“I haven’t been happy one minute of my entire fucking life,” says Arthur in Todd Phillips’ movie ‘Joker’. He’s a mentally ill, impoverished, failed stand-up comedian who suffers from pathological laughter and turns to crime in despair. It won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and critics rave about Joaquin Phoenix’s performance as the killer-clown. Whether audiences will flock to it is less certain. Described as “a hypnotically perverse, ghoulishly grippingly urban-nightmare comic fantasia – Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), the loser-freak who will, down the line, become Batman’s nemesis, stands before us not as a grand villain but as a pathetic specimen of raw human damage.” Not a laugh a minute by the sound of it, nor anything remotely comforting in these troubled times.
Joaquin Phoenix, 28 October 1974 San Juan, Puerto Rico, maybe 2.55 am (astrotheme), is an intense and charming Sun Venus in Scorpio conjunct Mars, Uranus, Mercury in late Libra – so no stranger to living on the edge himself with such a high-octane, explosive mix. His Sun Venus trine Jupiter which will help him on the luck and enthusiasm front.
He did have an appalling childhood being brought up in the Children of God sect, which undoubtedly contributed to his brother River’s addiction problems and drug-related death in 1993 when Joaquin was present. River was four years older and had a marginally more challenging chart with Saturn in Taurus opposition Neptune square a Virgo Sun and Mars; with Saturn trine Pluto Mercury – abused, addiction and depression-prone, massive anger issues.
This year and into early 2020 Joaquin has tr Uranus opposing his Venus and Sun for a fairly roller coaster several months. But he will be into an upbeat and go-ahead lucky streak from March 2020 till late 2021 with tr Pluto conjunct his Jupiter/Node. 2022/23 and further on look much less straightforward with tr Pluto square his Mercury, Uranus and then Mars for a truly challenging and frustrating few years. Though his Solar Arc Jupiter will sail to the rescue in the latter stages as it starts to oppose his bunched together five planets over several years thereafter.
Very strange, there are a load of clown-related films being released at the moment.
Hmmmmm…..I wonder what it could be saying to us about the world situation?
The Joker was never a laugh-a-minute character, although it was played purely for humour in the mid-1960s TV show.
That all changed with the Frank Miller and Alan Moore graphic novels in the 1980s. Since then, he has become more
violent and unhinged. I’ve no doubt the film will do very well indeed at the box office, as the Joker is an iconic character.
rightly or wrongly.
Phoenix is an extraordinary actor — which is the reason I’ll probably go to see it.