. Fleck. Sorry to bother you. I'm Detective Garrity this is my partner, Detective Burke. We have a few questions for you, but you weren't home. So we spoke with your mother.

    Arthur Fleck: Oh. What did you say to her? Did you do this?

    Detective Garrity: What? No.

    Detective Burke: No, no, no. We just asked her some questions. She got hysterical. Hyperventilating, collapsed...

    Arthur Fleck: Yeah, but the doctor said she had a stroke.

    Detective Garrity: We're sorry to hear about that. But like I said, I still have some questions for you. They're about to subway killings that happened last week. You've heard about them right?

    Arthur Fleck: Yeah. It's horrible.

    Detective Garrity: Right.

    Detective Garrity: So we spoke with your boss, over at Ha-Ha's. He said you were fired for bringing a gun into the children's hospital. Is that true, Mr. Fleck?

    Arthur Fleck: It's a prop. It's part of my act. I'm a party clown.

    Detective Burke: All right, so why were you fired?

    Arthur Fleck: They said I wasn't funny enough. Can you imagine that? Now if you don't mind, I have to go take care of my mother.

    Detective Burke: Your boss also gave us one of your cards. This condition of yours, The laughing, is it real, or some sort of clown thing?

    Arthur Fleck: A clown thing?

    Detective Garrity: Yeah. I mean, part of your act?

    Arthur Fleck: What do you think?

    [Arthur turns and starts walking towards the hospital doors, but walks into the glass door]

    Detective Garrity: It's exit only.