The People's Joker

The presentation: I suppose I MOSTLY feel duped because I paid for a ticket to watch something that I probably should have watched on YouTube. I don't think that people shouldn't make movies just because they don't have the funds for it, but I *do* feel like I can judge it on its quality if it chooses to cut corners. The green screen looks terrible, and this is barely "directed." Conversations are shot super close up, and the actors fall out of frame frequently. The effects look like Red Letter Media videos when Mr. Plinkett's house was floating at the bottom of the ocean. I don't even really feel like calling this a movie.

The DC property: I suppose if it stripped all of the IP away, some might still frame it as a "Joker origin story." But I still don't believe that the solution was to lean into it. It undercuts its trans journey message with...superhero fiction. This movie wants you to take it seriously and as a joke at the same time. And as for the boldness of copyright infringement, "Escape from Tomorrow" is also, similarly, not good, despite its ballsiness to try to slip it by Disney.

Only the actors and quick, cutaway gags are worth mentioning.

Wow - what can one say about this wild, woolly, wigged-out spoof of superhero movies in which the protagonist is an edgy, crusading transgender harlequin comedian fighting the power structure of a corrupt, narrow-minded society? That description alone is pretty wacky in itself, but, as the finished product shows, its depiction on screen is even more bizarre and outrageous. Writer-actor-director Vera Drew's debut feature is simultaneously an exercise in the outlandish that's part high camp, part in-your-face irreverence, part alternative sexuality manifesto and part love letter to the Batman mythology turned on its ear. This story of a small-town boy's transgender awakening as a springboard to finding a new life in the wilds of Gotham City's underground comedy scene tells an off-the-wall, often-frenetically paced, sometimes-sentimental tale that defies conventional classification. Its inventive mix of live action, motion capture photography and animation serves up a unique viewing experience unlike anything most audiences have ever seen, including among most seasoned cinephiles. It also delivers some positively scathing one-liners and wicked sight gags that will leave many thinking "I can't believe they just did that!" Collectively, it makes for the kind of picture that will likely earn this production cult movie status and a guaranteed spot on midnight show movie lineups. Despite its many inspired cinematic innovations, however, the narrative occasionally tends toward overzealous self-indulgence and cryptic ideologies that appear to be employed simply to carry the story forward, making for a production that seems to be trying too hard just to see how much of a stunned reaction it can get from the audience. It has also come under some scrutiny for pushing the limits of fair use issues and acceptable propriety boundaries, elements that raised the eyebrows of some critics and of those who created the source materials from which this work draws (but that have also subsequently added to the picture's undeniable allure). Nevertheless, if you're looking for something that's part DC Comics, part John Waters, part "Liquid Sky" (1982), part "Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975), and part exploration of the unknown and untried, this one might be right up your alley. But, if you're put off by such an eclectic blend of satire, social commentary, visual imagery and heretical rumination, don't say you weren't warned.

Using Batman characters and various other Gotham City-related namedrops (within the realm of Fair Use, of course; this is decidedly not an official DC release) to tell the story of a trans awakening and trans visibility, Vera Drew's The People's Joker is a mostly funny movie that also somehow works whenever it is unfunny.

Reviewers are not unjustified to use the term "Adult Swim coded". This rings true of the cast (Tim Heidecker and David Liebe Hart appear; even Drew herself has edited a number of Adult Swim shows), the sometimes deliberately awkward acting, and the general quality of the effects, with CGI shots that look like something you would see in the days of M. Dot Strange and Jimmy ScreamerClauz. But the artist that this film truly lauds is Joel Schumacher; the film is dedicated to his memory (alongside Drew's mother) and sometimes recalls his mostly reviled Batman films -- the ones that the Internet tastemakers of the late 2000s called some of the worst pictures ever made.

Video essayist Kyle Kallgren argued that most of the stuff that the Internet has categorized as "cringe" can be reduced to queer expression; a way to bully queerness for simply expressing itself in ways that many aren't used to. The People's Joker, in Kallgren's words, has "defeated cringe". In doing so, I guess, it also suggests that any problems Gen X/Gen Y nerds may have had with Batman & Robin is really a matter of not understanding a queer way of making art. (Recall that the film was released in the same era when the mere mention of trans people was typically a lead-in to a vomit joke.) Well, they understood that the shots of Clooney's leather-clad keister may have been put in because that's the sort of image Schumacher enjoys, but calling Batman & Robin "gay" as an insult isn't to understand why it looks, sounds, and feels the way it does.

What I'll tell you for certain is that The People's Joker is a highly entertaining ride with plenty of personality and wit. A mutual on Twitter argued that its color schemes, occasional "old television" aesthetics, and trans themes make it fit for a double bill with I Saw the TV Glow, but I'm not sure if the tonal shifts of such a movie night would work for everyone. You do you.

Queerness in the form of an acid trip into a frying pan of artistic and exaggerated DC parody isn't something I thought of fathoming. Yet, here we are. Congratulations to Vera Drew and her commitment (and everyone else involved) to making this movie. For what it's worth, The People's Joker is one of the jolliest experiences in a long time. Approaching imposter syndrome hasn't never been this hilarious. It's an entertaining ride. It has so much preposterous stuff that made me laugh. Also, there are moments here that made me cry. Intentional or not, the film is riding on this buoyant low-budget look to its advantage. I wasn't too sure at first because it looks like a 2000s music video. After 20-30 minutes, it clicked. It made the film more tolerable to get through and made me respect it a lot. Also, while I did laugh a lot, some of the jokes didn't land. But, hey, comedy is subjective. I know there are going to be people who aren't going to like this for that reason (or many other reasons). However, this is pretty solid, IMO. If Vera Drew reads this (probably won't because she doesn't know me), just know that I'll be watching her next project.

I described this to friends as "like a Tim & Eric sketch with a heart" but that doesn't leave a very good taste in my mouth. But I also feel like I could argue with myself how to define this movie practically forever, because it is so much, all the time.

It's often strange, chaotic, a little uncomfortable, but also really funny and ultimately heartfelt. The kind of movie that couldn't have been made (or nobody would be ready for in this format) 10 years ago.

I've seen several reviews from friends-of-friends and I still don't feel like I knew what I was getting into. But, man, what a heck of a thing.