Joker Director Todd Phillips’ Crappy Comments Makes Us Wonder if He Understands His Own Movie

Last month, Joker not only received an eight-minute standing ovation at the Venice International Film Festival, it also went on to win the festival’s biggest prize, the Golden Lion. It would mark the first time a comic book movie has ever won the Golden Lion, an award whose past winners include The Shape of Water and Roma. However, the film has also been on the receiving end of major backlash. Many have called the film irresponsible, one that glorifies violence and celebrates a character who’s essentially an incel. While I push back on that criticism, I also understand why the film can be seen as problematic.

Someone who clearly doesn’t understand and completely sucks at interviews, though, is the director of Joker, Todd Phillips. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Phillips had this to say:

“Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture. There were articles written about why comedies don’t work anymore—I’ll tell you why, because all the f*cking funny guys are like, ‘F*ck this sh*t, because I don’t want to offend you.’ It’s hard to argue with 30 million people on Twitter. You just can’t do it, right? So you just go, ‘I’m out.’ I’m out, and you know what? With all my comedies—I think that what comedies in general all have in common—is they’re irreverent. So I go, ‘How do I do something irreverent, but f*ck comedy? Oh I know, let’s take the comic book movie universe and turn it on its head with this.’ And so that’s really where that came from.”

This has pissed many people on the internet, rightfully so. After all, over the past few years, we’ve seen really good comedies like Booksmart, Game Night and Eighth Grade, all of which are miles better than his Hangover sequels.

Joker director Todd Phillips

Check out some of the reactions online:

As someone who liked #Joker, I really wish Todd Phillips would stop talking and just let Joaquin Phoenix speak for the film.

— Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) October 1, 2019

Doesn’t Todd Phillips have a PR agent who can tell him to shut up?

— Lexi Alexander (@Lexialex) October 1, 2019

Not only that, Todd Phillips’ comments seem to be actively turning people away from the movie or at least inviting more hate towards it.

If Todd Phillips can resent wokeness in comedy, can I resent the fact that TAXI DRIVER and THE KING OF COMEDY couldn't get made at a major studio today, so we have to have them reconfigured as a dumb superhero movie?

— Scott Tobias (@scott_tobias) October 1, 2019

Oh my god, it really is gonna be the "Incel friendly" movie its been called.#ToddPhillips #JokerFilm pic.twitter.com/SxuKjPqpLy

— Runninfar (@Runninfar1) October 1, 2019

This comes at the heels of the director comparing the film to John Wick. 

“The movie still takes place in a fictional world. It can have real-world invocations, options, but it’s a fictional character in a fictional world that’s been around for 80 years. The one that bugs me more is the toxic white male thing when you go, oh I just saw John Wick 3. He’s a white male who kills 300 people and everybody’s laughing and hooting and hollering. Why does this movie get held to different standards? It honestly doesn’t make sense to me.”

That comment also rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, with many even questioning if Phillips even understands his own film. John Wick is an over the top, larger than life action movie. The comparison makes no sense. Joker is more in line with the likes of Taxi Driver, American Psycho, perhaps even Fight Club.

Joker is an absolutely magnificent film. But Todd Phillips should seriously shut up and let his movie do the talking. It won the Golden Lion for crying out loud. Phillips looks on route to winning the Brown Skunk.

Joker is currently out in Malaysian cinemas. 

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