Tracker Pixel for Entry

​Drew introduces ‘The People’s Joker’

Cinema | August 12th, 2024

By Greg Carlson

gregcarlson1@gmail.com

The behind-the-scenes drama swirling around Vera Drew’s feature directorial debut “The People’s Joker” has provided nearly as much excitement as the movie itself, an entertaining DIY bildungsroman built from bits and pieces of the decades-long media juggernaut driven by the mythology surrounding the most consistently popular American comic book character of the last century: Bruce Wayne’s Gotham City alter ego we know as the Batman. In Drew’s incarnation, though, the Dark Knight is no hero or main character and the faces populating the greatest rogues gallery ever assembled are no mere villains. In Joker the Harlequin, as performed and inhabited by Drew, the director imagines a worthy new addition to the Bat Family.

The catch: Drew’s efforts fall outside the sanctioned permission of DC’s corporate gatekeepers, making “The People’s Joker” a real oddity — a legally unauthorized fan film of sorts that slips through the net to attain a level of legitimacy enjoyed by precious few projects of similar pedigree. The roller-coaster details of Drew’s tenacity are still the subject of some unconfirmed speculation. Following a world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, subsequent screenings of “The People’s Joker” were canceled and the fate of the movie’s public availability appeared to be in doubt.

According to writer Aaron Couch in “The Hollywood Reporter,” as well as other entertainment journalists, DC parent company Warner Bros. Discovery initially exerted pressure to suspend exhibition and distribution of the movie based on copyright infringement claims. “The People’s Joker” opens with a title card identifying itself as a parody protected by fair use. As of this late July, following a limited theatrical engagement, consumers can access the movie on demand and purchase physical media including Blu-ray, DVD, and VHS thanks to queer-focused distributor Altered Innocence.

In “The People’s Joker,” Drew mixes her interest in Batman with autobiographical elements tracing the arc of the filmmaker’s personal transgender journey. Joker the Harlequin — a rather glorious combination of the masculine presentation of the Clown Prince of Crime and the femme characteristics of Dr. Harleen Quinzel — is a sympathetic protagonist that Drew imbues with pathos and vulnerability right alongside the nonstop gags and the homages and references to Batman’s vast vault. Nods to the 1966 ABC series, Burton and Schumacher-era highlights from Bob the Goon (voiced by Bob Odenkirk in one of the movie’s several celebrity cameos) to Bat-suit nipples, Prince’s musical contributions, “Batman: The Animated Series,” and many more all rocket by with dizzying frequency.

Not everything lands with the same force. Drew’s improv background and experiences in the sometimes arch circles of L.A. comedy as an editor for series including “On Cinema at the Cinema,” “Comedy Bang! Bang!” and “Who Is America?” result in some inside gags that will sail over the heads of many. But the greatest appeal to all viewers arrives courtesy of the coming-of-age story’s allure: from start to finish, Joker the Harlequin is figuring things out. A painful mother-child relationship, fraught with anxieties and the desire for love and acceptance, is just one of Drew’s fully realized storylines. Another is the difficult and unhealthy romance that develops between Joker the Harlequin and Mr. J (Kane Distler), a dangerous figure with DNA taken from Jared Leto’s “damaged” and maligned “Suicide Squad” interpretation as well as the novel configuration of Jason Todd and Carrie Kelley. Messing around in the Batman sandbox has rarely been as thrilling or as satisfying.    

Recently in:

Press release Celebrate Dinosaur Day on Thursday, Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum (612 E Boulevard Ave. in Bismarck). This free, family-friendly program is open to all ages. A…

By Michael M. Millermichael.miller@ndsu.edu The Northwest Blade, from Eureka, South Dakota, published a wonderful story in August 2020. It’s called “Granddaughter keeps Grandmother’s precious chamomile seeds,” by Cindy…

Sunday, October 19, 10 a.m.Buffalo River State Park, 565 155th St. S., Glyndon, MNHosted by the Red River Valley Chapter of Herbalists Without Borders at Buffalo River State Park for a fun fall day full of flora. (Say that three…

By John Strandjas@hpr1.com Yes, we know, everywhere you look, the world situation is mental. It’s almost inescapable just how tenuous life’s circumstances are. And how they are mostly — pretty much entirely — out of our…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comWill we be banging or whimpering at the end of the American empire?T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Hollow Men” accurately portrays the end of most empires in his first lines: “We are the hollow men/…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gion and Nichole Hensenrickgion@gmail.com The wait is finally over. Those who have visited Nichole’s Fine Pastry & Cafe lately know about the recent major additions and renovations that have taken place over the past…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com Dakotah Faye is a hip-hop artist from Minot, North Dakota, and he’s had a busy year. He’s released two albums. This summer he opened for Tech N9ne in Sturgis and will be opening for Bone…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com The multiple meanings of the title location in Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s “Bone Lake” cover the sex and death spectrum that will flummox Diego (Marco Pigossi) and Sage (Maddie Hasson) as…

By HPR staffsubmit@hpr1.com Mark the first weekend of October on your calendar. It’s the weekend of the Studio Crawl, which takes us all on a wonderful, metro-wide tour of our talented (and often wacky) arts community. On October…

Press release“Shakespeare with a sharpened edge.” To launch its 2025 – 2026 season, Theatre NDSU is thrilled to team up with Moorhead-based organization Theatre B to perform a co-production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

Press Release As Breast Cancer Awareness Month begins, Essentia Health is highlighting an innovative — and recently expanded — program that brings early breast cancer detection services to rural communities. Essentia’s mobile…

By Alicia Underlee NelsonProtests against President Trump’s policies and the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are planned across North Dakota and western Minnesota Friday, April 4 and…

By Vern Thompsonvern.thompson@rocketmail.comMoral accountability and the crisis of leadership  As a recovering person living one day at a time for the last 35 years, I have learned not to judge others because I have not walked in…