The People's Joker

That we get to see this movie at all is a minor miracle.

Nothing could prevent its creation, of course. Director Vera Drew set out to create a parody re-edit of 2019's Joker, spurred on by her friend (and eventual co-writer) Bri LeRose¹. But as the project progressed and COVID engulfed the world, it combined with a story idea she'd been kicking around about "a drag queen who was physically addicted to irony", in the process becoming its own thing which was still riffing on Joker, but also superheros and other Batman films and the LA comedy scene and patriarchal society more generally. Of course, it's fundamentally a coming-of-age story, but there's also so much more going on here. And instead of being a re-edit, it's all original footage, just using character names and designs from the comics and movies.

This last bit may have ultimately saved its release. It's a daring film in so many ways, one of them being the very blatant usage of characters whose IP belongs to a megacorp. Despite the film obviously qualifying as fair use due to its parodic and transformative nature, that's no sure-fire defense against a team of high-powered (and highly paid) lawyers, who could at least tie it up in the courts for years, if not outright shelve it. And it seems rights issues did slow it down: it premiered at TIFF in 2022 before all future screenings were cancelled. But for some reason unknown to the public, the angry company seems to have relented, resulting in a small theatrical run earlier this year, and hitting VOD a month ago.

I just want to dwell on that for a moment. In this age of companies wringing every last drop out of their IP, of Disney opposing every single unauthorized use of their characters, and of consolidation in the movie industry which has so many feeling very protective and conservative, an unknown creative was able to release a movie which directly spits in the face of those behemoths. Copyright has long been abused by media companies to stifle creativity, despite originally being intended (in part) to help foster it. This represents an incredibly important moment in that ongoing fight, a win for the artists. I'm not naive enough to think the problem has been solved: just ask YouTube creators. But that one made it through should be celebrated, before even considering its quality.

Speaking of that...what of the film?

As I said up top, it's a coming-of-age film. Specifically, it's a semi-autobiographical work based on Vera Drew's own experiences grappling with her identity across various dimensions: gender identity, professional identity, sexuality, her relationship with her mother and with her childhood more broadly, and more. It's ultimately the story of how she came out as a trans woman, although it mirrors her early statement that "There wasn't one moment where I 'realized' I was transgender": instead, there's a gradual layering of conversations and interactions and spontaneous occurrences that result in her feeling more comfortable presenting feminine. The story is narrated by Joker (Vera Drew), talking to us from the bisexually lit Fifth Dimension, telling us how she arrived at this moment, about to co-host United Clown Bureau Live (a riff on SNL and the Upright Citizens Brigade).

From the very beginning, this movie is highly stylized. It's very clearly heavily influenced by the Internet Ugly aesthetic and Adult Swim, the latter of which makes even more sense upon learning Drew has worked on shows for the network for a decade or so, most notably on a variety of projects with Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim. But it's also absolutely it's own thing, a multimedia art piece utilizing a dizzying array of media: live-action, 2D and 3D animation in various styles, puppets, dolls, action figures, video games graphics, crude CGI, stop motion, and probably some more I'm forgetting. Maybe papier-mâché? On top of it all, the compositing and object interaction and green screen are all deliberately sloppy, creating a low-effort DIY look that can only be achieved through putting in a tremendous amount of effort. And that only begins to give you a sense of its visual style. It's absolutely insane, and I could barely love it more.

The visuals seem perfectly calibrated to push you out of your comfort zone and message that its story is going to be couched in comedy, a decision that Drew seems to wrestle with in real time. On the one hand, she fully embraces the humor, using it to draw you in and endear you to the characters while highlighting the utter absurdity of the Wayne Enterprises controlled dystopian hellscape within which they live. On the other, her obvious but poignant twist on a key line from Joker addresses the reality of her situation to that point: "I always thought my life was kind of a tragedy, and, um....it is".

All of which make the emotional beats hit that much harder. As the story is told through flashbacks, we would hear many people (especially her mother (Lynn Downey)) using her deadname if not for the accompanying censoring bleep. So when Mr. J uses it, as the only person at the time to know of her dysphoria, it's left uncensored to allow it to hang in the air as an incredibly deliberate personal attack. The arc concerning her relationship with her mom is upsetting and sad and touching all in turn, as we and Drew come to a deeper understanding of her mom's failings. Most impactful is her own struggle within herself; she long knows she's different, but she doesn't really know what that means for her for quite some time. She just knows that she was supremely uncomfortable in her own skin until she found a place where she received the support to stop dressing the way she was "expected" and to instead follow her heart.

All of those personal touches are what make the movie special, but the social commentary throughout is an important piece of the narrative and the deeper points it's trying to make. There are critiques of "benevolent billionaires", of Batman as a concept, of the male-dominated comedy world and the place of women within it, and many, many shots taken at Lorne Michaels. The most inspired bit is probably the way they take conservative "fears" to the extreme: comedy is literally outlawed (enforced by Batdrones which kill on sight) unless you're certified by the government, which requires paying a ton of money and taking a long and exclusive course. As such, Joker and Penguin form their own club in an abandoned amusement park and refer to what they're doing as "anti-comedy', seemingly a dig at how any queer comedian successfully doing material about being queer is so often labeled as such, deservedly or not (e.g. Hannah Gadsby's brilliant Nanette).

This is the promise of allowing the use of culturally significant characters in transformative works. The Joker is such a iconic and significant character, claimed by people all across the ideological spectrum. He's visually distinct, and has a loose set of characteristics with which he's associated. That is, he forms a short-hand which a creative person can play off of, picking and choosing the elements to keep and to subvert, creating a whole new interpretation of what this symbol can and does mean. The audience both does and does not know what they're getting into, and it can get a rise out of you by invoking your previous associations or preconceived notions.

It's also a great marketing tool for an indie filmmaker. You're almost guaranteed some press for daring to "mess with" a popular character (even more if the owner of the IP objects). In recent years, some have abused that power: I had the severe misfortune of paying to see Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey in theaters. But this is 100% not that. This is closer to what I'd hoped Blood & Honey would be: the result of a person/team with an incredibly strong vision and talent who have produced a singular work, and the usage of IP simply serves to draw you in.

And The People's Joker is the best case scenario: that recycled IP actually enhances the story they're trying to tell, turning it back into a pure asset and removing any shred of cynicism.

1. There's a great interview with Drew in Vulture from April which touches on this and so much more: https://www.vulture.com/article/the-peoples-joker-is-vera-drews-comic-book-origin-story.html