Comment | The barked Joker movie is, in my opinion, one of the best American movies of all time

Supervisor by Todd Phillips movie Joker: Folie à Deuxa sequel to his successful Joker– for his film, has received a mixed reception in the world. There are praises, but the expected film has turned out to be a disappointment for many. It has been described in the international media as too long, depressing and exhausting.

I think it’s one of the best American movies ever.

Would it be so or not Joker: Folie à Deux’n genre and message not properly understood – or wanted to understand? We expected a supervillain story and got something completely different, a bitter pill instead of a sweet candy.

Maybe too Joker: Folie à Deux -the marketing of the film is part of the reason for the disappointing reception. The strong profile pictures of Phoenix and Gaga in their masks on the advertising posters create the impression of a completely different kind of film than the one made by Todd Phillips.

Phillips Joker was a story about how American society forgets the poor “losers” and the mentally ill, and what consequences that can have. Already in that, the director said to leave the background of his main character Batmanas the supervillain of the comics and movies, and created completely new, realistic frames for the Joker.

Joker: Folie à Deux takes social and cultural criticism even further. It is a film about a country that denies reality and replaces it with fantasies, whether they come from the entertainment industry or the speeches of politicians.

The film has been called a musical, but it is not. Phillips uses one of the bedrocks of American fantasy, the evergreen tunes of the so-called Great American Songbook, only to emphasize the power of romantic fantasy to take over people’s perceptions of themselves and the world around them.

Joining this fantasy is the so-called Joker Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) than Lee, carried away by the imagination he created of him (Lady Gaga). Enchanted by the admiration and love offered by Lee, Fleck once again begins to live his fantasy as the Joker, the same fantasy that is possessed by numerous people walking the streets wearing Joker masks. For them, the Joker, a mental patient and murderer, is a romantic hero figure.

The film’s musical scenes emphasize alienation from reality. Maybe there are a little too many of them in a feature film, but they get the point across.

And what happens when reality finally collapses over fantasy? Arthur Fleck can no longer play his role. There is no Joker, he says at the end of his trial. Both Lee and the others who were enchanted by the Joker fantasy can’t stand the enchantment fading, but turn their backs on Fleck, who has woken up to everyday life, for whom the crushing of the fantasy turns out to be fatal in the end.

America is not ready for reality, says Phillips’ film. Not as long as the entertainment industry and politics accuse people of addictive romantic dreams as its replacement.