I've seen many reviews of Joker: Folie A Deux that say the same thing: it has nothing to say. Whatever your thoughts are on the movie, claiming that the movie has no message or is not making a statement is blatantly wrong. Maybe you just missed the message, and that's fine as it was hidden behind layers of irony and musical numbers.

Before we dive into the message of the movie, I want to state my thoughts on the movie as a whole. There were parts I thought really worked and parts I felt fell completely flat. The musical numbers felt strange and awkward even when the message of the movie is considered. The scene in which Arthur is dragged into the showers and raped by the guards was disturbing and unnecessary to the plot. I actually really liked the ending, but I know most people hated it. Overall, it's hard for me to say I liked or disliked the movie. It's a bit of both.

I think what makes me like the movie is actually the message behind it. Todd Phillips created what I consider to be a masterpiece with Joker, perfectly profiling the American mass shooter and criticizing the healthcare system at the same time lightly within a comic book setting. It's one of my favorite movies of all time.

However, it apparently brought out the wrong response in some people. I have not personally ever encountered these people, even online, but I've read about men who identify with Arthur. I understand feeling sympathetic for Arthur as he starts as a very sympathetic character, but one should not identify with this person. I think that reaction to the first Joker movie is the entire reason why Joker: Folie A Deux was made. Todd Phillips had stated he intended Joker to be a solo movie before its release, but anything that makes money is bound to have a sequel with an overinflated budget. Phillips used that budget to respond to anyone who identified with Arthur Fleck, but expanded that even more.

In the sequel, Phillips targeted anyone who identified with Arthur Fleck by creating an environment in which the character decides that he is a victim of terrible circumstances, yes, but ultimately is responsible for the horrible things he did in the first movie. Did Arthur need to be raped and witness a murder of a young man for no reason to make that decision? Definitely not, but that's not the point of this article. Arthur came to terms with who he was through an existential crisis taking personal accountability, something the people who identify with Joker seemingly do not do, and declared he was not even Joker.

However, that's not all. After Phillips came for the aforementioned niche group of people, he came for everyone else, and he did that through Lady Gaga's character, Lee Quinzel.

Throughout the entire movie, Lee is trying to get Arthur to adopt the Joker persona. She somehow manages to pay her way into Arthur's cell when he's in solitary confinement and tells him to stop taking his medicine, she talks up Joker to reporters in the courthouse, and she tells him to be Joker when he defends himself. Then, when Arthur declares he actually isn't Joker and is just Arthur, she leaves.

Just like Lee, we all wanted to see The Joker. We wanted to see Arthur, a man who has been abused throughout his childhood, forgotten by the healthcare system, abandoned by any friends he makes, and mocked on national television, lose his mind entirely and go wild. That's what we went to the theater for, right? We want some action! We want some blood! We want some terror! We want The Joker! When we don't get that, we're shocked, we're angered. In fact, some of us even get up and leave the theater just like Lee leaves Arthur. Just like Lee, we don't want Arthur, we want Joker.

Shame on us, Todd Phillips says. How terrible it is for us to want to see this poor man become even worse. Why would we want to see a human being broken down so much that he becomes a villain? Is our infatuation with villainy as an audience healthy, or is it a sign of a larger problem when people all get together and collectively pay a billion dollars to root for one of the most terrifying characters ever conceived?

Essentially, the message is this: a big, huge, vertical middle finger to anyone who liked the first movie.

To be clear, I'm not saying this message is good. I'm not saying it's creative or well conveyed even. It certainly isn't a moneymaker, but that's also the point. I will say it takes guts to make a sequel in which the original movie is torn to shreds intentionally. I certainly find the message interesting and the symbolism of Lee Quinzel well crafted, but it is definitely easy to miss behind the layers of irony, upsetting plot points, and odd musical numbers.

What do you think of Joker 2 and its message? Let me know in the comments!