Ya Bernt: How Late Night And Political Comedy Shows React To Sanders

After going 3 for 3 in the primaries and caucuses, it's clear to any sane observer that Bernie Sanders is the front runner for the Democratic nomination. Course, there's not a lot of sanity going around these days, especially around the offices of MSNBC and CNN. With each day, the mainstream media has filled their time slots with pundits bitterly bemoaning his momentum. They, along with the other Ridiculous 6 candidates, are going through a Rolodex of smears in a pitiful attempt to stifle him. But much like drinking hot sauce after eating a wad of wasabi, the Bern is only getting stronger. So much of social media has cataloged the madness from surrogates, so-called experts, and media influencers that it feels like trying to make any fresh commentary on the news is akin to panning for gold in a rain puddle. It's even more of a challenge coming up with a killer zinger about the current political climate. Most of the material is already taken for this cycle, but that won't stop late night and political comedy shows from giving their own take on what happened in Nevada and beyond.

In the midst of all the liberal lunacy, it's easy to forget that part of what has shaped this lunacy is the comedic institutions aligned with its ideology. Of course everyone knows that the entertainment industry is largely liberal and that conservatives aren't funny (or at least not funny in the ways they think). However, one of the most prominent nexus points of the relationship between liberalism and the entertainment industry has been with the success of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. Both shows capitalized on picking out the the absurdities of current events, prompting those in the news networks they mocked to imitate their witticisms or brash no-bullshit attitudes rather than getting their heads out of their asses. Pundits, journalists and politicians relished the thought of getting a spot on The Daily Show or vied for the Colbert Bump to get more attention and in turn the shows expanded their influence, eventually building up to a rally and a SuperPAC. Though they were critical and possessed actual satire, these shows did less to reject the status quo so much as to frame it as a daily grievance one could laugh off. As soon as both of them left their shows right when the comedic golden goose was ready to enter the White House, there was an explosion of political comedy, ranging from Daily Show alumni getting their own slots, to the classic late night programs adopting the Stewart model to Colbert dropping his character as Colbert to be the real Colbert, to Saturday Night Live cranking up the political dial to 11.

And as Trump would say, "it's been a mess, folks!"

So much of it has become an agonizing echo chamber where the same three jokes get repeated about The Donald, feeding into his bases' aggrievement with the elites and adding to the feedback loop of the idiocy of the news media narrative. They did their best to sell Hillary to America at large and then bought into the notion that half of it was irredeemable once he won. Russiagate was able to have much of its staying power in part thanks to the likes of Colbert insinuating Trump was Putin's cock-holster and SNL thinking Robert "DeNiro" Mueller would get his ass and get it good. Some of the programs (like Last Week Tonight, Patriot Act and Full Frontal) have served better as infotainment on a myriad of issues, only to concinnate it with the surfeit of hackneyed anti-Trump rhetoric rather than direct more focus on the structural flaws. Though Trump serves as an effective boogeyman to motivate people to go against him and those of his ilk (as the 2018 midterms showed), he is a greater distraction for these shows to make any truly incisive commentary.

Despite contributing to the repetitive nature of the discourse, the level of impact that such shows have nowadays could be be somewhat of an imponderabilia. For millennials who most likely lean to the Democrats, they really aren't taking their political cues from the likes of Trevor Noah or Seth Meyers. That's where the Chapos and the TrueAnonPods of the online world come in. One wouldn't find many people out there that would openly admit to being political active thanks to John Oliver or Samantha Bee, let alone use them as their compass for hot-button issues. Their main purpose is entertainment after all. They may try to exert their influence into tangible action but at best it registers as a blip in the grander conversation or it functions as a way to see how far they can push a joke through the bounds of the legal system. John Oliver is very much a fan of the latter. It's understandable that even at their most actively activist, political comedy in the mainstream still holds back in fear of biting too hard at the hand that feeds them, and so in turn much of what they accomplish is largely unnoticed. With that said, given that they still have a large audience behind them and are still able to contribute to a neoliberal mentality, it doesn't seem right to just consider them as innocuous bystanders.

One such indication of this is how Bernie Sanders fits into their formula. Back in 2016 when he stepped onto the world stage, Sanders was justifiably viewed on late night and political comedy shows as an aberration. It seemed a little silly to see this disheveled senior citizen stroll onto a podium in a middle of a park to declare himself as a potential candidate to run the most powerful nation on earth. He's unpolished, he's got a gruff New York accent and he loves talking about percentages - mix and match these points and the monologue just writes itself. Much like Trump, there was a simple formula to approaching him and given he was going up Hillary Clinton, the most recognized politician in the nation, they figured they didn't need to do any further thinking about him.

Once he started to gain support, especially among the younger generations, there was more of an incentive to give him notice. Late night was particularly fond of letting Bernie Sanders on to speak his piece about the many afflictions in American society while playing along to the gimmicky aspects. Colbert let him spin the Wheel of News, Meyers let himself get Bernt, and Jimmy Fallon played the Whisper Challenge with him. It all seemed like it was in good fun. But in the midst of his light-hearted appearances, there was the larger political narrative of the liberals: Hillary was destined for the nomination, Bernie's a constant thorn on her side and the bros are just insufferable little shits. So for as much as he was ratings gold, he also had to be taken down a peg. The Daily Show With Trevor Noah ran a segment detailing how Sanders was a real politician by catching him in a lie as if to deflate any notion that he could be a true progressive. SNL ran a skit with Larry David acting as the senator, that while being one of the few times the show has been genuinely funny, presented him as a Curb Your Enthusiasm caricature whose curmudgeony nature was the failing of his candidacy. Though none of them really possess quite as much as the direct vitriol and condescension that Samantha Bee had with him, furious that this old white man was talking down to Hillary and went hard on presenting his supporters as the most toxic dudebros imaginable. They didn't necessarily kill his candidacy but they weren't above kicking him when he was down, all the while sweeping under the carpet the ratfucking done by Clinton after the emails leaked in favor of berating the immaturity of the Bernie or Bust movement.

After the hell year ended with the greatest political upset the United States has ever faced, much of the comedy world went to mining jokes from the Cheeto-In-Chief. Hillary left to the woods and then went around promoting a book while Bernie stayed in the fight in Congress. Mentions of him on these shows wouldn't be frequent but they tended to side more with him now that he was going against Trump rather than Hillary. With a few more appearances on late night, he has garnered more excitement among audiences and political comedy shows have found themselves referring to him more often, aligning themselves in some way to The Squad (which favors Sanders' progressive approach over the typical Democratic establishment) or touching on issues that he often discusses about such as climate change or the broken healthcare system. Perhaps they themselves weren't feeling the Bern, but they did help to let it simmer.

So how will the dynamic between Bernie and these shows fare now that he's the front-runner? Their commentary on the 2020 Democratic primary election has mirrored in part the media's ignorance of Bernie's popularity with some refusing to pay too much mind to him or the goings-on in the primaries and caucuses in favor of retreading through the absurdity and corruption of the Trump administration. There is also an awareness present among them by a plethora of posters on social media. While the news wanted to pretend that Biden still had a chance to win Iowa hook line and sinker, all of them took a chance to roast him on his creep factor, his constant invoking of Obama and his rapid decline into senility. Warren was already pegged to be a Clinton re-run so much so that Kate McKinnon went on to play her. Most importantly of all, they know that just the mere mention of Sanders can get the crowd in an uproar. With every appearance on any of the shows, their chanting goes on longer and stronger. Add on to it his rugged sincerity creating an idiosyncratic cool factor that makes him incredibly relatable, and one can see why other candidates seem to go after him with such envy in their eyes. There's always a chance they could try to reinforce what CNN and MSNBC bemoan about him, or that they could just follow up on the latest that Trump has to offer, but in showbiz it's always best to capitalize on great talent.

In keeping with the spirit of the horse-race style analysis of how the candidates will fare in this primary season, here are some predictions on how certain late night and political comedy shows will approach Sanders in the coming weeks:

John Oliver (Last Week Tonight): After his latest segment advocating for Medicare For All, it seems as though he would be more in line to accept the senator while trying to make some elaborate sexual metaphor in favor of one of his proposals. However, given his wonky woke-heavy nature it wouldn't be surprising if he sides more with Warren if she continues to drag out her candidacy. Chance of bending the knee: 70%

Stephen Colbert (The Late Show With Stephen Colbert): Colbert is by far the most obsessed when it comes to talking about Trump. Practically everything goes back to him, even when he's interviewing a movie star who's trying to stay as apolitical as possible. Along with the Russiagate brain worm so heavily burrowed into his head, it wouldn't be surprising if he only gives a passing glance to Sanders in favor of making the zillionth joke about Putin pulling the strings in American democracy. It also wouldn't be surprising if he wanted to see Biden win simply because he'd be the easiest to make jokes about. Add to the fact that he considers Sanders's reasonable critique of the Washington Post's bias against him as Trump-like and lately made a jab about the Bernie Bros when this year has exposed without a shadow of a doubt how much of a smear it is and there's not much confidence to be had with him. Still, Sanders has been the most frequent politician on his show so there is a chance he might be bringing him on for more than ratings.  Chance of bending the knee: 50%

Seth Meyers (Late Night With Seth Meyers): Meyers has sort of become a diet Jon Stewart with his A Closer Look segments and tends to focus more on the foibles of Trump as Colbert does, though in much less of a smug manner. He tends to be quite favorable to the senator and ribs him more on his mannerisms rather than his policy or supporters, perhaps indicating that he's a soft Sanders supporter. Perhaps there is reason to be suspicious of vague indications of favorability as late night hosts would prefer not to press their thumbs on the scales but it's hard to imagine who else he might be in favor of, and he'll be more than happy to dedicate more time on his segments to busting out his Sanders impersonation. Chance of bending the knee: 85%

Bill Maher (Real Time With Bill Maher): This man is an elitist asshole through and through and definitely looks like he'd relate a lot to a psychopathic micromanager who thinks they know best on how to deal with the rabble like Bloomberg. Maybe he would come around to Sanders as he also wants to see the Democrats grow some balls and push for bolder policies, but he wouldn't be much sympathetic to his courting of the working class and Muslims. Plus, he just loooooooves himself some contrarianism. Chance of bending the knee: 35%

Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon (Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon): Both of them are only political out of circumstance. If it were up to them they would be dedicating their entire show to the latest Hollywood gossip or goofing off. They wouldn't want to declare their true preferences in favor of being impartial, so seeing the writing on the wall they'll happily play along. Additionally, Kimmel has been quite emotional and sympathetic about the troubles others face with the current healthcare system and Fallon generally likes to get along with anyone and everyone so they'll definitely have no problem accepting him for future appearances. Chance of bending the knee: 90%

Hasan Minhaj (Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj): Much as a Hasan Minhaj endorsement isn't something most candidates would covet, it would certainly be surprising if he decided not to be more in favor of Sanders given how well he fits in with voter demographic most likely to go for him. With his public image as the most hip and trendy of the late night/political comedy hosts, the only other potential option would be Pete Buttigieg. And that would do more damage to his brand than the Saudis ever could hope to achieve. Chance of bending the knee: 80%

Trevor Noah (The Daily Show With Trevor Noah): Though no one really would care to pay mind to Noah, it wouldn't be a surprise to see that he opts to go for Sanders simply because he wants to be as relevant as possible. Granted, he concern-trolled Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez about paying for the Green New Deal, but he mostly takes his cues from what he sees on the news along with 1990s black comedians. Considering that, there might be a chance he swings for Biden or is secretly Yang-Gang-Or-Bust, which complicates the calculation a bit. If he truly were on either side, it's likely he's aware that would only diminish his relevancy further. Chance of bending the knee: 75%

Saturday Night Live: One could make the case that any of these shows supporting Sanders would only be doing so out a cynical impulse to curry favor with younger audiences, and to some degree it's true. But SNL will absolutely, 100% be the most opportunistic in making an about face much like how they went 110% anti-Trump despite giving him the longest fellatio he's ever had in his life. That is unless Lorne Micheals puts the show into neoliberal overdrive or Micheal Che's grudge with Jack Allison seeps into even the political such that he will only approve sketches where Larry David plays him as a bitter joyless bastard, in which case one can only hope NBC becomes state-run so that this programming gets shut down forever. Chance of bending the knee: 40%

Samantha Bee (Full Frontal With Samantha Bee): Bee was one of the most adamant cheerleaders for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and holds within her a fiery grudge against the senator for ruining her chances to see the first ever girl boss for president.  She's coyly made jokes at his and his supporters' expense and embodies the warped pseudo-intersectionality of first-world feminism that definitely has her hoping for a Warren/Klobuchar ticket to come true. That being said, she definitely doesn't want to deal with Trump for another term and holds the most sincere rage for his administration among this list, so perhaps she'll come to see the light and perhaps do a segment to defend against the misogyny thrown at Nina Turner or Briahna Joy Gray as an olive branch. Then again, she did say superdelegates wouldn't subvert the will of the people, so it might be a toss-up weighed a bit more to launching another barrage of shoddy opposition research at him. Chance of bending the knee: 45%

Hindsight Is 2020 - A Political Diatribe

It's amazing just how exhausting American politics is. It always was a kind of clusterfuck ever since the 24/7 news networks pumped the airwaves with absurd controversies, needless punditry and sensational coverage of whatever tragedy came about. Politicians have been losing their grip on modern times, their constituencies, common decency and even reality itself. And corporations have so thoroughly infiltrated our lives that an uncanny valley is formed where you truly question if the person you're talking with isn't just a machine whose neural networks are unable to subliminally get you to consume the latest garbage fad. With the internet's potential for malice and mayhem fully realized, along with absolute lunatics wanting to run the government, it's no surprise that American politics is not only everywhere but in every second. In a way I am kind of sharing in this hell given we had ourselves an election this year and it felt longer than usual. It's nothing like the incessant campaigning that can't let a single year be by itself without the concerns over super-PACs being filled up or Senator Who-Gives-A-Fuck (D) doing an epic own on the latest clown to be hired by the moronic burger-loving pseudo-crypto-fascist, but it was still nevertheless obnoxious. 

A major part of it is that Canada, as I've expressed before on social media, marches along the US despite its absolute frustration in doing so. Though there are some noteworthy exceptions to the political landscape, ones which one would hope could provide for a way for the nation to truly differentiate itself from its neighbor, there is a temptation to fall into the American model. Justin Trudeau has no doubt been a shining example of this, as his charisma gave Canada an Obama-esque failson to shove neoliberal platitudes down everyone's throats as he waffled about in actually being progressive. Of course now the election has proven that he not only abides to Obama's doctrine but also seems to aspire to be like him physically given his penchant to blackface. He has provided a good counter to Trump, so much so that American liberals believe him to be the dreamboat that he appears to be but he titled to the right as soon as he came along, providing a tax cut that ended up benefiting the rich the most, helping out the oil lobby and even having his own flagrant disregard for the justice system with LavScam! Remember that? Of course you don't! We were too busy laughing at him auditioning for The Jazz Singer. 

Given that there wasn't the mirror effect that emerged from say a Mulroney-Reagan or Harper-Bush partnership, and Trudeau still played up to his faux-progressivism despite everyone clearly being aware of the prefix, ol' pretty boy JT was  seen as a socialist standing only slightly left to Trump. And so the Donald's style of populism bubbled its way to the surface. Countless conservative premiers (governors of the provinces) popped up to provide a check to Trudeau, none more spectacularly reprehensible as my boy, Doug Ford, leader of Ford Nation (once known as Ontario). This man, whose crack-smoking brother ran the 6ix until death, brought about the most Trumpism, the best Trumpism, with a man-of-the-people farce that a majority of the electorate bought up. It helped that he was competing against a long-standing establishment technocrat that wore out her welcome (with the only difference being that she actually rose to a prominent seat of power). He has been cutting everything that he can, dialing back education, infrastructure and healthcare all in the pursuit to satisfy his cronies as he further turns the kleptocracy to his favor. Best of all, he has his own absurd promise that he's failed to live up to, given that he has yet to make Buck-A-Beer a reality to his base of hockey dads that are no doubt are pissed that Don Cherry can't be on CBC ranting about fruity pansies taking over the NHL. 

On a federal level however, it failed spectacularly. The Conservative Party of Canada were flirting with the idea during their pick for leader. Kellie Leitch and Kevin O'Leary were the two parts of the fusion dance to make the proper Trump parallel as one thrived on xenophobic fervor as the other was the rich dipshit famous for being on TV. Neither of them made it through given that Leitch was laying it on a little too thick for the majority of passive-aggressive racists that celebrate the cultural mosaic before grumbling about those benefits the First Nations get and O'Leary Francophoned it in all to sell some book that would've probably been shot down if he pitched it on Shark Tank. However it was Maxime Bernier's whose razor-edge loss to the potato sack accountant Scheer would only propel him to a humiliating defeat trying to bring the nativist anger to the people with his own party. It'd be sad that his popularity didn't manage any tangible victory if he weren't such a cretin. So I guess we got lucky there.

But it's a Phyrric victory that Trudeau won. Though Trump would have certainly gotten along more with Scheer politically, he must have some grudging respect for Trudeau for playing the media the same way. He was corrupt, his scandals should've sunk him, but he was no doubt given more air-time regardless of whether it was good or not, facing off an opponent whose party begrudgingly offered support for as he failed to inspire anyone to really commit to him. I didn't meet anyone who honestly in their heart of hearts would die for Scheer, but he can at least give that Hilary humble-brag of having won the popular vote before the CPC shoots him out of a cannon in the next leadership battle. 

The media was perhaps the worst affected by American influence, brimming with much of the same reactionary rage and deep seated cynicism that acted like it was a choice between the devil you know and the devil you don't. I'm not quite surprised if the NDP gets treated like throughout its inception, but 2019 proved to be especially sickening given that Jagmeet Singh could barely break through in between discussion over whether the Conservatives or the Liberals were more morally bankrupt. They didn't bother to give him exposure, since he not only posed a greater threat to the establishment but had very little about him that was scandalous. The only scandal that could even be cobbled up was racial, and not in the comically offensive way that Trudeau was or the clandestinely offensive way it was with Scheer or the flagrantly offensive way it was with Maxime or anyone in the PPC. More in just how he was adjacent to the offensive given how many bigots he had to swat away as he was talking about the real problems that faced Canadians. It's a shame that much of his run was governed by his race and even more of a shame that Quebec damaged him further given how their on their secularism bullshit. 

Even with the election concluded a month after the fact, there is still that American logic seeping into the Great White North, as the long-standing grievance Western provinces have had in being ignored by the East has turned into the Brexit's brain-damaged offspring of Wexit, where Alberta whines about not being able to lay pipe like it used to, donning a kind of anti-intellectualism only seen from MAGAheads down in Texas that think secession would play well for them.

Of course you can look into much of the details of what I've mentioned here and think that adopting an Americocentric line of thinking towards Canada is perhaps shoving a square peg into a round hole. But Canada's rounded out its edges. It's America with social justice at 1.5x speed, but some people keep wanting to rewind (most of which are from Rebel Media who follow in Canadian entertainer tradition by trying to make it big in the States).  I studied in the same university that gave y'all Jordan Peterson. I've seen Cuckservatives stickers right about when Trump was leading in the polls. I've talked to Trump sympathizers and alt-right chuds (usually by surprise). I've even seen anti-choice groups brandishing photos of aborted fetuses around Toronto. Canadians don't like being seen as kinder Americans so they just revert to being Americans that are waaaaay more passionate about hockey and common decency. 

I'm exhausting myself with these comparisons of the most Northern American nations in part because I believe one can look to the Great White North in viewing the Great Again South. I know that for the most part yanks don't much care for what canucks are up to. As part yank I can totally agree with this assessment. Very little of what happened in the last decade seems to connect meaningfully to what' happened in the US, and Canadians can be tiring and boring in their superiority-inferiority complex with their neighbor. But watching this Canadian election I can't help but find myself reinforced by the most cynical aspects of politics over in the US. Trudeau might not be as egregious as a sorry embodiment of the current state of politics as Trump but both of them have been exposed as bold-faced liars that were fortunate to have an uninspiring and deeply flawed opponent protected by a media apparatus that opted to correct the narrative to continue their party's business as usual. The complacency bred by the media through hammering the lesser of two evils fallacy had succeeded well enough, thanks in part to a vocal ignorant minority projecting itself to be larger than it was. The NDP was unable to break through in an election where the Conservatives and the Liberals were met with immediate revulsion from the majority of the populace, and Trudeau figured he had a mandate despite technically losing. I can still wake up and look towards tomorrow with Justin despite what he stands for as a politician but seeing his victory fed into the harrowing future that may come in America.

Such is the hell of post-2016 life, where time nauseates us with how much it goes around in circles. The cynicism and erasure of better progressive candidates is not so much a groundbreaking revelation but more akin to a workout motivation to push ourselves to strive for better. One can only hope that the latest UK election, which once again feels like its results will provide a strong prediction to how the US elections will fair, ends with a Labour victory after years of the Tories tripping over themselves to fail to deliver anything positive from the mess they've created. But I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't a resounding one, much less if it doesn't come to be. Nor would I be surprised if I'm wrong to assume that the UK election might have anything to do with how the US election will end up. Jeremy Corbyn could be rocking in Number 10 with an absolute majority and Trump could still have made it through to a second term.

It certainly is weird thinking about Trump winning given that 2019 was definitely not his year. He's taken a hell of an L after losing the House in the midterms, he's been booed multiple times in public, special elections gave him and his party another L to hold and impeachment has melted his brain to the point that you could probably hear sloshing if you stood next to him when he bobs his head. He's gone from unraveled to just a mass of exposed muscle, screaming in pure rage as he digs the knife further in the hopes to drown everyone else in blood. FiveThirtyEight has yet to give him a 47% approval rating, let alone anything above 50%. But it's easy to trust the polls again. These polls are clearly fake. And thinking Trump's losing now is libtard thinking. He's clearly playing 12th dimensional chess, folks!

Much as it is silly to think Trump is a grandmaster, it is frightening that his playbook could be as effective as it is simple. He's already capitalized on the distrust in the media and the establishment among his supporters that they're addicted to Two Minutes Hate, he's got a behemoths of campaign finance machines at the ready, and Republicans have just quit pussy-footing around claiming to give a shit about civility and embraced the dark chasm inside of them. Meanwhile the Democrats a corncopia of candidates that are only suffocating the airwaves for self-promotion rather than running for local office or spending their obscene wealth on bettering the world. If we see Trump win in 2020, I want the first point of every single analysis post-election about the Democrats lost to be not setting a cap on how many people can run by wasting their time entertaining the egos of nobodies, grifters and empty personalities.

Likewise, I hope the second point focus on the glaring faults whatever DNC-approved dipshit gets the nomination over Bernie. If we have to trust the polls (which we really shouldn't given how deceptively they're constructed), they have Joe Biden in the lead, wasting his chance to primary against the Donald to ramble about Obama and how Iowa makes the best gosh-darn popsicles. He is going to gaffe his way into a loss, we can already see it as he gets publically owned in every debate. So much for not being a socialist, Joe. Pete Buttigieg's essentially just a younger, gayer, less gaffe-prone version of him, who has just as checkered of a political record and no prominent black friend to lean on to help his numbers among African-Americans. Kamala Harris is a neoliberal experiment that has backfired, no doubt in part due to having campaign staffers that ran Hilary into the ground. Speaking of Hilary, we can't forget about Elizabeth Warren, whose replacing her in the false equivalency of weighing progressive bonafides and just won't have the strength to fend off the insults the right lunges at her (though at least I can believe she could be convinced to do better in the unlikely event she wins rather than persist as a toxic tumor on society that definitely 100% killed Epstein). Oh I could go on but I already have clowned on all the candidates on my social media!

I've noticed that in the last few years I've found myself saying "I don't know" more often. Not so much to others but to myself as I question my decisions. I've certainly sighed it under my breath quite a lot in writing this. It feels redundant, needless. However getting all of this down is therapeutic as well. Not just because I'm satisfied my future self can get a snapshot of how the world was in late 2019, but because there is a rejection of obfuscation here. Uncertainty is without question the dominant mode of modern life. I cannot make a solid prediction yet that I would be willing to make an outrageous bet in favor of. But there is a clarity that has been reached here. There's going to be so much bullshit coming in the next year that will seek to fool everyone into assuming moving to the center is the way to victory or that there are elites out there with good intentions, honest! But it is as farcical as number 45. And these people know it. Christ, Obama has basically stopped pretending and exposed himself as the sham that he always was!

However things turn out in this hellworld, I'm at least confident in that the result will inspire most in abandoning convention and aspiring for their dreams. I can only hope that such will be from a renewed optimism in humanity.

Joker Review

Trying his hand at a non-comedic project, Todd Phillip's Joker centers around Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a struggling clown/stand up comic living in Gotham City with his mother (Francis Conroy). His dream is to be on television on a talk show with Murray Franklin (Robert DeNiro) but he finds it difficult with various setbacks that life throws his way. Fired from his job, dealing with mental issues and harassment from his fellow citizens, all the while garbage piles up and people riot in the streets against Thomas Wayne (Brent Cullen), a billionaire running for mayor, Arthur finds very little to cling to apart from his girlfriend Sophie (Zazie Beetz). It's only a matter of time until something snaps in him and he becomes the titular Joker. 

There are three types of movie-going experiences out there. The first kind is watching a movie that you can walk into knowing nothing about it. If you're able to stick your fingers into your ears, quickly glance over any press on it and just watch trailers or cast interviews, this sort of experience allows you to be fairly objective on how you perceive the film. You can embrace or reject it on your own terms. The second kind is watching a movie based on what you've found. This can be as deep as you'd like, sticking to feedback from friends or looking at reviews or commentaries regarding it. While more subjective, this provides you with a context that can allow you to focus more on certain details in which you can determine your own viewpoint and make your stance. Both of these are ones that are within your control, as you can choose how you want to color your movie-going experience.

Joker meanwhile falls into the unmentioned third category, the film caught in a zeitgeist where the media will bombard you with opinions, controversies, arguments and counter-arguments that you will know most everything about the movie before you step out the door to greet the day. Even being off the grid, you can't help but find yourself having to take a stance on it. Under this, you might find yourself having to do a combination of the two previous experiences as you simultaneously purge all those takes that have been thrown your way while being so hyper-aware of them that you already have a feeling of how you'll receive the film unless it truly goes out of its way to surprise you. There was already a lot that titled my perspective. The trailer providing a classier approach to a comic book villain (as well as providing allusion to The Killing Joke). The media obsession over a psychopath committing another Aurora in the theatres. Todd Phillips's baby boomer-like grumblings over comedy being impossible in this era. Add to it some sociopolitical critique and spoilers, and my mind was made up. However, I had to see it for myself just to confirm, which thankfully I was able to do once all the attention for it died down a bit. Given that it has become such a hot topic, I feel there is no point to be wholly coy about the film's contents.

It's hard to know where to start given all the attention the film has received. I was both drawn into it by what I had seen from it and what I had heard about it. Had it been one or the other, I could have focused on my perspective or played off of the perspective of others. Instead it's this juggling act where I'm throwing both perspectives in, one at a time. For instance, much of what I've read regarding Joker's cinematic inspirations focuses on its similarities to Taxi Driver. He's a loner, he's got problems, he has a grudge with the city. Seemed to me like child's play, most any film about some troubled man who's isolated from society made nowadays could be seen as inspired from that. To me, it seemed more like one ought to look at The King Of Comedy, another Scorsese production. It focuses on another off-kilter fellow, but he's more jovial, more deluded. He's desperate to make his mark on the world. It helps that Robert DeNiro is there to pay homage to it by playing as Murray Franklin paralleling the Jerry Langford-Rupert Pupkin dynamic. Joker proved itself to be a bit of both, wearing the grimy city aesthetics of Taxi Driver while thematically sounding like The King Of Comedy with the budding romance and Arthur's efforts and delusions to be on Murray Franklin's show.

Of course, Joker has something of its own as it balances its Scorsese influence with a cinematic elevation of DC intellectual property. One has to commend Joaquin's tireless efforts in adding depth to the Joker, who is one of those characters that seems simple on paper but harder on execution. Much of the beauty of the Joker is that his end goal is easy to understand but convincing others to follow him to that goal is not. Through seeing how Arthur Fleck makes the transition, Joaquin is able to show the pain and twisted logic that leads one to side with the Joker. Coupled with masterful cinematography that captures those perfect moments of his vision coming to fruition, his performance truly can stand its own when placed next to Heath Ledger, Mark Hamill and Jack Nicholson.

This however doesn't exactly convince me enough to consider it as a proper arthouse interpretation of a comic book character. Other critics who watched the movie without begging incels to kill the normies have pointed to Phillips's stumbles in his efforts to deliver a more serious production. Hesitantly, I have to concur, as there is a lack of subtlety throughout the movie that saps it of its potential. In this day in age, I don't necessarily feel like an inability to provide any nuance is a detriment as sometimes messages need to be spelled out in bold letters so that as many people get the hint. But if one is going through all the effort to make magnificently beautiful shots or create poignant montages with songs that were practically made to play over them, the narrative elements should play into that as well. It's not so much that Joker can't take a breath to revel in some of its artistic complexity, but rather that it seems to blurt out the obvious much in the same way that Arthur is unable to control his laughter.

Much of this stumbling to achieve greatness presides over the rest. Tonally, Phillips is able to maintain a solid ground with the dramatic parts, bar the instances where it's too blunt for its own good. When it comes to his forte of adding some comedy on the other hand, there is surprisingly a sense of restraint. There are moments where the dark humor lands perfectly and gives insight into the Joker's comedic sensibilities, with many of them involving him dancing. And then there are scenes that could have been punchier, such as the joke that he delivers on the Murray Franklin talk show. It would have been better if he had delivered the joke that he was practicing but adding the 'twist' that appears in the film.

Speaking of which, the narrative has a solid amount of twists that complement the drama and comedy throughout Joker. I particularly love the development of Arthur's relationship with his mother as it correlates to their relationship with the Wayne family. She could've used a little more screen time along with better dialogue to work with though. It is much better than Arthur and Sophie's relationship, which adds nothing, especially when its revealed that he made it all up. To me, it would have made more sense to have Arthur make up having further conversation with his social worker, perhaps showing him cope a little better, have him get along with her better and provide a little bit of insight into his thinking. That way it could hit harder just how much she doesn't really seem to help Arthur in his mind when she reveals that the funding has been cut.

This brings me to the last point, the political message. It's strange that in how much of Joker struggles with the rest, its purpose is the strongest aspect. It's already been said from those that wanted to counter the mainstream agenda that much of why they're decrying the film as a tool to turn antisocial loners into shooters is that it addresses the current alienation and speaks to the massive inequalities and cruel absurdities that exist in this world. Certainly one can see that from how Gotham City faces a garbage strike, Thomas Wayne shows how out of touch he is with the people (to the point that the Joker becomes an icon of the resistance) and Arthur's path down into becoming the Joker from the indifference and antipathy of society. But Joker also reminds the audience that his reasoning and purpose are not ones to adhere to. There is the obvious fact that he is violent and cruel, but there's also how apolitical he is, that much of the people that 'aide' him are black, suffering their own setbacks in the city but he's colorblind and selfish to it, only concerned with his own demented purpose to be somebody. The anarchy carries a justified anger but requires a better focus and to let Joker be in control of that is absurd given how he is no more in tune to the realities of people's struggles as Thomas Wayne is. It's more against incels and the radical sort that inflict senseless violence than it's given credit for.

I'm hoping Joker is the first stepping stone to seeing more unique takes on comic book characters in the same vein of Logan and The Dark Knight. It might not exactly be on the same level as either one, but it has done well to differentiate itself from the MCU factory line. If future projects can learn from its faults and expand further on what it can promise, I see a good future for this new direction DC movies might take. Perhaps even Marvel might start taking lessons from them. If I could make a few suggestions I think more Batman villains should get their own projects. I would like to see a tragic romance for Mr. Freeze or a heavy film noir revolving around Poison Ivy. As it stands though, I'm quite fine with Joker, with its urban cynicism cloaked by a few sensible chuckles of the bizarre tragicomedy that we all live in.

A Misfit Among Misfits - Let Me See You In Freeform

It was a long while ago
When I first got into jazz
I had me a horn like Louie
And got a mute to sound like Davis
Got into that idea of freeform
Freeform makes those solos
It’s all about that sound
That rhythm, that pace
Carries an emotion, a passion
Tells a story
I’d play some solos
But never got into that freeform
Too stuck on safe notes
Repeat those beats
Repeat those beats
Little bit of flavor
Repeat those beats
And there it was
A solo, but no freeform


I liked that idea of freeform
Of letting the moment take you
Would practice it on other things
Never on that horn
Too little time
When I had it
I forgot how to play
So I left it
Dropped it
Gone in some other home
A home I can’t call my own
My home ain’t my own
Too many squares, too much red
That home with my horn ain’t my horn
That home ain’t no home to me
There’s a house with my family there
But it ain’t a home
Home isn’t a conversation to the wall
It isn’t a place where you drown noise with noise
Where you’re too south in the North
Or too right for the left
You’ll think I’m a hick
But I ain’t one, no sir


Just compared to my current points
I’m more south and to the right
Geography in case you’re confused
I certainly feel for you there
Don’t know what my life is
Don’t know what it’ll be
Worries about future, fame, fortune
Sad, silly, shallow maybe
I think, wonder, ponder as I saunter
About it all as well as love
Love, passion, sex
They’re delicate desires
Dealing with them ain’t easy
I think of these and all confused I’ll be
Bemused with blues I go right to booze
And with that booze I got what I desired
Delicate as the moment may be
No names to speak of but one was sweet
Taken by the moment we kissed


That kiss was something hot
Fiery, intense, out of this world
But she was taken, as I was in the moment
Not just of the booze
Not just of the passion
I mean it more literal
I was just a hiccup
What a funny Valentine, no?
No, it wasn’t
Nor that nor any were
Only wrote one love poem in my life
It was the dumbest thing
All I felt was the sting
Of how dumb it was
That thing
That sting
It comes along each day
Cuz I see others with their Valentine
No gal to be a close pal
No pal to be a close gal
Zip, zilch, nada


Truth is I haven’t been searching too hard
So it ain’t that sad
Still can try when I have the time
But you know what I do try?
I try for “close” friends
Try to get close as I can
Not to do anything with sex
Just talk and hang
To ping them one day
And then they ping me another
Mutual respect
Mutual connection
Mutual
I don’t got mutuals
Close acquaintances at best
Each effort in vain
A strain on the horn
Trying to hit a high note
So high
But they fail miserably
Sound so sour in that vain effort
That’s what I hear


Got a lot of sins in me
Lust, pride, greed, gluttony, wrath and sloth
But envy, man, that’s the killer
I try to be nice despite my sin
Even though just pulls me out
Sicks those other sins out
Biting everyone else
And then all I can talk to is the wall
Some people just don’t give me a chance
So then I end up doing the same
That’s where it leads
That’s where I am
Got no home still
Got no horn neither
Got not much but what’s in here
In my heart
In my mind
It’s all I got to say
That right there is my freeform

A Misfit Among Misfits - Poker In The Basement

Cards on the table
Transactions take place
Smoke chokes the air
Breathing not available
Were we closer to each other
Or were we unable

I played fair
Saw through the bluff
Where there was nothing
Nothing but a stoner ace
Expected my share
Figured I was due
But those pots
I never did accrue

I wanted it straight
You gave me a flush
Seemed clear to me
I’d receive a bum’s rush
But when I had my straight
And I set the bets aside
Your eyes remained dead
Amid that tobacco fog

Was this all for fun
What fun is casual lying
Leaving soon felt wrong
But your patience I was trying
Never saw your hands
Only saw your rage
I won but lost all around
Leaving my worries
Trapped in my mouth’s cage

A Misfit Among Misfits - A Child In Two Parts

Do you ever wonder
What led up to who you are
How the path that you made
Gave you strength and made its scar

Do you ever think to imagine
What things could have been like
If you made a different move
Went away from that turnpike

Consider a child
In their homeland
Unaware of what a path even is
So aloof from reality
Simply enjoying fantasy
As much as the days can bring
For as long as they still is

Now imagine in this land
Constant strife politically
Life affected by chaos each day
Reporters with bad news on display

Time to leave! Time to leave!
While that still is a prerogative
Take what you can and go
And leave what was once your home

Still as a child
They wouldn’t know any better
Moving from home
Just means having different weather
But they can’t come back
Not for a good while
A new home has to be made
Where they reside now

Only as that child grew
To a teen with some issues
To an adult finding their way
Did they get
Why life was not the same

From there it would occur to them
What they were robbed of
Of what would complete them
Give form to their self image
Provide the whole picture for them
Rather than leave them with just a hole

But fortunately they left the home
A home now in flames by the very forces
That forced the child to leave their home
And left them with the hole
That made them half and half of who they are

That child wonders what could have been
Had they stayed back where they were
Succored by the knowledge they got
An idea emerges of what might’ve occurred

“I would be more certain of my place
More aware of my own culture
That I think would be the case
Had I not made this rupture

Yet I’d be bitter and malnourished
More passionate in my anger
In this land I have flourished
Back there there’s nothing but clangor

That me which stayed at home
Might know more of what is theirs
But feel trapped under the dome
Scrounging about to peddle wares

The misery, tragedy and horror
That embodies my alternate
Would have them an early mourner
While I hardly seen my family in that grim fate

What decisions would I make
Pressed against the nation’s wall
Death back home can be by mistake
And it’s easy to trip into freefall

If they survived by some luck
I’d doubt they would be calm
Hardened by being thrown amuck
To triumph over their greatest qualm

If I met that self, they’d hate me
The decisions that I’ve become
They had to work so hard to be free
And yet I didn’t, therefore I’m scum

They’d hate my cultural illiteracy
They’d hate my efforts at sympathy
They’d hate me considerably
They’d hate how I think so differently”

So the child wonders
Now old enough to think beyond
What can’t be changed by time
Of the fate that they were able to abscond

Though the net good remains higher
Than what is in the negative
What remains absent from the divergence
Stays gone for as long as they live

A Misfit Among Misfits - A Misfit Among Misfits

Sitting on the yellow line
One as it usually is
Couples to the left
Families to the right
A reflection in the middle
Playing the world’s smallest fiddle

Walking out always pondering
Wondering what my picture is
All puzzle pieces have their board
Or so I’ve been told
What would that be for me?
Is that something I’ll come to see?

The search for such left not much
Each attempt always came forced
Coerced to part from solitude
Oldest fiend and closest friend
Came along with me on the 6ix
Left me broke with much to fix

So I’m too jagged, too bent out of shape
Yet to complete some sort of whole
Leaving the hole inside to grow
But that is best not to show
One has to just go with the flow
It’ll all come together

In absence of groups
Misfits come together
Bearing the weather
Of whether to fit it in or not
But whether misfits work with each other
Bother with one another
Is a whole issue entire

Shutouts still shut out
Cast out each other
To cold streets to harden further
And fervor builds from rage
Of being isolated from the isolated
Isolation like that is damnation
Worst pain second to castration

It’s fine to be too weird for normal
Nebulous as that word may be
I see no reason for it lest it succeeds ab
Drab is better left out anyways
But to be too much outside for outsiders?
Who are they to be deciders?

To be kicked out to my room
Left under a cloud of gloom
To fume rather than to bloom
Better to shop for a tomb

Sometimes it’s because of comparisons
Leaving everyone to deploy garrisons
Firing out that their pain’s stronger
That they’ve suffered for longer
What does this accomplish?
This I heavily admonish

Other times it’s just by nature
So it is by nomenclature
Misfits are meant to not fit
It just seems to befit
But some seem to misfit far more
Abhorred more by those closer to their core

In this double rejection
Dejection is the direction
Taken from such disaffection
Self-affection only comes from recollection
To serve as best protection

It still can disappoint
To be at that point
I still hate it with passion
But that hate I fashion for better

I still have to be somewhere
I still have to care
I can’t just compare
I can’t whine about the unfair
I have to accept my odd flair
I know the title I must bear