“Joker” is nothing to laugh at

The gritty super villain flick confuses darkness for profundity

As the lights dimmed in my packed out screening of Joker, a movie that will no doubt fill theaters nationwide this weekend, the last thing I wanted to consider was whether the film was going to be “problematic.” That was the prevailing narrative, unavoidable thanks to extra security in the theater and a litany of think pieces flashing across my social media feeds all week. But come on. In a click-driven world, getting offended is good for business. I don’t confuse my movies for sermons.

When the lights rose two hours later, it was the only question that mattered. Is this movie problematic? I’d like to think I have a high capacity for these kinds of things, and I was shook. Audiences for big blockbuster movies, trained by a decade of good-overcoming-evil superhero fare, will not be prepared for what they will experience watching this. Take it from my audience. Some people cheered as the credits rolled. Other people booed. On the way out, hardly anyone spoke.

It is DARK. Disturbing. Bleak. Grim. Gloomy. Hopeless. Grisly. Harsh. Ominous. (And every other word I can find on thesaurus.com.) You starting to get the picture?

Tracking the tragic descent of Arthur Fleck from mentally ill sad sack into full-on…