Jocker simbl4/10/2023 ![]() Joker dresses up Arthur’s escalating violence as emancipation. Hegemonic masculinity works by reproducing images, narratives and other symbols of masculinity to keep authority with dominant groups, especially White men. The film industry (and other cultural institutions, like sport) assert narrow ideas of what it means to be ‘a man.’ The state uses overt forms of violence to establish and maintain power, but social institutions also use ideas to gain the public’s consent about the status quo. Hegemonic masculinity reflects how some representations of masculinity win out over other expressions of manhood. Visceral responses to films are fine! But why might Joker feel like liberation to these young men? For one reason only: hegemonic masculinity. How does this translate to Australia? In Newtown, a gentrified suburb on Gadigal land, young White men around us physically jumped in glee, some acting out the punches on screen. The film pitches this as social commentary, when in fact, it’s just White male ‘ aggrieved entitlement.’ This inspires a revolution in Gotham, where men in clown masks riot. Joker simply re-legitimises White male anger as a political tool, which it always has been.Īrthur kills White affluent dudebros, an obnoxious White male talk show host (Murray Franklin, played by Robert De Niro), and a mean White male colleague. Lower class White men view equity movements as encroaching on their social status. The Joker’s rise as anti-hero is celebrated as revolutionary in the film. ![]() Whiteness prevails in this exchange, because the conflict between the two men is not really about class, as the film attempts to position. Wayne refers to protesters with contempt (jokers) and he punches Arthur (before his reincarnation as The Joker, played by Joaquin Phoenix) while he’s emotionally vulnerable. Thomas Wayne (Gotham’s White male, super rich aspiring Mayor, played by Brett Cullen) is the antagonist. ‘Joker’ presents a racialised and gendered view of class. (N.B.: Read this as a gif-free version in PDF) I saw the film last night in Newtown, Sydney, where the mostly White audience erupted in rapturous clapping. Let’s talk about representations of gender, race and ableism in Joker and how to situate a critical reading in the local Australian context.
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