author: Tom Borys
Joker Criticized by the Director of Fight Club
Todd Phillips' Joker - despite the long time that passed since its premiere - continues to spark discussions and controversy. Recently David Fincher, director of such films as Fight Club and Seven, shared his thoughts on the movie.
Joker was already well known before the premiere when the first trailers aroused anxiety that the film would be a "Black Panther for incels", encouraging viewers who consider themselves outsiders to unleash their inner aggression on a dysfunctional society. The concern was all the greater because troll communities focused around forums such as 4chan have long identified themselves with the character of Joker.
Eventually, the movie dispelled these fears, achieving great artistic and commercial success, as evidenced by two Oscars and over one billion dollars of ticket revenue. The leading role of Joaquin Phoenix was particularly praised. However, many people began to raise other concerns - including the way the Joker portrays persons with mentally health issues.
One of them is David Fincher, who has expressed his appreciation for the success of the film, but recently also commented on the screenplay:
"I don’t think anyone would have looked at that material and thought, "Yeah, let’s take Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle and The King of Comedy’s Rupert Pupkin and conflate them, then trap him in a betrayal of the mentally ill, and trot it out for a billion dollars"
Fincher, the author of Se7en, which also features mental disorder, and later the iconic Fight Club, knows what he's saying. He is not the only one to point out that Arthur Fleck is a character who may be fascinating, but also depicting people suffering from mental disorders in a very unfair and biased way. Since almost every person in the world has their "very own" superhero or villain, maybe they should also be able to expect a credible depiction of their problem on the screen?