Out of any film at the academy awards this year, Joker currently leads the pack for nominations, boasting eleven in total, including Best Picture. Rather you agree with it or not, there is no denying that the film has captured both the positive and negative imaginations of many viewers.
Though it leads with nominations, it certainly isn’t a shoo-in to win Best Picture. Both 1917 and Parasite have arguably been the biggest awards contenders this season. Looking at both sides of the argument, here are five reasons Joker should win and shouldn’t win Best Picture.
Should - It Embodies Our Current Comic Book Movie Obsession
Joker remains only the second comic book film to receive a Best Picture nod, following last year’s recognition for Marvel’s Black Panther. This trend occurring two years in a row is no coincidence, directly mirroring the massive popularity that the genre has held over the past ten years.
Like Westerns before them, Comic Book films are currently one of the most popular genres of our time, even beating out franchises like Star Wars in terms of sheer box office dominance. This populist genre might not win it this year, but there’s no denying that a Joker win would be fitting considering the current love of the genre.
Shouldn’t - It Was Not Loved By A Lot Of Film Critics
While it certainly remains a popular film among the masses, Joker still holds a major divide among critics. Currently, the film holds a 68% on rotten tomatoes, nearing very close to a rotten rating on the review aggregator.
While a simple score isn’t a defining factor on a film’s quality, there is obviously a huge contingency of professional critics who either didn’t enjoy or downright hated the film. Like Bohemian Rhapsody, Joker is one of the few Best Picture Nominations in this year’s lineup to hold a score lower than 80%.
Should - It Is A Film Celebrated By Mass Film Audiences
While the critics might have been divided, the overall reaction by a majority of wide audiences was mostly positive standing at 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film has become a phenomenon among general audiences, with Joaquin’s version of the clown prince of crime becoming as revered as Heath Ledger or Jack Nicholson.
The Oscars have been struggling to choose a Best Picture Winner that has been beloved by general audiences for years, with the last being Return of the King. Awarding Joker Best Picture would feel like an olive branch towards general audiences everywhere.
Shouldn’t - It Deserves To Win Less Than The Dark Knight
Joker has been praised for its unflinchingly dark and gritty take on the Batman universe. But one film, in particular, did it first, and also did it far more true to the source material. The Dark Knight remains a far more important film in the legacy of comic book films.
The combination of Ledger’s performance as the Joker, Nolan’s direction, and the fantastic Hans Zimmer score resulted in a film that redefined a genre. The fact that Joker was nominated while The Dark Knight received nearly anything but Best Picture recognition is fascinating.
Should - Joaquin Phoenix’s Performance
If there is one thing that most audiences and critics can agree on, it’s the fact that Joaquin Phoneix’s performance should be commended. In terms of commitment, there are few actors who work as hard as Phoenix does to capture the full spectrum of a character.
The amount of research and physical alteration Phoenix did is fantastic. While outrageous performances are often overly praised by many, this is one where much of the praise is at least earned. This is the strongest win that the film has in its corner.
Shouldn’t - It Is Nothing More Than A Greatest Hits Of Martin Scorcese’s Films
While the acting is fantastic, the writing and filmmaking feel hollow and uninspired. If you are even remotely familiar with ’70s cinema, you will recognize all the major visual, thematic, and story elements from many of Martin Scorcese’s earliest films in Joker.
At the very least, the film attempts to recognize its devotion to these films, casting Robert DeNiro in a role directly paralleling his King of Comedy persona. But, many have hailed Joker as a wholly original and inspired film, when in reality it feels like nothing more than an homage to much better movies.
Should - It Attempts To Tackle Much Of The Current Political Conversation
While some audiences want their films to be nothing more than an escape, Joker took all of the political conversations of today and threw them at a blank wall for everyone to see. The film is rife with ideas pertaining to so many political struggles.
Obviously it attempts to tackle the treatment of the mentally ill in our society, and directly relating it also to the lack of funding for public services. Race and class also come into play constantly and are pushed to the forefront of the film.
Shouldn’t - It Fails At Addressing Large Scale Problems
Joker should be commended for at least attempting to tackle these issues, but it is so unfocused that a majority of its critiques feel like nothing more than empty words and set dressing. The plagues of the downtrodden are nothing more than props to create an aesthetic for this version of Gotham City.
The conversations surrounding mental illness in the film are ultimately a failure as well. While Joaquin commits to portraying an accurate vision of someone who is mentally ill, it’s all in vain, as the character is only villainized for it. Nearly everything that the film is trying to critique is lost in a screaming fit by the finale.
Should - It Subverts The Tropes Of Most Big-Name Blockbusters
While it has all the makings of a small indie release on the surface, Joker is still a tentpole blockbuster first and foremost. That being said, the film successfully subverts just about every trope of most major comic book film out today.
There are no heroes in this story, no useless MacGuffins or deus ex machina. This is a character study on a man who needs to lose his identity to build a brand new one. It’s dark and brutal vision shouldn’t have worked, but its success marks a brand new territory for blockbuster films (whether that’s a good or bad thing is up to you).
Shouldn’t - It Would Be A Slap In The Face Of More Groundbreaking Films
Joker certainly encompasses many of the frustrations, themes, and populist ideology that embodies our current moment, but in terms of filmmaking, it isn’t the most groundbreaking achievement of all time, let alone in the past year.
Films like Little Women pushed representation in a way rarely seen. Parasite is one of the most popular foreign films ever made, pushing the limits of what most audiences are willing to see. Finally, 1917 is one of the most groundbreaking pieces of filmmaking technology in years. Should the year’s biggest award in filmmaking really be awarded to a dark comic book film?
