Joker Bad
In 2015, Joaquin Phoenix was removed from the cast of M Night Shyamalan’s psychodrama-slash-horror, Split . Oh no , we all thought. This is a dreadful shame. When will Joaquin get a chance to be in a gritty comic book movie that demonises mental illness to the point of being both tasteless and offensive? But alas, we shouldn’t have worried! Four years later and Mr Phoenix granted our wishes, coming to the big screen as the “ferocious”, “feral” “bold, devastating and utterly beautiful” Joker . Hooray! An icon for our modern age! The Scorsese-backed, De Niro-esque Tyler Durden-knock off that we’ve all been asking for. I can’t wait to see with what sensitivity Todd Phillips treats the delicate topics of mental illness, marginalisation and isolation under capitalism, I thought . Surely in today’s environment of political unrest, social instability and stratification, he will create some truly meaningful commentary on how society should not turn its back on the minorities and vulnerab