{"id":14527,"date":"2019-11-08T11:33:33","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T16:33:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/?p=14527"},"modified":"2019-11-08T11:33:53","modified_gmt":"2019-11-08T16:33:53","slug":"american-jokers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2019\/11\/american-jokers\/","title":{"rendered":"American jokers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I leaned against the counter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh yeah? How was it?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He shook his head and looked down.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know man…it\u2019s not for everyone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On Oct. 19, 2019, I, Carter Newcomb, walked into theater number eight of the Midland NCG Cinema and walked out a very different person. <\/span><\/p>\n

Interestingly enough, it was not the content being displayed within the cinema that affected me in a negative manner; it was a great deal of the public\u2019s reaction to \u201cJoker\u201d that churned my stomach and mind into a state of confusion and dispossession.<\/span><\/p>\n

The film covers the backstory of DC\u2019s most infamous villain: the Joker. I\u2019m often not a fan of many hero-based universes, and the Batman universe is anything but an exception. However, I found the supposed philosophical, political, and social statements of \u201cJoker\u201d so intriguing that I actually paid somebody for the privilege to consume the film. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a story consisting of an unending string of rejection, abuse and destruction. Its a film that\u2019s all too real, that highlights the outcasts and the losers, and doesn\u2019t try to glamorize a life of desolation and failure as \u201crighteous.\u201d It tells (or in this case, shows) it how it is, and arguably critiques the good, square side of society in a slightly over-simplified manner.<\/span><\/p>\n

A great deal of the public reacted negatively to the film, calling it senselessly violent, too dark, <\/span>and even an advertisement for tobacco (Arthur, the soon-to-be Joker, is a smoker).<\/span><\/p>\n

I will be the first to admit that this film glorifies violence, anarchy and the consumption of tobacco. As a matter of fact, I believe that Phillips wanted his film to elevate such things as righteous, especially to the lower stratum of society.<\/span><\/p>\n

After watching it, I\u2019ve concluded that Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix finally did what the modern film industry is too weak to do: they showed the American people the underside of this beautiful country. They brought the waste, the byproduct of our decadence, to the big screen. <\/span><\/p>\n

The seemingly endless and heavenly torrent of luxury and convenience that showers our American minds is slowly being unveiled to us as the result of a terrible mistreatment of a great deal of people, and which ultimately leads many of said people to lash out in seemingly senseless acts of massacre, which happen bi-weekly in this country.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Joker” may very well have given the \u201cbad guys\u201d a little too much credit and justification, but the public rejecting this film is an ultimate act of ironic ignorance. The goal of this film was to follow a man\u2019s descent into madness, a path paved by a society that is unwilling to acknowledge that others are suffering at the hand of their desire for more, for cheaper, for bigger, and for prettier. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":8264,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2423,2418,2491],"class_list":["post-14527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-carter-newcomb","tag-column","tag-joker"],"yoast_head":"\nAmerican jokers - UPDATE ONLINE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2019\/11\/american-jokers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"American jokers - UPDATE ONLINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/update.midlandps.org\/index.php\/2019\/11\/american-jokers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UPDATE ONLINE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DHSUpdate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-08T16:33:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-08T16:33:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carter Newcomb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DowHighUpdate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DowHighUpdate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carter Newcomb\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/american-jokers\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/american-jokers\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carter Newcomb\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7f58c3c0d3f3def30a17f6d05c5b966d\"},\"headline\":\"American jokers\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-08T16:33:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-08T16:33:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/american-jokers\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":477,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Carter Newcomb\",\"Column\",\"Joker\"],\"articleSection\":[\"OPINION\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/american-jokers\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/american-jokers\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/american-jokers\\\/\",\"name\":\"American jokers - UPDATE ONLINE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-08T16:33:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-08T16:33:53+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/american-jokers\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/update.midlandps.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"UPDATE ONLINE\",\"description\":\"H.H. 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