The People’s Joker Shows Off Controversial Movie DC Tried To Get Banned
Despite satire and parody having a lot of legal leeway here in the United States, that does not mean companies have to like it. Many big companies will still resort to using lawyers and legal threats to try and deter smaller companies from releasing satirical work that should be legally protected.
Evidently, something of this nature is what happened with The People’s Joker, a queer parody retelling of 2019’s Joker that DC supposedly was not at all enthusiastic about it making it in front of the public eye.
You can check out part of what we mean with a look at The People’s Joker below.
Vera Drew is the film’s writer, director, producer, and starring actor all rolled into one. She explains how she wanted to use the movie as a way to share her experience coming out as a trans woman in the entertainment industry, using the vehicle of DC’s Batman villains.
But DC apparently just saw the usage of their characters and tried to put a stop to The People’s Joker ever seeing the light of day.
“I’m not getting into the specifics because my team will kill me,” warned Drew, “But people do not want you to see this movie and I cannot remember the last time anybody actually said that and meant it.”
DC apparently just saw the usage of their characters and tried to put a stop to The People’s Joker ever seeing the light of day.
While not naming DC specifically, it is easy enough to infer since The People’s Joker originally made its debut at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, before DC shut that down claiming the film violated copyright of their characters.
However, the United States is pretty protective of people and companies having the freedom to parody other works without facing legal consequences. That is part of why a show like Saturday Night Live can make fun of so many well-known shows and movies without worry. So despite DC’s objections, The People’s Joker had the right to make fun of Joker to deliver Drew’s message.
Altered Innocence, a production company known for their collection of films focusing on gay stories, bought The People’s Joker to help push it through to the public in North America.
Towards the end of 2023 it got some play in theaters in places like Los Angeles and Washington D.C. Now in 2024, it is getting a widespread release across the rest of the country for select dates.
Altered Innocence, a production company known for their collection of films focusing on gay stories, bought The People’s Joker to help push it through to the public in North America.
The founder of Altered Innocence, Frank Jaffe, expressed the company’s enthusiasm for helping to share The People’s Joker with as many people as possible. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to champion this bold, intelligent, and hilarious piece of queer cinema that audiences around the globe have fallen in love with.”
The People’s Joker follows a similar premise to the clown prince of crime’s origin story presented in Joker. A failing comedian frequenting comedy clubs struggles to find acceptance. But in this case, it becomes a catalyst for a journey about love and gender identity.
The movie is actually shot entirely on green screen, and features work from over 200 primarily queer creators who began working on this project during Covid. The movie features a mix of styles, from live action, to animated cartoons, and stop-motion style.
The People’s Joker is shot entirely on green screen, and features work from over 200 primarily queer creators
Obviously, the Joker will be the focal point of The People’s Joker, but you can also expect appearances from Harley Quinn, Scarecrow, Riddler, Bane, and the Penguin.
In addition to Vera Drew, the movie also features Lynn Downey, Nathan Faustyn, and Kane Distler, with some exciting cameos from people like Tim and Eric’s David Liebe Hart and Bob Odenkirk (of Better Call Saul).
The People’s Joker begins its theatrical tour across the country in April, with tickets available for purchase now.
