"Joker" is the only movie with a superhero theme that won an Oscar. It is recognized that superhero themes are rarely favored by Oscars.
has a lot of bonus halo "Black Panther", it just won an unprecedented nomination, even so Oscar made a huge compromise.
So why did "Joker" win an Oscar?
is far less complete than the gangster epic "The Irishman" involving many characters and spanning half a century; in terms of storytelling, it is not as good as the ups and downs and the unpredictable development of "Parasite"; even worse The documentary "American Factory" with a real perspective.
"Joker" is not even a typical Hollywood-style film driven by a story and plot. This film with a superhero theme is essentially a literary film.
This is the value of "Joker". It is unfair to evaluate a literary and artistic film by plot and story. The ambition of
"Joker" is not to create a "clown" role that has long been the leader of the American villain, but to set off a long-awaited anti-hero and anti-elite renaissance.
is no longer the opposite of
"Joker" At the beginning of filming, DC announced that: Although this film continues to use the role of the American comic, but has nothing to do with the superhero universe, is an independent work. The overall structure of the
film is also completely different from traditional superhero films. It is a perspective of the common people and the disadvantaged.
The clown, like all ordinary people, has no talent or capital. He can only make a living by playing the role of a clown in the theater to attract customers to the shop. His skinny figure and harsh living environment everywhere show that he is at the bottom of the society. .
At the same time, the clown is also the most in need of help. He suffers from a mental illness that cannot restrain his laughter. He has to go to the Social Welfare Department to see a doctor to receive medicine to suppress his illness.
Gotham City is a completely overhead story. Trash bags everywhere on the street, subway cars covered with graffiti, and shops that go bankrupt at any time all show how poor public governance in this city is.
It can be said that the vast majority of people in this world have better living conditions than clowns and are more capable of earning a living. What is the traditional superhero movie like
? The Iron Man of the rich and the enemy, the battle hero Captain America, the scientific research expert Hulk, etc., everyone has no life troubles and no logic to maintain justice. Of course,
talks logically with superhero movies. It is not right in itself. The meaning of heroes lies in the absolute affirmation of justice. Such movies naturally have their own unique story structure. In the world of
DC, it is Batman that is used to directly confront the Joker:
"Batman and the Joker are the front and back of a coin."
tells you in the independent story of "Joker" in 2019 that the Joker and Batman are two. With a separate coin, Batman and the Joker see a completely different world because of their births and different environments.
In the Batman story we understand, his father Thomas Wayne, a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist, was killed by a bad robber one night.
is not like this at all in the "Joker" story. It is not an exaggeration to say that Wayne Enterprise is a large local monopoly. When the three elites of Wayne Enterprise on the subway were killed by clowns, many local public opinions were affirming the clown, and some even imitated him.
Is this a sin city? Are people with bad natures living in this city?
No, their affirmation of clowns lies in their inner resistance to monopolistic enterprises and their anger and injustice at the superior conditions of elites.
Renaissance
Is the clown setting off a Renaissance? Let's talk about the Renaissance first.
We call the Middle Ages the "Dark Middle Ages". Where does the darkness come from? Is
because of poverty? No, in Europe during the long Middle Ages, although the early economic decline, after 1000 AD, it began to develop rapidly.
The darkness of the Middle Ages is a darkness of values, the darkness of repression of human nature, while the Renaissance is essentially calling for the attention of human nature.
A problem that has been discussed for many years in jurisprudence:
"Is it the criminal that caused the social evil, or the social evil that gave birth to the criminal?"
This is a paradox. The protagonist of "Joker", Arthur, was originally a very docile person. He liked children and took medicine on time. Carry a card with your medical condition with you for fear of causing trouble to others.
Arthur's dream is also very simple. He wants to be a comedian and bring people laughter, regardless of money or status.
"Joker" is the other side of his body. Everyone has a bad side. To become a madman only needs:
"All it takes is a bad day"
, a successful person like Thomas Wei What are you doing?
Wayne believes that the world of Gotham City is fair. A person can’t make ends meet because he doesn’t work hard enough. He stands in front of the TV and publicizes his charity dinner and campaign plan, but even his mentally ill leave employees. (The clown's mother) refused to pay attention.
When Arthur went to meet Thomas Wayne, Chaplin’s "Modern Times" was shown on the screen of the auditorium. The VIPs present laughed from time to time. This was in contrast to the TV talk show star mocking Arthur for being clumsy. The talk show is the same.
"Modern Times" reflects the corruption of human nature and the neglect of individuals by modern industrial civilization. In the face of the huge division of labor, individuals are extremely small, not to mention Arthur, who is inherently flawed and weak.
The modern era
film, in order to create a more vulnerable image than ordinary people, abandoned the original clown’s superb criminal IQ, evil personal charm, and even a stronger body.
Even Batman who only has the "money ability" is superman for the Joker. This is the anti-hero of
Joker, such an ordinary person, who has experienced injustice and ups and downs, eventually became Batman's biggest opponent.
DC's anti-hero ambitions did not start with the clown. Every independent story has anti-hero objects, such as "Batman VS Superman".
Batman, who has relatively no special abilities, Superman is a god-like existence. People in "BVS" who compete to touch Superman's screen are completely treated by the son of God.
Many people don't like this film, and they don't understand why the two superheroes who are incarnations of justice are hostile. What
expresses in the film is the incomparably powerful and unsupervised towards Superman. In reality, we are wary of elites like "Superman" who ignore the people at the bottom.
In fact, superhero movies in recent years also have signs of anti-heroes, such as: "Captain America: Civil War", the civil war regarding the restriction agreement on the Avengers, and the rise of anti-hero characters such as "Deadpool". But after all, the story mode of superheroes cannot be ignored.
"Joker" thoroughly implements the anti-hero, Bruce Wayne is still in his youth, and Arthur can't see the potential of the villain at all; Batman has not yet integrated into the night, and the clown personality has not taken the initiative.
This is a movie that completely puts the perspective on an ordinary person. There is no longer a flying Batmobile or invulnerable armor. Even in the end, the clown did not show any leadership qualities. The clown
finally said on the show: "No one cares what people like us think". This is the anti-heroism Renaissance. Heroes are just talented fairy tales, and the situation of each of us is more real.
Populism
In the film, Arthur never wanted to lead a trend or be a spiritual leader. He was happy to see others imitating him just because he was affirmed.
But just because of a shooting in the movie, two policemen on the subway were chasing the fugitive, and they fell into a huge chaos. The clowns who were regarded as "leaders" did not participate in it until the end. They were more surrounded by chaos, placed in the car, and surrounded by thugs.
The clown is a reflection on populism. What is populism?
Populism is not the opposite of the social system of capitalism, but a kind of political logic, which is relatively "elitism." The
historian Michael Kachin wrote in his book "The Persuasiveness of Populism":
populism treats the people as a noble group, while the elites are selfish, and the populists seek ways to mobilize the former. , Resist the latter.
"Joker" reflects this kind of thinking. The Wayne Group's elites in it have superior conditions but harass women on the subway. Thomas Wayne gave Arthur an old punch when he first saw it, and Gotham City even cancelled Asia. Se’s medical welfare agency talked about “Gotham City is fair”. The sprout of populism was born in Russia in the 1840s and 50s, and it rose in the United States in the early 20th century. What is the reason for
? In fact, another Oscar-winning documentary "American Factory" also talked about this problem. The United States, which originally created happiness with a strong manufacturing industry, has been hit by the strong manufacturing capabilities of Japan and China after entering the 20th century, leading to the manufacturing industry. Began to decline.
The Ohio where Fuyao is located in "American Factory" is the Rust Belt. The United States, which has experienced the subprime mortgage crisis, has led to a decline in employment in the entire Rust Belt for ten years, and many workers are unemployed.
This is not the first economic crisis that the United States has experienced. Since 1920, the United States has experienced twelve Great Depressions, which will inevitably be accompanied by the disappearance of a large number of employment opportunities and the unemployment of workers. Trump has caught this. The workers in the rust zone no longer trust the Democratic Party, which represents the elite. They used many populist views and strategies in the election and successfully won the vote.
But "Joker" is not a populist carnival, but a vigilance against extreme ideas.
Marvel may be more successful than DC in commercial films, but in terms of the depth of the film, DC may be slightly better.
DC, another populist movie "V for Vendetta", seems to have a plot similar to that of a clown, but in essence there is a big difference. The people in
"V for Vendetta" are orderly, and at the same time have layers of foreshadowing and side descriptions of the overhead background. It can be said that everyone has their own motives.
As for "Joker," Arthur clearly stated in the show that he has no political inclinations. Arthur's always wanted to be a talk show actor, not a leader of the riots.
What about the masked people in Gotham City? It's a completely disordered state. Arthur's crimes have motives and reasons behind them, but these masked thugs do not.
At the same time, it is not just the elites who oppress Arthur, the little ruffians on the street, the sinister colleagues in the troupe, the boss, these people are all part of oppressing Arthur.
Arthur is not a representative of anyone. These rioters did not know that he was suffering from mental illness, did not know that he was treated unfairly at work, and did not know that Arthur’s original dream was to be a talk show actor and bring it to everyone joy. Gotham City in the movie
is in a disordered state where the strong oppress the weak and the weak are weaker. Among them are the responsibilities of the elite and the gangsters.
The plot of Arthur using scissors to kill a colleague who deceived himself illustrates this point. The clown is lonely and disorderly, and his resistance is not targeted at people like Bruce Wayne. He didn't even think about it. Hurt each other.
has become a clown from Arthur. No one in Gotham City is innocent, and the evil of the clown is not against justice, but the madness of a weak and lonely person out of control.
Arthur's logic is very simple, whoever bullies me, I will fight back.
Conclusion
"Joker" is a literary film centered entirely on characterization. The Oscar for Best Actor was awarded to Joaquin Phoenix, the Joaquin Phoenix, who also affirmed this point.
Phoenix is worthy of the Oscar actor, and "Joker" is also worthy of nominations for the Venice Golden Lion and Academy Awards.
However, it is difficult to interpret the film "Joker". It is also a narrative class. "Parasite" is more accepted by the public. This is a one-man show with a single male protagonist.
The clown in Phoenix is not scary, but there are too many sympathy and tears.
is like the last clown wearing an elegant red jacket, and the orange vest dances solo on the steps, and then the whole clown will be carried through.The comical run makes us feel that this character is both absurd and so real. The final outbreak of
is more like a counterattack against fate. If everything can be repeated, I hope you do not have a "Bad day".
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