Monday, October 21, 2019
The Joke’s on Us
This is not meant to be a substantive movie “review.” I like movies, both light entertainment and quality “film.” I “get” Kubrick and even David Lynch (in small doses).
Over the last several weeks I’ve seen several reviews addressing the movie “Joker.” Some very positive and some very negative. Many alluding to political issues from either side of the spectrum.
After hearing one particularly good review by an intelligent reviewer who addressed the fine art aspects of the film, I decided to see it in spite of some of the negative things I had read about the film.
I can’t take a strong stand on things like this because I totally leave open the possibility that I’m missing something. I could totally be wrong but,...I think it absolutely sucked. Not only was the plot relatively meaningless and the context a bizarre negative caricature of the world we live in, I just didn’t see the great art in it that so many others saw.
I’m no fan of gratuitous violence. In that regard, my response was similar to that of “Reservoir Dogs” when several people told me how great that film was. Watching a bound person having their ear cut off and being doused in gasoline is not my idea of “art.” “Hannibal” was another classic example of Hollywood garbage. Violence can sometimes have merit in a film (e.g. “Saving Private Ryan”) but the kind of imagery depicted in Joker and films like it is beyond gratuitous. I’ve certainly seen worse and it would be misleading to imply that the movie does not have more than some isolated scenes of violence.
Again....who am I to say. I could totally be wrong, but film is an art form. I believe art should leave one with a richer understanding of life or spark one’s imagination. Sometimes philosophical insight requires dabbling in the darker aspects of life and there are some very good films which do this, sometimes including violence “to make their point.”
People have different tastes and my views are not the final word on what makes a good movie but...
Our current age is clogged with a decline in creative quality. Between cars flipping over and exploding (Joker has that too, of course), there’s not a lot offered that elevates the human condition.
No doubt “Joker” offers something for someone.
You know that feeling when you’ve stuffed yourself with cookies and cake and the next day all you can think of is a fresh salad and a fruit dish? That’s kind of how I felt after this “film.” I think I’ll rent “The Sound of Music” to cleanse my pallet of this garbage.
