Irina B

“Sat numb through every frame, only to be haunted afterward by a grief I hadn’t felt in the theater—a mourning for the masterpiece that might have been.” - A Joaquin Phoenix Joker Superfan

I did not go into this movie with high expectations, considering I'm not a big fan of comedy. However, this movie blew me away. From the whimsical visuals to the messages, it was a movie of extremes—of opposites. Loudly quiet, deeply superficial, satisfyingly frustrating, frustratingly satisfying, lightheartedly depressing… I could go on. There were many messages conveyed very directly, for example, the office illusion scene representing how the system is designed to make you feel stuck. However, maybe we just have to be brave enough to be ourselves and think differently—find another way. It is what it is, but does it have to be? Even in its more subtle representations, such as the idiotic cabbage patch idea, it seemed so stupid until it wasn’t. Who are we to say what’s stupid? Also, there's the fragile balance between respecting ourselves and others. These polarizing approaches were apparent in the salad scene, where the setting provided a middle ground for two extreme reactions. Maybe everything isn’t so black and white? Yes, the system is not designed to help the common person; yes, white privilege is a thing; yes, respect is important; yes, life is so unfair and ridiculous and absolutely terrible and we should just bellow anarchy, destroy everything, and then GIVE UP! Or maybe we just need to stop taking everything so seriously. Maybe despite this unfairness and system, we just focus on not making the difficult more difficult. Maybe we should let our child-self through. Let ourselves have stupid ideas and pursue what we want without so much sense of ridicule all the time. It’s not that serious. Overall, fantastic movie. There was so much attention to detail, and the messaging was creatively done and very thought-provoking. I will be watching this again.