Research Output
Exploring affect, identity, and populism in and around Todd Phillips’ Joker
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Publication
Cultural identity has become a fluid concept in which several positionalities converge; most of them are influenced greatly by popular culture, causing a con-stant individual negotiation between their real lives and the image on the screen. In 2019, Todd Phillips’s Joker achieved worldwide success not only at the box office but also in critical appraisal. Unlike previous representations of this villain as a disruptive social persona, Jok-er showed the main character as a political figure that gives agency and voice to the people who are socially repressed. The impact of this representation transcended Anglo cultures to the extent of symbolizing a popu-list uprising and a growing anti-government sentiment. Nevertheless, this figure’s appropriation brings two problematic ideological standpoints to the goal these groups aim: violence as the only alternative to restoring equality in society and color blindness that silences the struggles that cultures face depending on their context