I THINK I GOT IT: The People's Joker (co-wri & dir by Vera Drew, Altered Innocence, 92mns, 2022)

Some movies you approach with humility.

This writer LOVED this movie. But since it feels so nakedly a satire, a coming of age trans story, a layered comedic takedown of what is "mainstream" and what is "outsider", this writer also feels he has to write with the openness that he most likely missed a lot.

But like Jane Schoenbrun's 2024 trans fable I SAW THE TV GLOW, THE PEOPLE'S JOKER is so intense, so creative, so well made, the moviemakers accomplish one of the essential possibilities in cinema: they communicate a life experience and world view that makes our world a little bigger.

This is a crazy movie and a legal IP nightmare. Basically, our hero (who will eventually become the People's Joker) narrates her beginnings as a biological boy with mother issues in Smallville through her decision to move to Gotham to become a comic to her realization that her manipulative trans boyfriend was formerly an underage Robin to a grooming Batman to her ultimate transcendence (or is it acceptance?) of her hang ups.

Vera Drew’s take on the Joker suddenly makes the outlaw villain the one who sees the f*cked up world for what it is. And decides we need to laugh at it.

Whew! In almost every frame there are pop culture references to the DC comics BATMAN characters, the Warner Brothers' BATMAN movies. The BATMAN movies of Tim Burton, Christopher Nolan, and Joel Schumacher (who gets a special shout out) are constantly referenced. Todd Phillips' JOKER and Jared Leto's take on JOKER are key. There's even a parody of Prince's BATMAN pop music album.

Is that Penguin or just a hipster UCB comic in Year 1?

So no wonder Vera Drew had copyright fights with Warner Brothers Discovery who tried to prevent the movie from being screened from its 2022 SXSW debut onwards.

Ironically, THE PEOPLE'S JOKER may be one of the most successful and pure expressions of DC comics love yet put to cinema. 

Thankfully Drew and the audience won. Since the movie is clearly parody it is protected by the fair use doctrine. And it looks like a phalanx of lawyers also helped make this point.

But once we get past all the pop culture, we can dig into the movie itself. Which is an eye popping, consistently hilarious, pop multi media satire, partially animated, phantasmagoria that gets at just how crazy we all are right now.

It's even pretty bold and funny that a huge part of the movie is devoted to the comedy scene itself and how organizations/institutions like UCB and Saturday Night Live co-opt outsider comedy for cred but run the risk of smothering what makes it special.

Like Schoenbrun's I SAW THE TV GLOW or Spike Lee's DO THE RIGHT THING or Satyajit Ray's PATHER PANCHALI or Claudia Weil's GIRLFRIENDS or any movie that puts a spotlight on a culture or people or experience, THE PEOPLE'S JOKER succeeds in getting us to empathize.

How is it that THE PEOPLE’S JOKER understood the toxic co-dependent nature of Joker and Harlequin’s relationship better than the folks at DC Warner Brothers?

It may not be our journey. But we sense the commonality in all our journeys. We all want to find our passion. We want to find a way to express and live and love sincerely. And maybe on some level we want acceptance, tolerance, and understanding. But of course that means we also have to offer acceptance, tolerance, and understanding.

It's THE PEOPLE'S JOKER's particular genius that it explores its themes with nonstop ironic humor. The successful joke ratio in this movie is off the charts. This writer laughed or chuckled a few times a minute for all 92 minutes.

That's a feat few comedy moviemakers-mainstream, indie, whatever-accomplish.

THE PEOPLE'S JOKER may be the kind of movie that makes some people's heads explode in our current moment. But calm down. It may also be the kind of movie that can convince a lot of us that it's all right. We're all on our own paths. And if we can give support and good will to others on their paths well. . .that's good for America. 

And we can laugh along the way.

Craig Hammill is the founder.programmer of Secret Movie Club.