How the Red Pill culture poisoned Joker 2

When I watched the first Joker in 2019, I left the theater with a wondering mind. The movie moved me in a way I hadn't expected, with its raw and unsettling approach to mental health, social exclusion and the fine line between victim and villain. Arthur Fleck wasn't just the comic book Joker I knew—he was a brutal portrait of a society that fails to look after its own. However, to my surprise, what I considered to be a broader social critique was taken up by a group that completely distorted the message: the Red Pill culture.

The Red Pill culture, which is based on an extremely misogynistic and victimizing view of men, found in the Joker a perfect narrative for their ideals. For them, Arthur Fleck wasn’t just a man suffering from a broken society—he was the symbol of the rejected man, especially by women, and the “hero” who takes revenge on the system. The vision they projected onto the film bothered me a lot, mainly because it broke away from the central issues of the movie, such as mental health and social exclusion. And that's when I started asking myself: how did this happen?

When Joker: Folie à Deux was announced, I was hopeful that Todd Phillips would use this sequel to reclaim the story, perhaps giving the narrative a clearer and more incisive perspective. I imagined that the director, aware of this group’s appropriation of the film, might’ve tried to shift the focus and regain control of the message. But, as the publicity and trailers began to come out, I got the feeling that Phillips wasn't going down that road.

In the sequel, Arthur's dynamic changes with the addition of Harley Quinn, played by Lady Gaga . This brought a new element to the story, which could have been an opportunity to transform the narrative and confront more directly the toxicity of the group that distorted the message from the first film. However, even with this change, the movie didn't seem to do much to challenge or redirect the story. The plot remains focused on the deep dive into Arthur's mind, but there was no real effort by Phillips to set the Joker apart from the Red Pill culture.

I thought about it a lot. Did Todd Phillips not realize the impact his film had on pop culture, especially among these more toxic groups? Or did he know, but chose not to go near this hornet's nest? Because, by not addressing the issue directly in Joker: Folie à Deux, the film seems to leave the door open to more misinterpretations and wrongful appropriation by these groups.

It made me think about how cinema has the power to shape and influence social debates, and how frustrating it is to see such an impactful work used in such a distorted way. The Joker had everything to be a powerful portrait of how society treats (or rather, forgets) marginalized people. However, the film ended up being owned by a narrative that glorifies violence as a response to personal injustices, without any criticism or reflection on the social causes that led to it. And the worst thing is that Joker 2 seems to do little to correct this course.

And that's where Harley Quinn comes in. She could have been the key to reversing this narrative. With a character so complex and full of nuances, there was room to explore how her relationship with the Joker could challenge these visions of toxic masculinity that have become associated with the movie. But what I saw was a sequel that brought nothing new to the table. It's as if Phillips had missed a golden opportunity to recapture the depth of the original narrative and directly confront the problems that arose after the first film.

Taking a look at Joker: Folie à Deux, I get the feeling that Todd Phillips could have gone much further. He understood the cultural impact of his first film and how it was appropriated by problematic groups, but he made no clear move to tackle this in the sequel. Was he afraid of alienating part of his audience? Or did he simply not think it was necessary? I got the feeling that he preferred to play it safe and avoid controversy, which is a shame, because the Joker could have been a much more significant work if it had addressed these issues more consciously.

In the end, the Joker 's story has been poisoned by the Red Pill culture, and Joker: Folie à Deux has done close to nothing to reverse the damage. It's still a visually striking movie with incredible performances, but it lacks the courage to confront the misuse of its message. I left the theater wondering what might have been had Todd Phillips made a real effort to regain control of the narrative and offer something deeper than just a follow-up to an already distorted story.