Not something to “Joke” about

Dustin Schlagel, Staff Writer| November 22, 2019

With the release of The Joker movie in early October, success seemed to follow. The movie has made $737.5 million in grossing revenue as of October 21st. But the movie hasn’t left a good taste in some of the viewers mouths as of lately. With some viewers, the movie lives in infamy.

For a large number of critics and viewers of the movie, director Todd Phillips film has left a “serious stigma” for how people with serious mental illnesses act or communicate. Not only that, but a handful of parents are in an uproar, as they expected to take their children to another superhero DC film. But instead were introduced to a gritty, gruesome spin off

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“I thought the movie was great,” junior Nick Travis said. “It was not as gruesome as most people tried to make it out to be. If people weren’t happy about showing it to their kids, they should have checked a quick review online to see what the movie was about exactly.”

Most, if not all people I had talked to about the movie had nothing but positive things to say about The Joker. People especially had great things to say about the prolific acting by lead actor and the man in the suit himself, Joaquin Phoenix.

“His acting in the movie is great in all honesty. I never expected such emotion from a super villain,” said junior Hannah Hassler. “It really shows the Joker in a different light, and makes you understand his life a little better, and it shows that maybe he’s not just some ruthless villain like he’s always been shown as.”

So, should you go out and spend a couple hours at South Pike Cinemas watching this Antihero DC flick? Well, it’s a judgement call. It really depends on what you can handle with some of the scenes, and how you react and feel about the mental illness aspects of the movie. Although the movie may give off some of the wrong ideas about mental health and illness, it does stress the importance of the seriousness of the aspect.

“If you go see the movie, just be weary of some of the scenes and be prepared,” said junior Dalton Reed. “Oh, and get ready for dancing. A lot of dancing.”