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The World Made Meme: Public Conversations and Participatory Media

Ryan M. Milner

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Internet memes -- digital snippets that can make a joke, make a point, or make a connection -- are...

Metamorphoses of the Vampire in Literature and Film: Cultural Transformations in Europe, 1732-1933

Erik Butler

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For the last three hundred years, fictions of the vampire have fed off anxieties about cultural...

Secrets of the Weird

Chad Stroup

7.5 (2 Ratings) Rate It

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"Trixie loathed her penis." That shocking revelation begins the emotional and personally horrifying...

Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated Joker (2019) in Movies

Oct 7, 2019 (Updated Oct 13, 2019)

Joker (2019)

2019 | Crime, Drama

8.5

(146 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is a broken and troubled man. Arthur toils in as demeaning and berated Clown for Hire, and lives with his troubled mother in a dilapidated apartment.
Arthur meets with a Social Worker in an attempt as the seven medications he takes simply are not cutting it and he struggles to cope in a world that has ignored and discarded him.

Arthur dreams of being a comedian but sadly lacks the confidence and ability to pull off his material which is iffy at best. Undaunted he keeps toiling away even when life continues to beat him down mentally and physically.
This all changes when Arthur stops being the victim during and assault and fights back.

Arthur stops taking his medication and becomes more determined and is no longer afraid to confront those who antagonize him.

This leads Arthur to some renewed opportunities such as an appearance on a talk show which he has long idolized.
All of this happens against a smoldering Gotham City where tensions are high and rising even higher due to a Garbage strike and a perception that the elite of the city have abandoned those in need such as eliminating Arthur’s Social Worker due to budget cuts.

With nowhere to go but up; Arthur transforms from a disturbed individual to a violent and deeply disturbed and dangerous individual who is angry and ready for revenge.

Phoenix is fantastic and he is not afraid to let unglamorous scenes of his very thin body or lingering close ups at unflattering angels undermine him. He uses them to illustrate just how disposable Arthur is too many in the film and to also show how little he cares about such matters. The role is deeply dark and disturbing and will no doubt spark much controversy and debate ranging from making a dangerous person a sympathetic figure as well as commentary about class structure and the danger of unstable people inspiring others via a Cult of Personality.

There is a connection to the larger Batman universe even though the film is light on action and FX. This is a character study of a decent into madness and it is deeply disturbing as it is compelling.

4.5 stars out of 5

http://sknr.net/2019/10/02/joker/