CINEMA
If you think ‘Joker 2: Folie à Deux’ is bad, it’s because you didn’t understand it
The film has achieved exactly what it intended: to portray the audience and all those who were only watching for fantasy violence.
It’s like the ending of Lost. If someone tells you “they were all dead,” it means they missed the point. The same thing applies to Joker 2: Folie à Deux. You might feel disappointed because it’s not what you expected, and it might not be to your taste or interest. But to say it’s a bad film? That’s wide of the mark – because the movie has achieved exactly what it set out to do! It wanted to hold up a mirror to many of its viewers, and the more you criticize it, the more you’re proving it right.
(Note: some spoilers below)
What is the Joker 2 message?
Todd Phillips has captured you perfectly. Yes, you, dear reader. Harley Quinn’s role is a metaphor for the audience, and you’re walking out of the theater just like Lady Gaga’s character walks out of the courtroom – exactly the same. Her character rejects this weak, pitiful Joker in the same way you do, spending the entire movie waiting for the iconic Clown Prince of Gotham to show up.
In these times, everyone seems eager to talk about mental health, yet when we see someone like Arthur Fleck being crushed by society, all we really ask for is dances, songs, action, and gunfights. That’s the core critique and point of the film: at the end of the day, we’re capable of trampling over anyone in the name of spectacle and entertainment.
Joaquin Phoenix couldn’t have humanized the Joker more, and yet, you’re not interested in the reasons that made him a social outcast. You don’t care about helping him or seeing if he can find redemption. What you want is to indulge in a violent fantasy where he goes on a killing spree, only to be beaten senseless by a masked vigilante. And when Fleck refuses to do that, his followers abandon him – and just like them, you go from idolizing the first movie to hating this sequel. Because, like Quinn or those new clown-masked followers, you didn’t like him for who he was, but for what you imagined he would become. You were attached not to the reality of the film but to the version you had built up in your mind.
Not a role model: clarifying the Joker
After the first film, Phillips became alarmed when he saw many viewers buying into the shallow sociological rhetoric and, even worse, idolizing the Joker as a role model. He realized his message hadn’t been fully understood, and this sequel seems to have been crafted with the sole intent of clarifying it. Joker 2: Folie à Deux is a social critique wrapped in layers of makeup. That’s why it repeatedly offers the same elements from the first film – those infamous stairs, the impromptu dance moves, identical shots – because it wants to serve you spoonful after spoonful of what you loved so much, until you’re sick of it and begin to despise it. Until you realize that none of this was ever meant to be idolized.
With the bold ending discussed earlier, the director settles the score with the audience. He holds up a mirror, and if you react with disgust, it’s because you’re seeing your own reflection. So yes, Joker 2: Folie à Deux may be a disappointment and will spark plenty of debate, but it can’t be called a bad movie if it achieved exactly what it set out to do. It’s a film that will grow on people over time, as they begin to process its message.