Now, let’s not delude ourselves here. Joker is not exactly ground-breaking cinema. It is not the Citizen Kane of the ‘incel’ world. Very clearly, it is The King of Comedy combined with Taxi Driver, framed within the characterisation of a famous DC comic book villain. What that means is that there is little originality in the plot, structure, and characterisation of Joker. It is a cocktail of art that already existed. The originality lies in the flavour that this particular concoction generates. Here, Todd Phillips proves himself a deft mixologist, able to deliver a complex piquancy with a lingering and curious after-taste.

This is important to note because, while Joker is indeed an origin story, it is about the origin of male violenc...

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