Joker (2019): 8 Major Problems No One Wants To Admit

4. The Idea Of A Joker Who Doesn't Understand Comedy Is Great, But...

It's always exciting to see a comic book movie put its own spin on a given character or story arc. Adaptations should never be so beholden to the source material that they suffocate and, to Joker's credit, the film does at least conjure a new mythology for Gotham City, and of course for the title character as well. Situated within the context of past Batman films and stories, there are plenty of positives to take away from the film - not least of which is the idea of a Joker who really isn't all that funny to begin with.

Arthur Fleck does not understand comedy. He's compelled to comedy from his own childhood trauma but it's never something he truly understands. He goes to open mic nights in an attempt to determine the humour of the contemporary zeitgeist (in this case late seventies America), which is of course crude, offensive, and exactly the kind of comedy director Todd Phillips seems so intent on practicing in today's "woke" culture.

Separate the film from Phillips, and there's something incredibly interesting about seeing a version of the character who isn't funny. He doesn't *get* comedy at all, and his entire act as a clown - while well intentioned - isn't exactly the most intricately detailed set. That's really interesting, especially as it comes to play a role in the character's exchange with Murray Franklin later.

But then, when you consider Phillips' rant about the supposedly stifling effects of "woke culture" on comedy, the film takes on an entirely different kind of face. I'll get to the manifesto later, but when Arthur is laughing at jokes that only punch down, is this actually a case of Phillips pining for offensive comedy? Likewise, the scene with Gary (a character with dwarfism), where he can't escape from Arthur seems as though it was played for laughs, when it's actually incredibly uncomfortable.

The entire 'joke' is that he can't reach for the door after being trapped in a room where he could die, and the issue only gets harder to ignore when Arthur appears on the Murray Franklin show in the next sequence.