Jason and I watched Joker last night; he was interested to see a villain origin story where the villain and the hero (in this universe, Batman) don't interact.
When Joker was first released, there was a big to-do about how it was glorifying violence, glorifying shooters. Having seen it myself now, I have to say that anyone who thinks this movie is glorifying anything obviously hasn't watched it. It is the disturbingly tragic tale of an absolute dumpster fire of a man who no one cares about and who is repeatedly kicked (literally and figuratively) until, after enduring more misery than anyone should have to, he breaks.
When some people break, they quietly crumble into themselves. Not here. Here, when he breaks, he shatters and produces shrapnel that breaks other lives. It is not glorious. It is not fun. At no point would anyone watching this movie say, "man, this obviously disturbed and frighteningly skinny man has it going on! I want to be him!"
There are no "good guys" in this movie. Thomas Wayne (who usually is remembered posthumously as a saintly philanthropist who could have fixed Gotham had he not been snatched away so soon) is an out of touch, wealthy, would-be politician who alienates the very people he's trying to help. Joker's therapist is an overworked public counselor who doesn't listen to him and who, when accused of not caring about him, retorts that the system doesn't care about her either. His mother is a piece of work that I don't have time to go into. The talk show host who seems like he's going to give Joker his big break into the stand-up comedy scene is really looking to milk an awkward video clip for views. He has a well-meaning but very irresponsible coworker who causes more harm than good. The list goes on.
It is a good film. It's not fun. It's not pretty. It's not a glossy comic book with a dapper villain. But it's worth watching. It is a cautionary tale of why you shouldn't be horrible to people, why you shouldn't cut the funding that helps the helpless, and what happens when the already broken are pushed past the final breaking point.