Go see Joker

**SteyrAUG** · 10-04-19, 01:08

Originally Posted by Firefly

Taxi Driver was about an incel. Taxi Driver was a cartoon.

Taxi Driver was more about the duality of man than that Platoon horseshit and moral struggle with Elias and Barnes. Within one person, there was an assassin and a savior and even Travis didn't know which one it was going to be yet. Time, place and opportunity dictated the outcome. He missed his chance at Palatine so instead of being John Hinkley the despised he instead became the hero taxi driver that rescued Iris from prostitution, took on the mob to make it happen and returned her safely to her family while incurring great personal injury in the process.

And more importantly, due to his actions and perceived motivations he got the girl. He was now the bad boy man of action who did more than even Palatine to "fix the city" and after that everyone saw him only as the dark night.

Taxi Driver remains one of the few BRILLIANT films ever made.

That said, on your recommendation and the decrying of the movie by MSM, I'll give this one a chance. Usually if the MSM shits all over it, it will be a good one.

**Jellybean** · 10-04-19, 01:24

Originally Posted by Boy Scout

It must be that good because the left is going crazy about it (negatively). Numerous articles “warning” the public about it and complaining about it’s themes and message.

Oh yeah. They're going apeshit, they've got police guarding theaters, the military issuing warnings to its personnel, the "critics" getting all sour....
The hue and cry going up from The Usual Suspects really says everything you need to know. You also gotta love how the underlying ploy to stop people from going to see it is the threat of violence...
I generally wonder if someone will try to stage an event so they can push to have it banned or something...
Seriously, they're really going loony over this thing, I wouldn't be surprised...

**gaijin** · 10-04-19, 04:49

Yeah, gotta see this one.

**flenna** · 10-04-19, 05:55

Originally Posted by Firefly

Taxi Driver was about an incel. Taxi Driver was a cartoon.

Joker hits too close to the bone.
Without going into spoilers, he’s not a bad guy. He’s not. He is implicitly innocent at first. Just an ordinary, downtrodden man trying to get by.

He has problems which are explained and aren’t unreasonable. And he keeps trying so damn hard throughout. I cannot say he is sympathetic as much as he is totally understandable.

Ledger’s Joker was most likely a soldier whose One Bad Day started in SWA. A bit grandiose but not totally out of the question.

Nicholson’s Joker was a gangster goombah who had a taste for Vaudeville.

Romero’s Joker was simply a classical imp who was darkly subversive for the 60s(I actually like his Joker most of all)

But Phoenix Joker is legitimately horrifying because he could be anybody. Throw enough shit at someone long enough and don’t be shocked if he throws shit back in deuces.

There are points in the film where you see that if something was just a bit different that all the bad could have been avoided. He never stops being sincerely and genuinely optimistic until he realizes nothing is going to change. Then it gets dark.

The joke is ultimately on YOU. The viewer. Because you live in the clown world YOU helped create either by doing too much, not enough, or nothing at all.

These are the 2010s folks. Where we have devolved to the point that villainous traits seem not just reasonable but essential to survive.

It’s brilliant.

As for Letos Joker.. that never happened

Sounds like Falling Down but with clown makeup. And Falling Down was a good movie.

**MegademiC** · 10-04-19, 07:45

Really? The previews looked horrible. Like a broadway show type movie- not my thing at all.

Maybe I got the wrong impression.

**mack7.62** · 10-04-19, 10:56

Look at who writes the reviews.

**RMiller** · 10-04-19, 11:11

I may venture to see it.

It would be the only time this year.

A gem in a sea of trash?

**glocktogo** · 10-04-19, 11:30

Originally Posted by Firefly

Taxi Driver was about an incel. Taxi Driver was a cartoon.

Joker hits too close to the bone.
Without going into spoilers, he’s not a bad guy. He’s not. He is implicitly innocent at first. Just an ordinary, downtrodden man trying to get by.

He has problems which are explained and aren’t unreasonable. And he keeps trying so damn hard throughout. I cannot say he is sympathetic as much as he is totally understandable.

Ledger’s Joker was most likely a soldier whose One Bad Day started in SWA. A bit grandiose but not totally out of the question.

Nicholson’s Joker was a gangster goombah who had a taste for Vaudeville.

Romero’s Joker was simply a classical imp who was darkly subversive for the 60s(I actually like his Joker most of all)

But Phoenix Joker is legitimately horrifying because he could be anybody. Throw enough shit at someone long enough and don’t be shocked if he throws shit back in deuces.

There are points in the film where you see that if something was just a bit different that all the bad could have been avoided. He never stops being sincerely and genuinely optimistic until he realizes nothing is going to change. Then it gets dark.

The joke is ultimately on YOU. The viewer. Because you live in the clown world YOU helped create either by doing too much, not enough, or nothing at all.

These are the 2010s folks. Where we have devolved to the point that villainous traits seem not just reasonable but essential to survive.

It’s brilliant.

As for Letos Joker.. that never happened

When people talk about the mass shooter, incel, disaffected SWM "problem" in America, they always talk about gun control, SSRI's, mental health diagnoses, etc., and I shake my head. What's my answer? "Be Nice"

It really does boil down to that. I've long ago lost the link and wish I could find it again, but there was a mass shooter who took out his rage and impotence on his place of employment. They had an unarmed guard (an oxymoron if I've ever heard one) and the entrance. He survived the rampage. Why? Because he was nice. I don't remember all the details but this one stuck with me. The guard was interviewed after the crime and he said the guy walked in with his gun, paused at the guard and said "You were always nice to me, so I'm not going to kill you today.", then proceeded to kill several coworkers and bosses.

That stuck with me. You may never know the only thing that saved you from being murdered was just being nice to someone. Let's face it, there are some people you just can't help. They are on a collision course with harsh reality and cannot be persuaded to correct course. I've known people like that and done what I could to help them understand why everyone shuns them. The whole "it's not all of them, it's you" soft talk. Their wiring will never allow them to function well in a society. That doesn't mean you need to beat them over the head with their deficiencies on a continual basis.

I'll definitely go see this one based on Fly's recommendation. It sounds like a familiar real-life theme, with some dramatic flair thrown in. Joaquin Phoenix has always struck me as one of those odd ducks anyway. He's probably the perfect actor to make this role his own.