Maybe you should, I dunno, watch the movie instead of buying into the media hysteria about it. It’s a damn good movie. It does not glorify violence, or glorify the Joker. In fact it does a lot to UNGLORIFY a character that since the Dark Knight has been seen as this “cool” character that edgy people like to identify with.
The Joker in this movie is not someone people would want to be. He’s not an incel. He’s not an entitled white male with privilege. He’s not angry because women reject him, he’s not angry at the oppressed, or at minorities. He’s someone suffering from SEVERE mental illness caused by brutal child abuse. Because of poverty, he is denied essential mental health services and ends up having to go off his meds. His violent actions are pretty much all lashing out at people who a) beat him up unprovoked for his mental illness b) abused him as a child c) represent the elite who exploit the poor and mentally ill.
If you think this character is a right wing fantasy then you’ve bought into the media narrative about the film, and have missed out on an actually amazing piece of art that when I saw it, led the people in the audience filing out to say to each other “we need to treat people with more kindness”.
That’s the lesson. Not that violence is cool or awesome. In fact by the end of the movie the Joker has done nothing but fuck up his life. He still ends up institutionalised. He is still miserable. He is not dancing around with glee as the world burns. Unlike ANOTHER Joker that was widely lauded by the media when it came out.
And actually as stories go the Joker was more of a left wing character. His actions are against the elite, not the dispossessed. Even though his actions aren’t really political, they’re co-opted by an “eat the rich” working class who is pushed to the brink by the actions of the rich in Gotham who have made their lives hell. So there end up being riots against the rich, and things do burn, but does it actually make the Joker’s life any better? And even though he was (without his consent) taken as a symbol for this riot, does he control it? No.
Maybe watch the movie and you’ll get a more nuanced perspective on exactly what “story” it’s trying to tell.
