Joker Should Never Have Been a Period Film
Since the first trailer came out last spring, it was obvious that Joker was indebted to the films of the 1970s, particularly Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. One of the ways director Todd Phillips does this is by setting the film in 1981 Gotham City, which is plagued by garbage strikes, super rats, and rampant cruelty. This makes Joker one of the few comic-book movies to be set in the past, which allows for some excellent production design, costuming, and inside jokes — in the original comic Bruce Wayne’s parents were killed after seeing 1940’s The Mark of Zorro, here the murder occurs after seeing the 1981 camp classic, Zorro, The Gay Blade.
Whatever the virtues of this decision, however, it is also emblematic of Joker’s biggest weakness: while it pretends to be a character study of one person’s evolution into a domestic terrorist, it does nothing to analyze how people actually get there.
Joker re-imagines Batman’s most nefarious foe as Arthur Fleck, a mentally ill loner who lives with his mother and dreams of being a stand-up comedian. No matter what he does, he is always portrayed as the victim: of bullies who beat him up, of a mother who allowed him to be abused as a child, of people who laugh at his failed attempts to do comedy, of a welfare system that cuts him off due to lack of funds, and society at large.
