Pride Month: The People's Joker

[cyberghostface]

I've talked a few times in the past how even though DC won't officially acknowledge it various creators have interpreted the Joker as being LGBT and how he's since become a pride symbol in some circles. More recently trans filmmaker Vera Drew came out with a parody called 'The People's Joker' which reimagines the Joker as a trans woman. It's not just a parody of the Todd Phillips film; there's a lot of comic pastiches throughout the film including an animated segment done in the style of 'The Dark Knight Returns'.

I'm not going to give it an in-depth review but it was a lot better than I thought it would be... while I respected the idea the trailers made it look like a YouTube fan video/adult swim bit that wouldn't work for an entire feature film. In reality there's a lot going on with the film; a lot of it is an autobiography of Vera Drew's experiences coming out as trans through the lens of the Joker (I.E. her mother's attempt at conversion therapy is depicted as being a trip to Arkham Asylum). 

One thing that came to mind was how much a story worked with the Joker and how it might not have with, say, Spider-Man or Batman. I guess in addition to the queer readings to the character he's just become such a universal archetype that he lends himself to so many different interpretations.

If you're interested the film is available to stream on Mubi.

I included a trailer under the cut.

Watch on YouTube

Comments

[beyondthefringe]

I feel like that’s the worst possible extrapolation from their long histories, and one might argue it was a few universal reboots ago so it’s less applicable today.

Of course, it also comes down to which aspects the writers and editors choose to keep and which they quietly retcon or ignore. DC wants them to be comparatively “safe” anti-heroes so…

Kind of like villain-washing Magneto, Emma, Juggernaut. Giving redemption arcs to Otto, Lex, Norman Osborn.

Hell, I refuse to let John Greycrow off the hook for killing kids during the Mutant Massacre, no matter how long ago that was and how many clones he’s been through since.


But at least Harley and Ivy have been more “good” or plausibly heroic in the past few decades compared to Joker, which makes a difference of some sort.

[cyberghostface]

Poison Ivy being a genocidal cannibal is from her recent G. Willow Wilson series.

I think it has more to do with DC's brand preservation for the Joker over him being a villain or whatever. The show Gotham couldn't even use the name 'Joker' for characters that were clearly supposed to be variants of him.