'Joker' is not an ode to the alt right. It is a film about the devastating consequences of austerity. This is an objective fact, which I spoke with Jacobin story editor Connor Kilpatrick about.

You can read my review of 'Joker,' which touches on many of the themes we talk about in this discussion, for the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/10/joker-far-right-warning-austerity Eileen Jones's piece about 'Joker' and America's long history of movie moral panics is here: https://www.jacobinmag.<wbr />com/2019/09/joker-and-the-<wbr />long-history-of-movie-moral-<wbr />panics