The Joker contains multitudes. He’s the clown prince of crime, he’s “sart of like an evil porson,” and he’s somehow the subject of both a touching transgender coming-of-age movie and countless alpha male memes. He permeates culture so deeply because of how universally applicable his character is. He represents existing on the fringes of society and becoming so disillusioned with life that you lose your sanity, and yet he also represents the worst guy you know’s Halloween costume.
This duality was exemplified in Todd Phillips’ Joker, a meditation on Martin Scorcese’s Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy. Its Joker, Arthur Fleck, is played by Joaquin Phoenix as a tortured wannabe comedian struggling with mental illness. The striking result won Phoenix the Oscar for Best Actor, and when the sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, was announced, fans expected a similar lone-wolf screed against society. The result, now streaming on Max, is a strange amalgamation of a movie musical and a courtroom drama, as well as the perfect answer to the first movie’s legacy and what it means to have your image mean more than yourself.
