Remember How Worried People Were About 'JOKER'?

Hey, remember how worried some people were about that 'JOKER' movie? Like, the one that the 'Hangover' dude made? Remember that? It was a "hot button" issue for a while, labeled as massively problematic before its release, and Warner Bros wasn't even letting the cast do interviews about it at the premiere!

People were talking about this movie like its message was strongly encouraging murder, riots in the streets, mass shootings, and stabbings of grandmothers. In reality, it was basically just a rip on 'Taxi Driver' and/or 'King of Comedy' with a bit of a ham-fisted mental illness/class warfare theme thrown in....and I guess homeboy put on some clown paint at the end! 

Imagine if those people who were so worried saw what 2020 was ACTUALLY like?!?!

I was just thinking about this whole phenomenon earlier, and then remembered this exchange I had with a film journalist named Daniel Joyaux the week of JOKER's release....

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So, not to pat myself on the back here, but that ending prediction I laid out for him there was literally the exact fucking ending sequence of 'JOKER', which only could've been more accurate if I'd laid out the dialogue for him as well. 

Don't believe me? Watch it for yourself!

"…the film ends with Joker either in Arkham Asylum, or having just escaped from there. Something along those lines."

Why the fuck did that guy tell me to "prepare to be stunned"? Was he hoping I would never see the movie? Did he see a different cut of the movie than the rest of us with an alternate ending? Did his brain just short circuit when he realized I was right? Did he lie just because? Maybe he knew he might've been coming off a bit too dramatic when talking about about a silly comic book movie and just lied?

If you were showing someone 'The Usual Suspects' for the first time, and halfway thru, they said to you, "I would be STUNNED if Verbal Kint isn't Keyser Soze and this movie doesn't end with him walking away showing the limp was an act all along."

….would you reply, "Prepare to be stunned"? I don't think I would.

After a couple months, multiple viewings of 'JOKER', and getting to sleep on this more than a few times, I can confirm that this is NOT an accurate assessment. 

What a goofball!