Chances are you have heard something about Warner Bros.’ Joker, which stars Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role as Batman’s arch-nemesis, because you read somewhere that there were concerns it would inspire “involuntary celibates” (also known as “incels”) and other fringe groups to violence.
I saw Joker this week. It contains none of the right-wing element critics warned of. It does not glorify or stylize violence. It does not glamorize evil. There is no “incel” message. There is not even a true love interest, let alone one that serves as a catalyst for the main character’s final descent into murderous madness. Moreover, despite dire warnings, there has been no widespread violence connected to the film’s real-life theatrical release. In other words, virtually everything the press said about this movie prior to its release ended up being utter nonsense, marking one of the most absurd episodes of media-promoted hysteria since the infamous “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s.
