COMMENTARY
Commentary
1. Globalization’s hollowing out of the working class is reflected in the depiction of aging blue collar fathers whose physical labor involves (pointedly) the construction of homes. Faced with work-related injuries that variously leave them unemployed or dealing with chronic medical conditions that require prohibitively expensive treatments, these characters struggle with neoliberal corporate insurance policies and state welfare directives that make it hard for them to claim legitimate benefits, even as they come to terms with bodies that have become frail that were once robust.
Commentary
1. Eruptions of deadly violence are presented as inevitable in the age of inequality as the logical consequence of systemic issues swept under the rug. The perpetrator is a lone individual who feels victimized but his grievances speak to shared concerns that resonate with wider society. A disgruntled gunman going on a shooting spree was a near-taboo subject handled previously either in auteurist art films (Yang, Haneke) or Z-grade revenge fantasies (Uwe Boll). A decade following the global financial crisis, he became the protagonist of a Hollywood blockbuster (JOKER) that made waves worldwide.
2. The films portray a social environment in which acts of physical violence are pervasive and a structural everyday occurrence for the disadvantaged at the bottom of society. A tenuous status quo riddled with tensions class or otherwise is maintained through the systemic use of violence by law enforcement or private security to safeguard the interests of the wealthy or powerful. Civilians take their frustrations out on social inferiors through bullying or other abusive forms of humiliation. The protagonist’s ultimate resort to violence is depicted as a desperate attempt to fight fire with fire.
3. The films chronicle the escalating accumulation of abuses and humiliations suffered by the protagonist as a victim until he crosses a threshold where the only perceived means to regain his dignity and overcome a paralyzing sense of impotence against an oppressive system is to resort to physical violence. The protagonists experience the oppressive weight of power in the form of concentrated wealth at the top of society (entrepreneurs, billionaires, Wall Street...) among its ruling elite against which the impoverished trapped in unforgiving circumstances feel that they do not stand a chance.
4. Taxi Driver remains the urtext and definitive exploration of the wounded and aggrieved male psyche on the margins of society lashing out at it in resentment through a killing spree that ends up punching down rather than up. Travis Bickle casts a long shadow over his counterparts today that concern us (notably JOKER’s Arthur Fleck) and the mirror sequence from Scorsese’s classic remains a definitive influence on subsequent scenes where the male protagonist views his existence as being recognized by others and gaining in virility through the phallic brandishing of a gun.
5. Much like their inspiration, the Travis Bickles of today see themselves on some kind of self-appointed mission as a messiah of sorts to right what they view as the wrongs of society. Their extreme acts of murderous violence are presented as a way to make a statement and be heard: frequently a declaration or manifesto that reflects the far right views of a discontented individual lacking a formal education is issued as the centerpiece that allegedly justifies their rampage. The mediatized nature of their spectacle is relished with greater intensity than Bickle.
6. Echoing Travis Bickle, who wanted to assassinate the presidential candidate Palantine uptown to save Betsy from corruption but ends up shooting Iris’s pimps downtown, the killers who go on a rampage in today’s films fixate on symbolic figures of authority or iconic individuals in positions of power as figureheads representing what they consider to be the roots of today’s problems in society. Aside from obvious targets like the richest and most powerful, media figures seen as mouthpieces lying for the establishment are singled out, along with fixers who maintain an unjust status quo.
7. The films depict the killer’s rampage as the beginning rather than the end of a wave of violence. Tapping into a latent and collective sense of populist anger, the protagonist’s actions quickly become mythologized and is himself regarded as a symbolic figure spearheading a mass movement of resistance. The films paint a society on the brink of collapse akin to a powder keg or Pandora’ box: once the match is lit or the box opened, there is no turning back, with rage and chaos unleashed that can neither be controlled or contained.
8. Following the rampage and despite the notoriety gained, the protagonists themselves feel hollowed out like empty shells of a being. Deprived of a purpose (however twisted) and having released the tense and pent-up feelings of frustration and anger through a fit of deadly violence, the killer returns to his former state of impotence, deflated like a balloon after having pumped himself up with feelings of machismo. Ironically, being feted by others only adds to his sense of confusion being borne along by societal forces that remain beyond his control.
9. THE WOMAN WHO LEFT provides a much-needed counterpoint to our era’s prevailing cinematic visions of violence instigated by social inequality. A film about the effects of violence that refuses to treat it as spectacle, Lav Diaz’s masterpiece depicts a society torn apart by inequality and deeply scarred by violence, following a protagonist bent on revenge against injustice who finds her resolve tested by her compassion for the unfortunate. A deeply spiritual adaptation of Tolstoy, it provokes a profound and radical questioning of the fundamental assumptions underlying the other films under consideration.
6. Stories of single moms resorting to sex work to provide for their kids are emblematic of the difficulties in parenting under an economically punishing ideology that moreover atomizes the family and stigmatizes the collective in the name of individual freedom and enterprise. According to neoliberalism, aging working-class women who lose their homes or are terminally ill needing costly medical care hit the road out of choice rather than necessity. Meanwhile, the traditional wife and mother who stays at home has become an anachronism for economic and ideological reasons.
7. Stories of single moms resorting to sex work to provide for their kids are emblematic of the difficulties in parenting under an economically punishing ideology that moreover atomizes the family and stigmatizes the collective in the name of individual freedom and enterprise. According to neoliberalism, aging working-class women who lose their homes or are terminally ill needing costly medical care hit the road out of choice rather than necessity. Meanwhile, the traditional wife and mother who stays at home has become an anachronism for economic and ideological reasons.
CODA. Stories of single moms resorting to sex work to provide for their kids are emblematic of the difficulties in parenting under an economically punishing ideology that moreover atomizes the family and stigmatizes the collective in the name of individual freedom and enterprise. According to neoliberalism, aging working-class women who lose their homes or are terminally ill needing costly medical care hit the road out of choice rather than necessity. Meanwhile, the traditional wife and mother who stays at home has become an anachronism for economic and ideological reasons.
8. Stories of single moms resorting to sex work to provide for their kids are emblematic of the difficulties in parenting under an economically punishing ideology that moreover atomizes the family and stigmatizes the collective in the name of individual freedom and enterprise. According to neoliberalism, aging working-class women who lose their homes or are terminally ill needing costly medical care hit the road out of choice rather than necessity. Meanwhile, the traditional wife and mother who stays at home has become an anachronism for economic and ideological reasons.
1. Eruptions of deadly violence are presented as inevitable in the age of inequality as the logical consequence of systemic issues swept under the rug. The perpetrator is a lone individual who feels victimized but his grievances speak to shared concerns that resonate with wider society. A disgruntled gunman going on a shooting spree was a near-taboo subject handled previously either in auteurist art films (Yang, Haneke) or Z-grade revenge fantasies (Uwe Boll). A decade following the global financial crisis, he became the protagonist of a Hollywood blockbuster (JOKER) that made waves worldwide.
2. The films portray a social environment in which acts of physical violence are pervasive and a structural everyday occurrence for the disadvantaged at the bottom of society. A tenuous status quo riddled with tensions class or otherwise is maintained through the systemic use of violence by law enforcement or private security to safeguard the interests of the wealthy or powerful. Civilians take their frustrations out on social inferiors through bullying or other abusive forms of humiliation. The protagonist’s ultimate resort to violence is depicted as a desperate attempt to fight fire with fire.
3. The films chronicle the escalating accumulation of abuses and humiliations suffered by the protagonist as a victim until he crosses a threshold where the only perceived means to regain his dignity and overcome a paralyzing sense of impotence against an oppressive system is to resort to physical violence. The protagonists experience the oppressive weight of power in the form of concentrated wealth at the top of society (entrepreneurs, billionaires, Wall Street...) among its ruling elite against which the impoverished trapped in unforgiving circumstances feel that they do not stand a chance.
4. Taxi Driver remains the urtext and definitive exploration of the wounded and aggrieved male psyche on the margins of society lashing out at it in resentment through a killing spree that ends up punching down rather than up. Travis Bickle casts a long shadow over his counterparts today that concern us (notably JOKER’s Arthur Fleck) and the mirror sequence from Scorsese’s classic remains a definitive influence on subsequent scenes where the male protagonist views his existence as being recognized by others and gaining in virility through the phallic brandishing of a gun.
5. Much like their inspiration, the Travis Bickles of today see themselves on some kind of self-appointed mission as a messiah of sorts to right what they view as the wrongs of society. Their extreme acts of murderous violence are presented as a way to make a statement and be heard: frequently a declaration or manifesto that reflects the far right views of a discontented individual lacking a formal education is issued as the centerpiece that allegedly justifies their rampage. The mediatized nature of their spectacle is relished with greater intensity than Bickle.
6. Echoing Travis Bickle, who wanted to assassinate the presidential candidate Palantine uptown to save Betsy from corruption but ends up shooting Iris’s pimps downtown, the killers who go on a rampage in today’s films fixate on symbolic figures of authority or iconic individuals in positions of power as figureheads representing what they consider to be the roots of today’s problems in society. Aside from obvious targets like the richest and most powerful, media figures seen as mouthpieces lying for the establishment are singled out, along with fixers who maintain an unjust status quo.
7. The films depict the killer’s rampage as the beginning rather than the end of a wave of violence. Tapping into a latent and collective sense of populist anger, the protagonist’s actions quickly become mythologized and is himself regarded as a symbolic figure spearheading a mass movement of resistance. The films paint a society on the brink of collapse akin to a powder keg or Pandora’ box: once the match is lit or the box opened, there is no turning back, with rage and chaos unleashed that can neither be controlled or contained.
8. Following the rampage and despite the notoriety gained, the protagonists themselves feel hollowed out like empty shells of a being. Deprived of a purpose (however twisted) and having released the tense and pent-up feelings of frustration and anger through a fit of deadly violence, the killer returns to his former state of impotence, deflated like a balloon after having pumped himself up with feelings of machismo. Ironically, being feted by others only adds to his sense of confusion being borne along by societal forces that remain beyond his control.
9. THE WOMAN WHO LEFT provides a much-needed counterpoint to our era’s prevailing cinematic visions of violence instigated by social inequality. A film about the effects of violence that refuses to treat it as spectacle, Lav Diaz’s masterpiece depicts a society torn apart by inequality and deeply scarred by violence, following a protagonist bent on revenge against injustice who finds her resolve tested by her compassion for the unfortunate. A deeply spiritual adaptation of Tolstoy, it provokes a profound and radical questioning of the fundamental assumptions underlying the other films under consideration.
CODA. The incel romance or its variants typically ends violently with the crushing of the fantasy and the loss of the object of desire through death or disappearance. A vengeful act of killing is usually involved on the part of the incel to punish those deemed as the threat responsible for the erasure of his fantasy. In some cases, narrative ambiguity allows for an open ending where aspects of the incel’s fantasy as well as the subsequent killing it provoked are left unconfirmed as to whether they were imagined or truly took place.
1. Eruptions of deadly violence are presented as inevitable in the age of inequality as the logical consequence of systemic issues swept under the rug. The perpetrator is a lone individual who feels victimized but his grievances speak to shared concerns that resonate with wider society. A disgruntled gunman going on a shooting spree was a near-taboo subject handled previously either in auteurist art films (Yang, Haneke) or Z-grade revenge fantasies (Uwe Boll). A decade following the global financial crisis, he became the protagonist of a Hollywood blockbuster (JOKER) that made waves worldwide.
2. The films portray a social environment in which acts of physical violence are pervasive and a structural everyday occurrence for the disadvantaged at the bottom of society. A tenuous status quo riddled with tensions class or otherwise is maintained through the systemic use of violence by law enforcement or private security to safeguard the interests of the wealthy or powerful. Civilians take their frustrations out on social inferiors through bullying or other abusive forms of humiliation. The protagonist’s ultimate resort to violence is depicted as a desperate attempt to fight fire with fire.
3. The films chronicle the escalating accumulation of abuses and humiliations suffered by the protagonist as a victim until he crosses a threshold where the only perceived means to regain his dignity and overcome a paralyzing sense of impotence against an oppressive system is to resort to physical violence. The protagonists experience the oppressive weight of power in the form of concentrated wealth at the top of society (entrepreneurs, billionaires, Wall Street...) among its ruling elite against which the impoverished trapped in unforgiving circumstances feel that they do not stand a chance.
4. Taxi Driver remains the urtext and definitive exploration of the wounded and aggrieved male psyche on the margins of society lashing out at it in resentment through a killing spree that ends up punching down rather than up. Travis Bickle casts a long shadow over his counterparts today that concern us (notably JOKER’s Arthur Fleck) and the mirror sequence from Scorsese’s classic remains a definitive influence on subsequent scenes where the male protagonist views his existence as being recognized by others and gaining in virility through the phallic brandishing of a gun.
5. Much like their inspiration, the Travis Bickles of today see themselves on some kind of self-appointed mission as a messiah of sorts to right what they view as the wrongs of society. Their extreme acts of murderous violence are presented as a way to make a statement and be heard: frequently a declaration or manifesto that reflects the far right views of a discontented individual lacking a formal education is issued as the centerpiece that allegedly justifies their rampage. The mediatized nature of their spectacle is relished with greater intensity than Bickle.
6. Echoing Travis Bickle, who wanted to assassinate the presidential candidate Palantine uptown to save Betsy from corruption but ends up shooting Iris’s pimps downtown, the killers who go on a rampage in today’s films fixate on symbolic figures of authority or iconic individuals in positions of power as figureheads representing what they consider to be the roots of today’s problems in society. Aside from obvious targets like the richest and most powerful, media figures seen as mouthpieces lying for the establishment are singled out, along with fixers who maintain an unjust status quo.
7. The films depict the killer’s rampage as the beginning rather than the end of a wave of violence. Tapping into a latent and collective sense of populist anger, the protagonist’s actions quickly become mythologized and is himself regarded as a symbolic figure spearheading a mass movement of resistance. The films paint a society on the brink of collapse akin to a powder keg or Pandora’ box: once the match is lit or the box opened, there is no turning back, with rage and chaos unleashed that can neither be controlled or contained.
8. Following the rampage and despite the notoriety gained, the protagonists themselves feel hollowed out like empty shells of a being. Deprived of a purpose (however twisted) and having released the tense and pent-up feelings of frustration and anger through a fit of deadly violence, the killer returns to his former state of impotence, deflated like a balloon after having pumped himself up with feelings of machismo. Ironically, being feted by others only adds to his sense of confusion being borne along by societal forces that remain beyond his control.