Very hard to review this film

Rating: 8/10 (3 October 2019)

The Joker is an amazing movie that is very hard to score. In my view, it should be R rated as it is disturbing. It's probably a little too close to home for comfort.
There's no doubt that modern politics across the western world have become very destructive in recent times. The media and our governments are failing to represent society respectfully. Our leaders divide people and turn them against each other and undermine social cohesion; empathy levels are very low. Woke culture is the most toxic behaviour we've seen in many decades, sharing many traits with fascism (including deplatforming, bulverism, and selectively encouraging violence with groups like Antifa).
The Joker holds a mirror to society, especially to the intolerance of woke culture. The lead character is a strange combination of someone you feel pity for and someone you struggle to relate to. As the movie progresses, the audience feels a range of feelings from pity, indifference, hostility, and disgust. By the end of the movie, it is unclear how to feel about the lead character or those around him.
It's surreal to observe some media outlets resort to bulverism to criticise this movie. The same intolerance that the movie criticises can be seen in some high profile media outlets. Aggressive sexism to be expected from the real-world media. It's interesting to see art imitating life: a movie that condemns bulverism by the media has become the victim of bulverism by the real-world mainstream media. The intolerant mainstream media did not disappoint.
This movie is not suitable for people under the age of 18. This movie is very confrontational. This is not your typical superhero movie. There are no winners or heroes in this movie. However, if you like movies that challenge you and the way you think, I strongly recommend this movie. If you are part of the woke culture, this movie will almost certainly irritate you and I suspect you would respond with a string of racist and sexist abuse toward the general public and the creators of this film. For those that aren't part of woke culture, it's a breath of fresh air to see sincere and relatable characters that we almost never see today. Don't expect anything like the Avengers or Wonder Woman, where you are inundated with sanitised and shallow characters.
If you're feeling down, do not watch this movie. It is challenging to watch. I would not want my children to see this.