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Boots Riley CRITICISES Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker; Calls superhero films ‘Cop Movies’
Filmmaker Boots Riley is criticising Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker for by calling it ‘Cop Movies’. Read to know why.
Joker is, hands down, one of the biggest releases of 2019. Ever since it hit theatres earlier this year, the film is all that popular culture has been talking about. From film critics to audience, the movie has been praised by all, especially for Joaquin Phoenix’s remarkable portrayal of one of the darkest villains in the superhero universe. During the course of the movie, the script manages to explore various sensitive themes, including mental health, American politics and class divide. And while the majority of the moviegoers appreciated the film for its exploration, there were few who criticised the movie for not going deep enough. Sorry to Bother You writer-director Boots Riley is the latest to voice his criticism.
Referring to superhero movies as “cop movies”, the director asserted that Joker is anti-rebellion at heart, despite the fact that the movie essentially revolves around a character whose sole purpose is to bring about a revolution in Gotham city. The director stated that the movie is no different from any other superhero movie that tries to claim that rebellion is crazy. He argued that these movies tend to focus on a single idea – nothing is wrong with the system. He stated that superhero films express the belief that those in poverty deserve to be where they are because of their own shortcomings, Comicbook reported.
For the unversed, Joker is a story about a mentally troubled comedian Arthur Fleck (played by Phoenix) who, after being disregarded and mistreated by society, ends up becoming the clown prince of the crime world. While Riley praised Phoenix’s performance and stated that he hopes to work with the actor someday, it is the theme of the film that failed to impress him.
According to Riley, Joker reinforces the idea that the poor only rebel out of jealousy and anger towards the rich, even though the rich have nothing to do with them being poor. Challenging the particular theme, the director argued that these films fail to touch upon a very significant aspect of our society, that rich only get rich by exploiting the workers.
