Three weeks have passed since the release of Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck/Joker and directed by Todd Phillips. The movie has bee heavily critiqued for the portrayal of mental health in society and often times seeming to glorify the glaring mental health issues Arthur possessed. I spend a lot of time on social media (which I regret sometimes), and I have seen people compare Joker to the likes of Martin Scorsese's outstanding works Raging Bull and Taxi Driver. I have seen Joker twice now and the one theme seems to not be shown is toxic masculinity.
Joker is a good movie, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't like the typical comic book movie. This was a character study of a man beaten down by society and gets driven to insanity, and Todd Phillips captured that well. However, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull dive way deeper into the aspect of toxic masculinity and how it destroys a man, which Joker did not touch on.
Let me dive in on the main theme that both Taxi Driver and Raging Bull really hammer home - masculinity. Both of these films really show the toxic nature that masculinity can have. The lead characters in the films are constantly in this battle of showing off how manly they are that drives them to the point of destruction.
In Raging Bull, boxing champion Jake Lamatta is often wondering how manly he has to be to show power over everyone from his brother Jimmy to even his own wife Vickie. He is always having thoughts that every man that Vickie talks to is a better man than him and wondering if she wants them. He uses the boxing ring to take out the anger on his opponents while also using it as his punishment for the behavior he shows to the people he loves. Then by the end of the film, Jake has no one left and finally looks in the mirror before a show and blames himself through a monologue from the film, On the Water Front. He never looks for pity, never blames others, only himself.
On the other hand, Taxi Driver also touches on the masculinity theme that Joker never seems to really touch on. Taxi Driver, shows lets us see the world through the eyes of the main character Travis has this feeling of having a superhero complex to save women from danger. Travis feels that he has to do this show what a man does for women he cares about. From his attempt to assassinate a politician, to saving a woman that rejects him, to saving a prostitute from the slums so that she can have a better life, Scorsese shows that his masculinity is not a saving grace, but is destructive to others.
I will give Joker a good comparisons to Taxi Driver in that it shows what isolation can do to someone who already has mental health problems. Also that they blame society for the problems they have, while they do nothing to try and better themselves. Both characters Arthur and Travis are tragic characters that get beat by the things they want to be, but they always fall short.
I liked Joker and I felt that it was a good film, but the theme that showing masculinity can be a destructive force is something that should've been touched on. Raging Bull and Taxi Driver powerfully display that theme throughout the films. That is what makes both films untouchable to Joker, they dive deeper into the man and show him getting torn down by their own destructive natures.
If you have not seen Taxi Driver or Raging Bull, both are on Netflix. So, go see those movies!
