Joker: Film, Working Class and Post-Truth
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2023.587Keywords:
Cinema, Working Class, Post Truth, Joker film, Class ConsciousnessAbstract
The film Joker (2019) garnered huge interest from audiences worldwide and honored at the box office with an amount exceeding one billion dollars. Indeed, Joker has a class and political reflection on society. This article claims that the film Joker is a manifesto against the political forces that prioritize populist, authoritarian, and ruthless capitalist policies all over the world. The aim of our study is to analyze how the class movement is shown and examined in Joker. Joker's anti-system and anti-capitalist stance needs a sociological analysis; this analysis examines how Joker reflects people's subconscious and inspires class resistance. Another important point is to analyze the movie scenes with a descriptive analysis that will help us understand the transformation of the social movement. How the characters are assigned semiotically in the script is another requirement in terms of emphasizing what the film tells implicitly. It is important both to understand the chaos of the working class, which has not yet positioned itself in the production relations of the postmodern period after, and to see the film's recipe for why the working class should not incline towards right-wing populist politics. Understanding these two points will be the most important result and achievement of our study.
References
Altun, F. (2022). Sosyolojik teori bağlamında post-truth anlatısının eleştirisi. Erciyes İletişim Dergisi. Ocak/January 2022, Cilt/Volume 9, Sayı/Issue 1, 249-267.
Biga, N. T. (November 24th, 2019). Toplumsal çöküntü, anarşi, isyan vs… Joker…. Access Date: October 22nd, 2023. https://sendika.org/2019/11/toplumsal-cokuntu-anarsi-isyan-vs-joker-570093/.
Blanco Alfonso, I. (2018). Beliefs, post-truth and politics. Doxa Comunicación. Sayı/Issue 27, pp. 421-428.
Bulunmaz, A. (December 1st, 2017). Ralph Keyes'den 'hakikat sonrası çağ'. Access Date: October 24th, 2023. https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/ralph-keyesden-hakikat-sonrasi-cag-877936
Chowdhury, U.K. (July 10th, 2018). Post-truths, fake & false news. Access Date: October 27th, 2023. https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/post-truths-fake-false-news/313325
Çağlar, B. (2012). Bir iletişim biçimi olarak göstergebilim. EUL Journal of Social Sciences (III:II), LAÜ Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, December 2012 Aralık.
Çiçek, M. (2016). Göstergebilim ve sinema ya da sinema göstergebilimi. Kesit Akademi Dergisi (The Journal of Kesit Academy). Yıl: 2, Sayı:3, Mart 2016, s. 25-41.
Demirkol, O. (2022). İnternet ve “post-truth” ilişkisinin sosyal bağlamları: anti-determinist bir yaklaşım. Kültür ve İletişim. 2022, 25(2): 293-318.
Dorosh, L., Astramowicz-Leyk, T., Turchyn, Y. (2021). The impact of post-truth politics as a hybrid information influence on the status of international and national security: the attributes of interpretation and the search for counteraction mechanisms. European Politics and Society. DOI: 10.1080/23745118.2021.1873041
Eagleton, T. (1997). The contradictions of postmodernism. New Literary History, 28(1), 1-6.
Eden, M. (October 10th, 2019). Joker, a film to fall out over?. Access Date: October 15th, 2023. https://www.trebuchet-magazine.com/joker/
Gleiberman, O. (October 20th, 2019). Why ‘Joker’ is about all of us. Access Date: November 1st, 2023. https://variety.com/2019/film/columns/why-joker-is-about-all-of-us-joaquin-phoenix-todd-phillips-1203376414/
Gray, J. (May 19th, 2017). Post truth by Matthew D’Ancona and Post-truth by Evan Davis review – is this really a new era of politics?. Access Date: October 4th, 2023.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/may/19/post-truth-matthew-dancona-evan-davis-reiews#comments
Güven, A. (2020). Hakikatin yitimi olarak post-truth: bir kavramsallaştırma denemesi. İnsan&İnsan. Yıl/Year 7, Sayı/Issue 23, Kış/Winter 2020, 20-36.
Illing, S. (August 14th, 2018). A philosopher explains America’s “post-truth” problem. Access Date: October 11th, 2023. https://www.vox.com/2018/8/14/17661430/trump-post-truth-politics-philosophy-simon-blackburn
Kirkpatrick, A. (2017). Understanding in a post-truth world: comprehension and co-naissance as empathetic antidotes to post-truth politics. Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy. Vol. 13, no. 3, 2017.
Köpüklü, R. (2019). Joker: haksızlığa başkaldırı mı, yoksa ego tatmini mi? Makas, Sayı/Issue:11, December – January 2019, 56-57.
Malumatfurus. (October 13th, 2019). Hakikat sonrası çağda yeni medya ve yalan haber. Access Date: October 10th, 2023. https://www.malumatfurus.org/kitap-incelemesi-hakikat-sonrasi-cagda-yeni-medya-ve-yalan-haber/
Marshall, P. (November 22nd, 2021). Ideology, Identity, and Post-Truth:. Access Date: October 21st, 2023. https://research.kent.ac.uk/kcwa/wp-content/uploads/sites/2496/2021/11/Ideology-Identity-and-PostTruth.pdf
Mason-Wilkes, W. (2019). Book review: Steve Fuller, post-truth: knowledge as a power game. Sociology. 53 (6), 1198-1199.
Oxfordlearnersdictionaries. Access Date: October 17th, 2023. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/post-truth?q=post-truth
Ogün, M. (2020). Parlak dijital dünyada emek – sermaye ilişkisi ve kullanıcı metasının oluşumu. Ufuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi. 2020-Cilt:9 – Sayı:18. 127-147.
Oruç, M. S. (2020). Postmodernite, siyasal iletişim ve doğruluk sorunu: post-truth durum ve entelektüel zemini üzerine bir inceleme. Türkiye İletişim Araştırmaları Dergisi. Yıl/Year: 2020, Sayı/Issue: 36, ss/pp. 141-160.
Özcan, R. (April 9th, 2020). Hakikat sonrası çağı anlamak, propaganda ve medya. Access Date: October 9th, 2023. https://www.indyturk.com/node/160641/t%C3%BCrkiyeden-sesler/hakikat-sonras%C4%B1-%C3%A7a%C4%9F%C4%B1-anlamak-propaganda-ve-medya
Özkurşun, İ. (December 14th, 2020). Joker eleştirilerimiz ne kadar haklı?. Erişim Tarihi: November 1st, 2023. https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/sinema/2019/10/16/joker-elestirilerimiz-ne-kadar-hakli
Tesich, S. (1992). A government of lies. The Nation Company L.P. The Nation (New York, N.Y.). 1992, Vol.254 (1), p.12.
Tkatch, D. (November 17th, 2016). ‘It’s gonna be great fun!’ Politics in the age of post-truth. Access Date: October 18th, 2023. https://katoikos.world/dialogue/slow-news-europe/its-gonna-be-great-fun-politics-in-the-age-of-post-truth.html
Tolmach Lakoff, R. (2017). The hollow man:Donald Trump, populism, and post-truth politics. Journal of Language and Politics. Volume 16, Issue 4, Jan 2017, p. 595 – 606.
Topal, G. – Topal, Z. Ö. (2022). Modern dünyanın kutsal göstergeleri üzerine mitolojik bir okuma. Journal of Pure Social Sciences, 3(4), 41-59.
Sunal, G. & Arkan, N. (2020). Sinemada şiddet olgusu bağlamında Joker filminin çözümlemeci ruhbilimsel açıdan değerlendirilmesi. Intermedia International E-Journal. Spring - June – 2020- 7 (12).
Şimşek, V. (2018). Post-truth ve yeni medya: sosyal medya grupları üzerinden bir inceleme. Global Media Journal TR Edition, S.16 s.1-14.
Ulusal, D. (2019). Feminist discourse in animated films. G. Sarı.(Ed.) International perspectives on feminism and sexism in the film industry. (Pages 172-187). Hershey, PA: IGI Global Book Series.
Uzdu Yıldız, F. (2011). Göstergebilim kiplikleri açısından anlatı kişilerinin incelenmesi. (Unpublished Doctoral Thesis). T.C. Ege Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, İzmir.
Vattamattam, S. (2020). Post-truth and the return of fascism. Access Date: November 10th, 2023. https://philarchive.org/archive/VATPATv3
Yıldızoğlu, Ergin. (May 12th, 2020). ABD başkanlık seçimleri: büyük buhran düzeyindeki işsizlik, sandığa nasıl yansıyabilir?”. Access Date: October 25th, 2023. https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-dunya-52626418
Žižek, S. (2008). The sublime object of ideology. London – New York: Verso Publications.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Yildirim Uysal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
- Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
- The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
- Attribution—other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;
- The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a prepublication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
- Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
- The Author represents and warrants that:
- the Work is the Author’s original work;
- the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
- the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
- the Work has not previously been published;
- the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
- the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
- The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.
Revised 7/16/2018. Revision Description: Removed outdated link.