Joker (2019)
People don't like this movie because they don't like the heteronormative white male rage it accurately depicts and the power fantasy that Fleck cum Joker represents. Snyder himself massively overcorrected by making Fleck the victim of every kind of emasculating crime imaginable in the sequel and having him repent for his crimes.
This movie essentially accurately depicts a kind of radicalization. Fleck was radicalized to burn society down because he was left out of it, essentially. He does not start the movie as a nihilist. He starts out as an average person, self centered but not malicious. Due to his generally good hearted nature and lack of opportunities, life showed him that actually the people who were more successful than him were crueler.
Arthur found out that there are no real world brownie points for goodness or hard work. He was left with the choice to either accept his caste in life or totally reject the system, and he chose to reject it.
Much of this same ethos underpinned the alt-right movement.
Originally published on Letterboxd. Browse all film reviews.