Joker director Todd Phillips finds backlash to violence 'surprising': 'Isn't it a good thing to take away the cartoon element?'

Director and his star Joaquin Phoenix have both defended the film against critics concerned the movie could inspire copycats

Joker director Todd Phillips has said he is surprised by the strong backlash to the levels of violence in his new film.

Attending the New York Film Festival screening of the movie – which stars Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck/Joker in the origin story of Batman’s nemesis – Phillips appeared in a Q&A session with Phoenix, producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff, production designer Mark Frieidberg and DP Lawrence Sher.

Phillips was dismissive of questions regarding Joker’s depiction of violence, which has prompted some to express concern over potential copycat behaviour. Phillips has said he and his team wanted to strip away the typical levels of fantasy and exaggeration found in comic books and their film adaptations, to deliver a full character study.

“That’s the surprising thing to me,” Phillips said, according to Deadline. “I thought, isn’t that a good thing, to put real-world implications on violence? Isn’t it a good thing to take away the cartoon element about violence that we’ve become so immune to?

“I was a little surprised when it turns into that direction, that it’s irresponsible. Because to me, it’s very responsible to make it feel real and make it have weight and implications.”

Before Joker, Phillips was best-known for his comedy films including the Hangover trilogy and the action-comedy War Dogs. Speaking to Variety in a recent interview, he said he believed that “woke culture” had ruined comedy because directors were being put off by heightened sensitivity in popular culture.

“It’s hard to argue with 30 million people on Twitter,” he said. “You just can’t do it, right? So you just go, ‘I’m out.' And you know what? With all my comedies – I think that’s what comedies, in general, all have in common – is that they’re irreverent.”

Read our review of Joker here.