There's plenty of controversy surrounding Todd Phillips's new Joker film starring Joaquin Phoenix, particularly regarding how the film could possibly inspire violence. That said, it looks like Phillips may be starting a different fight with a new quote claiming that it's impossible to make comedy in the current cultural climate.
Speaking with Vanity Fair, the director explained why he's moved on from making films like Old School and the Hangover trilogy. "Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture," he said. "There were articles written about why comedies don't work anymore — I'll tell you why, because all the fucking funny guys are like, 'Fuck this shit, because I don't want to offend you.'"
He continued: "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 fuck 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."
Phillips previously said that the controversy surrounding Joker was being propagated by the "far left." He also responded to the controversy about the film's perceived incel tendencies, asking why other violent films are not held to the same standards.
"The one that bugs me more," he said in an interview with the Associated Press, "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."
Joker hits theatres on Friday (October 4). Read Exclaim!'s review.
Speaking with Vanity Fair, the director explained why he's moved on from making films like Old School and the Hangover trilogy. "Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture," he said. "There were articles written about why comedies don't work anymore — I'll tell you why, because all the fucking funny guys are like, 'Fuck this shit, because I don't want to offend you.'"
He continued: "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 fuck 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."
Phillips previously said that the controversy surrounding Joker was being propagated by the "far left." He also responded to the controversy about the film's perceived incel tendencies, asking why other violent films are not held to the same standards.
"The one that bugs me more," he said in an interview with the Associated Press, "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."
Joker hits theatres on Friday (October 4). Read Exclaim!'s review.
