Prediction: Few Will Like Joker

Heath Ledger's verison of Bob Kane's famous Batman villain the Joker took some large leaps away from the days of Caesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Hamill, in which the character had been compared to a crazy uncle with a knack for pranks. Ledger's Joker was a genuine terrorist, totally devoid of empathy and thus a very un-sympathetic man. It was a performance that won him an Oscar.

In Joker, the standalone comic book origin story centering on the famous antagonist and directed by Todd Phillips, Joaquin Phoenix takes over the role. Phoenix, one of the most admired actors around, will most likely be more appreciated than Jared Leto's divisive performance in Suicide Squad. Phoenix, from what we can tell from the recent trailer, seems to divert from the Ledger take in that it appears we are to sympathize with him and understand his transformation from God's lonely man to Batman villain. That might have worked twenty years ago, but these days, audiences will likely have problems with it. We live in an era of constant mass shootings, most of which are committed by white men. The Joker, or Arthur (as he's initially called in this film), is a white man who, certainly from the looks of the trailer and the canon, does terrible things (often with a gun). After gun shootings happen, the media, politicians, and the public are encouraged to avoid spreading the killer's name to prevent any glorification they might have been seeking. I'm worried this movie about a loser whom society hates will inspire others to commit mass shootings; recall that the Aurora, Colorado mass shooter was dressed as the Joker.

Joker's storytelling angle might have worked a few decades ago. Robert De Niro will appear in Joker as a late-night TV show host, and the implications are that Arthur, a struggling comedian, admires this host and might even try to forcibly take his show from him. Sound familiar? It should, because it's very reminiscent of The King of Comedy, the 1982 dark comedy directed by Martin Scorsese about an unfunny comedian (played by De Niro) who sabotages the life of his idol, a late-night comedian played by Jerry Lewis. There are also hints in the trailer of homages to Taxi Driver, the 1976 collaboration between De Niro and Scorsese. The delusions of grandeur of The King of Comedy and the loneliness and violence of Taxi Driver seem to heavily influence Joker. Indeed, Scorsese was at one point an executive producer on the film before departing due to a busy schedule. But the 1970s and 80s are over, and audiences are more skeptical of films that want viewers to feel pity for violent (often white) men.

Even with audiences who are willing to overlook the fact that we're told to watch the making of a terrorist, the movie is taking a big risk in showing the genesis of an iconic character that most don't want. Other than Alan Moore's influential The Killing Joke, origin storytelling of the Joker has made fans groan. The most famous example is in the 1989 blockbuster directed by Tim Burton, in which Nicholson's Joker was depicted as the murderer of Bruce Wayne's parents. (A young Bruce Wayne will appear in Joker, and I think he's the kid who Arthur is creepily forcing to smile at the 1:47 mark in the trailer.) In The Dark Knight, Ledger's Joker often asks his victims if they want to know how he got those terrible scars on his face. The first time, the explanation involves his drunk father and victim mother. Some audience members rolled their eyes. But later, he asks the same question, but this time there's a different story. It was further evidence of the character's embrace of chaos and unpredictability, and it worked. It worked because there was no origin. In Joker, it seems that's all we'll get.

Despite audience's complaints of the film, Phoenix will likely be universally praised. He's got the laugh down, and the way he uses his face and voice is unlike virtually any other actor these days. There are many actors who have never won an Oscar, and one thinks how this could be possible. Phoenix is one of the best examples of this. Other than Marlon Brando and De Niro, who both won Oscars for playing the character Vito Corleone, no other two actors have won for playing the same character. Perhaps Phoenix will help change this.