Honestly, no one I follow is really talking about it. I’ve seen a few blurbs from Deadline Hollywood and EW but that’s it.

Valiant Comics and Image Comics editor, and former Marvel Comics Editor Heather Antos on the upcoming Joker.


I don't want to have sympathy for a man best known for his robbery, murder, and arguably rape shoved down my throat for two hours.

That's an interesting phrase because usually in comics fandom it's used in response to "forced diversity." And the counter-response is no ones forcing or making you read or watch the material in question.
That said, I'm started to have mixed feelings about this film. Marvel and DC films are aimed at the general public, and in particular teens and kids. It feels a little irresponsible that Marvel and DC want to have there cake and eat it to when it comes to their comic properties. They have have this kids' genre with cartoon shows, comics and action figures, but there also putting out R-rated versions that shouldn't be seen by kids and young teens, yet will be seen anyways because of the overlap of popularity and and relation to the general MCU/DCU films and cartoons.

As for Heather Antos, she apparently had no problem in past tweets gushing over Marvel & Netflix's The Punisher tv series. And she erroneously claimed that the Aurora theater shooter "dressed literally as the Joker” to make her case.

An interesting discussion nonetheless.

It’s rated R, but I could see how all the people in brown suits, Scorsese references, failure and the crushing weight of the world, would make it seem irresistible to kids.

The Joker isn’t a character that has been marketed to kids before?

Yeah! Kids, go watch this RIGHT NOW!!!

^Not melodramatic enough.

Plus society has been like this for awhile now. Good Morning America was warning parents not to take kids to see Batman in 1989 saying it was too violent and should have been rated R.

Someone brought that up in the comments. The difference is that mass shootings werent a common occurrence back in the 70s when Taxi Driver came out.

How can men relate to Taxi Driver?

If Taxi Driver is comparable to Joker, and you believe Travis Bickle is relatable to men, then you’re making the the twitter critic’s point.

Wasn’t the message of the film that Travis Bickle is mentally ill, a moral hypocrite and a horrible person?

He despises the criminal element, yet he contributes to crime by purchasing a gun illegally from a drug dealer.
He hates the filth and prostitution of the city but frequents porn theaters and pays a pimp to spend time with an underage prostitute.
He then attempts to assassinate a politician.
He later murders three people, two of them right in front of the young girl he supposedly wants to save. He could have easily called the cops on the pimp, or gotten the girl out of that situation in any number of ways that DIDN’T involve murder.

Give it a rest.

I hope your therapy is going ok.

Twitter

Peoples ideas are allowed to evolve. When I was a kid, I thought girls had cooties.