Joker: From a Jordanian Point of View.. “Kill the Rich!”

By Suhaib Al-Hadid

Joker, starring by Joaquin Phoenix, is still a controversial movie despite topping the box office around the world and achieving worldwide success.

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In Jordan, as soon as the movie showtimes were announced, the public rushed to buy their tickets.

The Jordanian public feedback on Joker varied between those who felt it justified murder and violence, and those who felt that the main message was lost on people. Then there were others who found that it reflected the current state of their world.

Were mixed reactions to Joker the key for its success? Or was it simply a popular trend that lured people in?

Here's how Jordanians, from art lovers to the general public, have been reacting to the film.

Jordanian director Zaid Bawab wrote on Facebook:

“Joker is humanized more than ever, he could be anyone, Gotham feels like it could be any city in the modern world, although the film is not set in current times, and the future of the world in the film can not get more pessimistic and scary and subliminally argues that corruption, class and mental illness prejudice, hatred, media manipulation are qualities attached to humanity and that they continue to exist regardless of progression."

Theater actor and painter Saif Mashaqbeh commented on Joker's reflection of mental health:

“I saw the character of the Joker, I felt his sensitivity impacted on me, I mean, when he laugh at times he don't have to laugh. But in general, his life is miserable and unhappy, for this reason he draw on his miserable face a laughing/happy face, and I will do the same."

Meanwhile Graffiti artist Suhaib Attar painted a head-turning mural in the capital Amman with a slogan that simply read, "Kill the Rich!"

Dr. Assem Mansour published an op-ed in a Jordanian paper titled "Joker and Laughing from Pain":

“Joker does not paint a traditional picture of the battle between good and evil. It gave 'evil' a chance to offer its take on whether it is an inherited or environmental trait.”

On Twitter, certain tweeps dismissed it as a hype or fad and had opted not to watch it. Some reflected on the previous Joker character played by actor Christopher Nolan, saying he was better, while others were impressed by the performance of Joaquin Phoenix, calling his performance Oscar worthy.

Of course, there were the funny comments from folks who were unfamiliar with the movie and couldn't understand what the hype was about to begin with.

Translation: "I don't understand what the big fuss is about. Everyone's at the cinema showing off that they watched the film. Even if it were free I wouldn't watch it."

Full Disclosure: Zaid Bawab, quoted above in this article, was a former managing entertainment editor at Al Bawaba.