‘American Psycho’ Director Mary Harron Calls ‘Joker’ Backlash ‘Ludicrous’

Todd Phillips’ “Joker” is still being talked about almost 7 months since its release (a sure sign of a great movie). If you remember, it had sent shockwaves around the movie world last September by winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Of course, that didn’t stop American critics from going all “woke” and medieval on the film (I’m talking to you, Mr. Ehrlich) which irked me to no end and even prompted yours truly to write an op-ed (‘Joker’ is Not the Problem, the Media Is) which ended up going viral on social media.

A member of the Venice jury that gave “Joker” the top prize was Mary Harron, best known as the director of “American Psycho.” In an interview published earlier today, Harron spoke to Vulture about the 20th anniversary of her controversial Christian Bale-starring drama and explained the reasons why the Venice jury decided to give “Joker” the Golden Lion.

“Apart from that it was a brilliant piece of filmmaking, I thought it was a great portrait of madness. It had a class theme you very rarely find in American films.”

Harron is no stranger to controversy as even upon the release of “American Psycho” in the spring of 2000, she and the film were attacked by notable feminists for its violence against women.

“Notable feminists including Kate Millett and the National Organization for Women protested the story when it was released as a book…These attacks always focus on some kind of art movie. They never focus on the extreme violence in mainstream entertainment. I love ‘John Wick,’ but it’s far more violent and has far more mayhem than ‘Joker’ or ‘American Psycho.’ Actually, both of them have a small amount of violence. It’s just that that violence is disturbing.”

Harron continued, “The same conversation happens over and over every so often with a film that is upsetting or disturbing, which is a part of what movies are and do. Then everything settles down. It’s crazy to me that everyone talks about ‘American Psycho’ in such reverent terms.”

Here is what I had to say about the Joker backlash back in October of 2019:

“Why are critics complaining that this could spark violence by way of “incels”? Because they can’t handle the truth. What is the truth? That “Joker” is a film mirroring our own society, and it dares us to look at ourselves in the mirror. The parallels to today’s world are there — societal alienation has never felt more current than it does today. Joker, AKA Arthur Fleck’s situation could attest to 21st-century anxieties; his descent into madness is immaculately horrifying because it feels all too relevant and anchored up by present-day realities and tensions. The film comes out at a time when the country feels at a crossroads between civility and chaos. Many critics are calling the film dangerous in its, supposed, call to arms and revolution, but the fact that this movie is actually sparking panic in people must mean that it has hit a societal nerve, which renders it an indelible statement of current-day socio-political anxieties.”