What Song Is Used In The Joker Origin Movie Reveal?
And why it's a perfect choice...
When Warner Bros and director Todd Phillips revealed the "first look" at Joaquin Phoenix's Joker on social media, the response was inevitably huge. It wasn't all entirely positive, admittedly, but if you drop a Joker reveal at any time, you know you're going to be getting a big response.
It was a simple, effective reveal that offered the antithesis to everything that had defined Jared Leto's more post-modern iteration of the character (in this case, difference is the best currency for the origin film) and it got the mood absolutely perfect.
The look itself was a big part of that, but once more Warner Bros have nailed the creative choices behind their teaser and mostly in terms of the music used. It's something they proved themselves particularly adept with with the Suicide Squad trailers (or at least the trailer company they employed did) and this reveal continues the trend.
The Song they've used is "Laughing" by The Guess Who, a 1969 number one hit for the Canadian legends (suggesting this film WILL be set in the early 1970s at the latest). And they couldn't have chosen a better one.
So, why is it the perfect choice? Well, because of the lyrics and what we know about Phillips' origin story. From what we've been teased already, this take on the Joker will mesh Scorsese's King Of Comedy with the classic The Man Who Laughs comic (with a healthy side of Taxi Driver thrown in by the look of it) to paint the portrait of a man driven to crime and mental instability.
Joaquin Phoenix's pre-Joker character will apparently be a well-meaning but slightly warped individual while EVERYONE else is a grotesque (Gothamites at their most vaudeville and cartoonish) who push him over the edge. And just look at the lyrics in that context...
" I should laugh, but I cry, Because your love has passed me by, You took me by surprise, You didn't realize but I was waiting, Time goes slowly, but carries on, And now the best years have come and gone, You took me by surprise, I didn't realize that you were laughing, 'cause you're doin' it to me (Laughing), it ain't the way it should be. You took away everything I had, you put the hurt on me, I go alone now, calling your nameAfter losing at the game."
It's the story of a man victimised and lamenting his loss and it all devolves into manic laughter. It's almost like an anthem for the Joker.
Talk about a perfect choice.