In Todd Phillip's Joker, Joaquin Phoenix plays the titular character, who in this telling is a man named Arthur Fleck. The name of the character for a "Joker" is always up for grabs, as one of the joys of the character is his own telling in graphic novels of various origin stories and life events. So, too, this movie is, in the end, framed as if it could be just the Joker telling a story in the famed Arkham Asylum. The film is a true example of the most unreliable of narrators possible. At the end, it is unclear who he really is and what, if anything, of the events in the film actually occurred in universe.

The story, though, centers around Fleck as he tries to go from street clown, the only booming job market in Gotham, it seems, to stand up comedian. He is sad and has been picked on all his life for being different and having a medical condition that makes him laugh when nervous or anxious, which is all the time. After being beat up by a few teenagers, a colleague at the clown emporium, or whatever, gives him an illegal gun to protect himself. He's then fired for dropping said gun while performing in a children's hospital. On his way home to his mother, who may or may not be alive, he runs into some rude finance bros on the subway. He gets them to leave someone alone, they beat him up, he shoots them while laughing and is "set free" or something from the confines of society.

Oh, and he also has to stop seeing his therapist due to budget cuts. Without the therapist, he leans into his fantasy, powerful murder clown, life. He has a one-sided, fantasyland, relationship with a neighbor that does not actually know who he is, and then is visited by some police officers trying to find the killer. They were pointed his way by the clown that gave him the gun. A cult following for Joker being a symbol against the aristocratic, elite society of New York...erm...Gotham then arrises, feeding his ego.

Two clown friends come by when Fleck is getting ready to go on the Tonight Show, or whatever they call it with Robert De Niro in the movie. One is the guy who sold him out to the cops, and so he dies, but Fleck lets the other guy leave, because he was nice to him. He is half-heartedly chased by the police before he evades them entirely and gets to the studio. On the show with De Niro, who Joker had idolized all his life, but who had showed a clip of a failed standup routine and made fun of him before inviting him on, his joke is to murder De Niro on live TV, which starts an all-out riot. Then to the asylum.

The acting awards that Phoenix is winning are also interesting, as he plays a character with many of his own mental health issues, but to some extreme extent, and just mumbles and laughs the whole time. It is hard to decide if him actually being Arthur Fleck is meta in some way, or just boring and lazy.

So, there is plenty to discuss here, along with why on earth someone felt the movie needed made and why it is receiving so many accolades. Yes, it calls out income injustice in this country, especially when Fleck goes off to try and prove that Thomas Wayne, yes that Wayne, is his father. It also points out that the margins of society being cared for, i.e. the poor and mentally unwell, is good not just for them but for the whole of society. These and more are great points. however, when the message is all together, it views more as, take care of people and be nice, otherwise everyone will cheer and applaud when they violently murder you, and that will be what you have coming. That is not a particularly healthy message. The realities of toxic masculinity and immoral justifications for actions can also be useful for conversation. While a comic book film, not one for the kids, of course.