There’s something familiar about the deeper theme in “Joker.” It follows a character who is a victim of his own kindness, who is cast out and rejected by the world as it is, and in his isolation becomes a parody of society’s downfall.
He is eaten away by his expectations that the people around him should be kind and courteous. So he gives up, and in his disappointment follows the restlessness brooding beneath society’s façade, where he fuels the growing flames.
A Cruel World
After Civil War Gen. William Sherman burned homes of civilians in the South, he famously declared: “War is cruelty. There’s no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.”
Joshua Philipp
Author
Joshua Philipp is senior investigative reporter and host of “Crossroads” at The Epoch Times. As an award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker, his works include "The Real Story of January 6" (2022), "The Final War: The 100 Year Plot to Defeat America" (2022), and "Tracking Down the Origin of Wuhan Coronavirus" (2020).
