By Monika Jiang


Last night I saw Joker, the new movie starring Joaquin Phoenix, directed by Todd Phillips. Many viewers and critics found the movie’s violence and dystopia “deeply troubling” and “dangerous,” but for me its radical, dehumanizing view is exactly why I would give it a rating of 10/10.

Without giving too much away, the movie follows Arthur Fleck, its mentally ill protagonist, as he moves through a world that reflects our current complex conflicts — especially inequalities of power and access — on steroids. It reminded me of the incredibly disturbing yet beautiful dance performance that premiered at the House of Beautiful Business 2019, three weeks ago, entitled “The Ring.”

Choreographed by Henriett Ventura and Xavier Carmo from the National Ballet Company of Portugal, the dance theater piece transformed a defunct bank into a mental institution with 15 patients — or rather 300, if you include all residents who were part of it. During this hour-long immersive experience, I was overwhelmed by feelings of grief, disgust, fear, and compassion, uncertain where these sentiments came from. It was only afterwards, in conversation with one of my colleagues who is a passionate dancer, that I was able to grasp the whole intention and message of this masterpiece: we were witnessing the battle for beautiful business, the inevitable showdown between capitalism and the life of our planet — with humans as both perpetrators and victims.

What startled me then, and again after watching Joker, is how uncomfortable we are when confronted with a pretty damn accurate picture of where the world seems to be going. Some people couldn’t watch the dance performance and left, just as many people found Joker too disturbing to recommend. But the thing is, we vent about the brutality and cold-heartedness of a movie character even though most of us are equally helpless in dealing with the brutal power wielded by faceless corporations in a capitalist system. We look down on the mentally ill and those who don’t “function well” within the current reality, but who and what is crazy or normal today? Those protesting on the streets to reclaim their power, or those trusting that someone somewhere will fix something?

As Arthur Fleck put it:

“Comedy is subjective… All of you, the system that knows so much: you decide what’s right or wrong the same way you decide what’s funny or not.”

So if you haven’t seen the movie, go see it. If you haven’t been to the House, come join us next year.

If Joker and The Ring have made one thing clear, it’s that we should be bold. Choose the dangerous, the unusual, and the uncomfortable. Propose your most radical ideas to this darkening world: the ones that feel as frightening as the actual reality and the ones that might make hope, bringing “us and them” or “me and the other” a little bit closer together.

Monika Jiang is the head of content and community at The Business Romantic Society and a co-curator of the House of Beautiful Business.