Joker director Todd Phillips blames “woke” culture for ruining comedy

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Prior to taking the helm of JOKER, Todd Phillips was primarily known as the director behind comedies such as ROAD TRIP, OLD SCHOOL, and of course, THE HANGOVER trilogy, but it doesn't sound as though we'll be seeing Phillips returning to those types of movies anytime soon.

During a recent interview with Vanity Fair, the JOKER director admitted that he has found it increasingly difficult to make comedies in the new "woke" Hollywood, which wound up being what set him on the path to JOKER.

Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture. There were articles written about why comedies don’t work anymore—I’ll tell you why, because all the fucking funny guys are like, ‘Fuck this shit, because I don’t want to offend you.’ It’s hard to argue with 30 million people on Twitter. You just can’t do it, right? So you just go, ‘I’m out.’ I’m out, and you know what? With all my comedies—I think that what comedies in general all have in common—is they’re irreverent. So I go, ‘How do I do something irreverent, but fuck comedy? Oh I know, let’s take the comic book movie universe and turn it on its head with this.’ And so that’s really where that came from.

Although Todd Phillips clearly believes that his brand of comedy wouldn't fly in this day and age, it's not like JOKER has been free from controversy either. The upcoming film prompted a response from the family members of those killed during the Aurora, Colorado shooting in 2012 during a screening of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, as they fear that JOKER might influence some dangerous individuals. Both director Todd Phillips and star Joaquin Phoenix have addressed the controversy with speaking with IGN, with Phoenix saying, "I think that, for most of us, you’re able to tell the difference between right and wrong. And those that aren’t are capable of interpreting anything in the way that they may want to. People misinterpret lyrics from songs. They misinterpret passages from books. So I don’t think it’s the responsibility of a filmmaker to teach the audience morality or the difference between right or wrong. I mean, to me, I think that that’s obvious… I think if you have somebody that has that level of emotional disturbance, they can find fuel anywhere. I just don't think that you can function that way." Phillips added, "To me, art can be complicated and oftentimes art is meant to be complicated. If you want uncomplicated art, you might want to take up calligraphy, but filmmaking will always be a complicated art."

JOKER is set to hit theaters on October 4, 2019.