David Fincher Destroys Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker Movie

David Fincher, the director of 1999’s Fight Club, made several comments about the 2019 movie Joker. In this, he expressed several criticisms. Among them, he stated how the plot of this was a mockery of people with a disability or mental illness. He also added that, in his opinion, it was insensitive to the screenwriters and the studio.

The filmmaker is famous for always saying things the way he feels, and this was no exception. He indicated that the studio showed a different story of the iconic DC villain to adapt it to the final result. The director also indicated that it is true that the movie was a resounding success, leveraged by a successful cast. However, at other times, it would have been repudiated by society.

David Fincher Fight Club Director Questions Joker Movie

Image: Queen Studios

The director of the movie Fight Club, David Fincher, commented on the movie Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix. He indicated that the plot had a big deviation. Fincher also stated that the character’s origin in the comic book and in the animated version is totally different. Not only that, but they made a mockery of people with mental illnesses, said the filmmaker.

He also criticized Hollywood since diverting the plot to another context and forcing the final result is becoming a trend. Fincher acknowledged that the film’s success is undeniable, earning more than one billion dollars. However, this would not have happened at the end of the 90s. About the director, he emphasized:

“Nobody would have thought they had a shot at a giant hit with Joker had The Dark Knight not been as massive as it was,” Fincher said. “I don’t think anyone would have looked at that material and thought, ‘Yeah, let’s take Travis Bickle and Rupert Pupkin and conflate them. Then trap him in a betrayal of the mentally ill, and trot it out for a billion dollars.”

To this, he added, “I’m sure that Warner Bros thought at a certain price, and with the right cast, and with De Niro coming along for the ride, it would be a possible double or triple,” Fincher added in the Telegraph interview, “But I cannot imagine that movie would have been released had it been 1999.”

Differences Between the Joker’s Shown Origins

He just saw the new cover price of his favorite (Image: The Joker (2021) #1, DC Comics)

David Fincher pointed out that the plot that gave rise to the Joker, Gotham City’s most dangerous villain, was very different from that shown in the comics and in the animated version. In fact, yes, since his origin has a direct relationship with Batman, according to what was shown in Batman: The Killing Joke. This animation shows that he was a simple comic named Red Hood who allied with the wrong people and tried to rob a factory.

In this plot, Batman stops them, but accidentally, the comic falls into a toxic waste silo, ceasing to be Red Hood and becoming the Joker. This fact is considered by the Dark Knight his greatest failure since it gave rise to being responsible for so many deaths in Gotham City.

Certainly, the plot differs greatly from the one shown in the 2019 Joker. The movie Arthur Fleck is a normal man with a sick mother and delusions just like him. In the plot, he is exposed to the mistreatment of society and his own mother. This is the trigger that causes the disorder, triggering the origin of The Joker.

Another fact that differentiates the story of Joaquin Phoenix from the comics and animations is the character’s age. In the 2019 movie, we see that Fleck is an older man, and Bruce Wayne is just a kid. In fact, we see the death of his parents at the end of the movie. If we see the animations and comics, the antagonists are contemporary. However, this doesn’t happen in the movie.

Featured Image Via Warner Bros. 

I am a circus aerialist influenced by Dick Grayson and Spider-Man. Fortunate to write about the characters that inspired me. I also have a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and a Master's degree in International Trade.