Uploaded October 2019 | Updated September 2026, 12 hours ago
Amidst much controversy and warning from the ‘woke’ media, ‘concerned citizens’ - and even the US military, the movie #Joker landed in theaters just a few weeks ago. We were told that the film would empower incels, inspire shootings and have a deleterious effect on the general public - “so don’t go!!”. In an effort to get to the bottom of all the rancor (and take a break form our computers) we went to go see it. And what we realized about the film is that it was not only being grossly misrepresented by very influential groups and individuals, but actually had quite a lot to say that could not be more relevant to some of the most urgent issues facing Western society.
This week on MindMatters we examine the themes and subtexts of this nihilistic anti-hero story: how ‘Joker’ holds a mirror up to our contemporary societal malaise - and how the film succeeds in its functioning as art. We also look at how it strips away the charismatic "clown prince of crime” and agent of chaos - into a much more clinical, nuanced and accurate reading of the criminal mind, and just why this depiction is so insightful, rightfully disturbing, and extremely valuable to a public that is all too used to two-dimensional representations of evil in popular culture.
download the mp3 of the show here: media.sott.net/srn/20191019mnd-the-value-and-relevance-of-joker.mp3
Jonathan Pageau: How The Joker Smashes Our Political Narratives youtube.com/watch?v=H74BbcTs6xs
Amidst much controversy and warning from the ‘woke’ media, ‘concerned citizens’ - and even the US military, the movie #Joker landed in theaters just a few weeks ago. We were told that the film would empower incels, inspire shootings and have a deleterious effect on the general public - “so don’t go!!”. In an effort to get to the bottom of all the rancor (and take a break form our computers) we went to go see it. And what we realized about the film is that it was not only being grossly misrepresented by very influential groups and individuals, but actually had quite a lot to say that could not be more relevant to some of the most urgent issues facing Western society.
This week on MindMatters we examine the themes and subtexts of this nihilistic anti-hero story: how ‘Joker’ holds a mirror up to our contemporary societal malaise - and how the film succeeds in its functioning as art. We also look at how it strips away the charismatic "clown prince of crime” and agent of chaos - into a much more clinical, nuanced and accurate reading of the criminal mind, and just why this depiction is so insightful, rightfully disturbing, and extremely valuable to a public that is all too used to two-dimensional representations of evil in popular culture.
download the mp3 of the show here: media.sott.net/srn/20191019mnd-the-value-and-relevance-of-joker.mp3
Jonathan Pageau: How The Joker Smashes Our Political Narratives youtube.com/watch?v=H74BbcTs6xs
