A treatise on the rise of a villain

Rating: 8/10 (29 December 2019)

There are tons of reviews focusing on the extraordinary acting of Joaquin Phoenix, so I am skipping that part. I would like to make comments on the heated discussion that whether this movie glorifies the violence.
Right off the "bat", I think it doesn't. Joker beautifully portrays how villains/monsters emerge and rise to power in a society.
The dominant Western culture dictates that being good or bad is a completely personal choice and no society should be blamed for the rotten apples among them. On the other hand, leftist approaches tend to put the blame on the socio-economical structures of a society and they claim that the system produces such abnormalities.
This fine piece of art takes a balanced attitude that blends the two extreme wiews summarized above. Arthur was a mentally disturbed person long before emerging as the Joker. He was delusional, depressed, and he had many social anxieties to prevent him of being a functioning member of a society. So, why did he become a villain, among many other troubled people? Because the society he lives in was corrupted and it was causing unrest. Ordinary people were already looking for an icon to channel their rages and discontent towards.
So, for a true villain to rise, there must be a perfect combination of personal and sociological conditions. In the absence of psychological troubles, the villain candidate can't go the extra mile and endure such a depraving journey. On the other hand, in the absence of a truly corrupt and disgusting societal background, actions of a villain candidate would be considered unnecessary violent acts and as a result, the masses would not approve him/her. This is one of the main reasons why the people don't embrace lone wolf attacks nowadays. Despite all the problems they have, societies don't need a villain and that's why the villain candidates are mostly labelled as the depraved crazies.
To wrap it up, the movie doesn't glorify the violence at all. It demonstrates the psychological and sociological conditions of a villain emerging and being widely accepted by an imaginary society. Actually, it's a free lesson for the policymakers all around the world. If you invest on the mental health of individuals and rule them fairly, the Joker can't be around.