The People's Joker gets the last laugh

★★★★★ | But doctor, I'm Pagliacci

Part comic book send up, part autobiography, and laced with surrealist DIY lunacy, The People’s Joker is the most heartfelt film about telling an entire industry to fuck right off that you’ll probably ever see.

Starring Vera Drew as Joker the Harlequin, The People’s Joker is superficially a mishmash of every DC property Drew can get her hands on without a lawsuit. But the undercurrent is far more interesting. As an autobiography, it’s startlingly honest. At times, the bitterness feels overwhelming. But I don’t think any of it is unjustified. Drew has a lot to be angry about, and the riotous cacophony that is The People’s Joker is a terrific place to vent.

But don’t mistake The People’s Joker for a simplistic shitpost. It’s far smarter than that. By utilizing the sacred cow of pop-culture – itself a minefield of man babies who refuse to let others play with their toys – Drew’s whip smart script shines a light on the absurdities of capitalist structures and, ultimately, the Scooby-Doo villain that is the patriarchy.

A lot of the humor veers towards the Dadaist and surrealist, such as voice cameos from celebrities playing other notable icons, who, in turn, are shown as puppets, cartoon characters, and intentionally rough CGI-caricatures. The world around us has the gaudiness of a Joel Schumacher film ramped up to 11. And when you make Schumacher look subtle, you know you’ve done something right.

With the same demented sense of humor that defines Troma films, Drew’s takes on Batman as a groomer, Mister Mxyzptlk as a fairy godmother, and the myriad of Jokers throughout the ages as personifications of toxic relationships each feel like a breath of fresh, ironic, air. While she admits that some of it is intentionally edgy for the sake of edginess, that doesn’t take away from how funny it is to see some people lose their god-damn minds over it.

There’s also a sense that you’re seeing something forbidden, especially in a cinema. After all, none of this got the permission from Warner Bros., and I don’t think Drew even asked. Which makes The People’s Joker that much more delicious of an experience. It’s punk rock at a time when corporations only pretend to break the rules.

Yes, it’s messy, and no, I don’t think I understand or even like all of it. That’s fine! I’m not meant to, and I’m not the intended audience. I’m here for the ride, and I sure as hell won’t tell Drew how to drive her bus. As an experience, The People’s Joker is wild, and unlike anything I’ve seen in years. It looks and sounds exactly like its filmmaker, and that’s the sincerest and best compliment I could think of.

Don’t miss it.

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