Ronald Williams

I saw the Joker, by Joaquin Phoenix a couple of days ago, and had to think about it. Between Heath and Phoenix, as a first time Joker character that goes along with the Batman persona...Heath is the ultimate Joker criminal- genius and ruthless, as one of those should be. No remorse, just rolling anarchy. That being said, Phoenix's version is about as close to the Batman Joker of lore as comparing apples to submarines. This Joker was about a person beat into being insane as a child, and then embracing the wildness of justice that can come with brutality as an adult. The only time Batman will ever come to mind is when there is a direct scene involving that family within the movie. This Joker tried to save himself from going this path his entire life, until the beatings and betrayals culminated in him breaking from a predetermined society's view of what was right and taking his own path, which is complete freedom-and all that truly entails. My son had told me beforehand that people had been walking out because the film was so disturbing (I know for sure it had to be liberals-same as the critics), so I watched closely for why. Phoenix even used his body (doesn't look like he normally does) to show how his psychology was splintering a bit at a time. I've never seen an actor use their body as effectively as he did in this. The closest I can come with words is that the reason Phoenix got to that physical state was to show the waves of madness wriggling just beneath the surface. This would be the beginning of what made the movie unsettling to liberals. They would instinctively know, they are the sickness just below the surface of the nation...they might not know exactly what is unsettling, but they would feel it. This movie has a strong undercurrent of politics, though Joker has no interest in politics, he does love the anarchy the movie's cultists cause. He is framed as a vigilante of the poor, downtrodden, the forgotten and the insane. The other character of importance, but had little screen time was Batman's dad, who was running for mayor. A super-rich persona who blatantly states he knows what's best for Gotham and to just get in line so he can Make Gotham Great Again by himself, actually a line in there that is very close to that...it's no accident. Antifa, the SJW of the Blue Left? The cultists of the Joker that are causing havoc and protesting are them but on steroids. They are protesting Wayne-partly because he's very rich- beating up cops, lighting things on fire, destroying cars, causing destruction and the whole time, Joker is laughing at the havoc and anarchy while not caring at all about the politics and emotional rhetoric of the mob. That is what disturbed the cancerous blue liberals and caused them to walk out of theaters, this portrayed the cultists wearing clown masks (covering their faces like Antifa) and how the leader, Joker, doesn't even care about the politics, but he liked using the stupid lemmings to wreak havoc...this hit too close to home for the blue liberals. It's definitely a thinking person's movie. Probably the most authentic, true work of artistry Phoenix has ever done, and I have never been a fan of his- truth is truth.