Good movie, but not a good message.

Rating: 6/10 (11 October 2019)

I went to this movie despite the outcry on social media. I heard the stories about the feelings inspired by the movie. Nonetheless I wanted to see it for myself. After seeing it, I can tell you one thing - this one was different.
I knew it was different when I walked into the theater and two police officers were stationed at the front doors. It was different when there really wasn't much laughter during the movie - even at the parts that were deliberately meant to be funny. When the movie was over people weren't laughing on the way out or talking about how great the special effects were. Very few people were talking about the acting, the plot, or any other things people normally talk about after seeing a movie. Why? Quite simply, it was "too real" for what people expected from a movie based on a comic book.
From the events of the movie to the lines that were said; every step of the way was unapologetic and brutal. Growing up over the years with movies and video games of our day; I am admittedly desensitized to a lot of the violence in movies. I usually have no problem with separating what I know is not real and "just part of a movie". That was definitely harder to do in this movie. The violence was a little too realistic, and I think that was intentional. The writers and directors knew exactly where "the line" was that nobody is supposed to cross, and they crossed it anyway. Ironically I don't think they did it just for the sake of being edgy or just trying to get a rise out of people. I think they did it because they wanted to make it irrevocably clear that all of the terrible things in the movie are real. Not in the sense that something like that could happen... I mean that it many places around the world, some of those events *have* happened, and continue to happen every day.
To acknowledge something like that does not give you a sense of happiness or make you feel good about the state of our world that we live in. For most of our lives we do our absolute best to avoid thinking about the worst parts of our world. Many choose to believe it doesn't even exist. This movie went out of their way to clearly point out that evil exists in this world. It showed the progression of it and how evil leads to more evil. Most people did not walk out of that movie feeling good about life. It was a very depressing movie to watch. Honestly I do not think I could recommend anyone to watch this movie, because I would not intentionally want to put anyone through that experience. Granted, it may not have "hit home" for everyone as it did with me. The plot, the acting, the cinematography, etc. - all top notch. However, I'm not a fan of the message this movie represents. From start to finish, it is nothing but dark and negative. I get the point, but I don't feel like it was "fun" by any stretch of the imagination.
For me this movie instilled in me a feeling very similar to how I felt after I first watched Childish Gambino's music video for "This is America". It painstakingly points right at the darkest parts of humanity, and does its best to hold your attention so you can't look away. However, unlike "This is America", there was no ironic lightheartedness in The Joker to take a little of the sting out of the hits. I see now why people disliked the Joker movie, because you know before it even starts that it is not going to end well. Even when the Joker "wins", everyone loses - including himself. There was a defining moment where the writers and the directors pointed out specifically what message they were trying to get across to the viewers... I won't go into any specific "spoilers". However, I can at least say that it was the tipping point that led to the climax of the movie. The Joker finally got to "say his piece" to the public audience. He had finally been pushed beyond the breaking point, and all hell broke loose.
While I feel like I get what they were trying to do with this movie, there is one very important aspect that I disagreed with. Through all of the brutal in-your-face darkness and violent acts in this movie; it consistently ends on a bad note. There is no redemption or a final "good" outcome at the end. Granted, there doesn't always need to be any redemption... Sometimes a movie about a villain is going to end badly because, well... It is about a villain. However, there are other ways they could have resolved it. The common them throughout the movie was that life is hell, and it isn't going to get any better.
*While I can attest to the fact that evil and darkness exists in our world, that is not all there is.* Even when a majority of the people choose to ignore everything that is wrong in our world; there are still good people who choose to do something about it. There are charitable organizations, religious groups, and just straightforward good people who do their best to showcase the good parts of humanity. There are people who choose to help when they see people struggle. There are those that call their friends to check in when horrible things happen. There is no reason that a person cannot have a realistic view of the world around them, and still choose to make it better rather than worse.
Even though I disagree with The Joker's overall message, I grudgingly have to agree with a lot of the points they made... Specifically, there is absolutely darkness in this world. We cannot choose to ignore it and hope it will go away on its own. Also, mental illness is *not* something that doctors made up one day to sell medication. It is absolutely real, and it is something that affects far more people than we realize. I can guarantee that everyone reading this post knows at least a few people who struggle with depression, or anxiety, or any one of the various mental illnesses out there. I can also guarantee that for every one person that you know that struggles with soul crushing depression or suicidal thoughts; there are probably ten more that do so without you knowing about it. I'm sure that every person reading this review knows a dozen people who struggle with depression or another serious mental illness. People call depression "The Silent Killer" because it can destroy the best of us without anyone even knowing it was happening. It is for that reason that I can appreciate what movies like "The Joker" are trying to do. They are making it harder to ignore the realities of this world and the mental illnesses that plague us. Hopefully, raising that awareness will lead to more support and better help for the people that desperately need it.
If you or anyone that you know needs more help than someone just to talk to - there are absolutely resources out there.