Michael Moore says Joker is masterpiece that showed us ‘the America that gave us Trump’

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Michael Moore has deemed Joker a “masterpiece” that reflects “the America that gave us Trump”.

The filmmaker wrote an essay in Variety supporting Todd Phillips's DC Comics drama in the midst of its awards campaign.

Moore himself won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2003 for his film Bowling for Columbine.

In his tribute to Joker, he praised his fellow director as such: “The story that Todd Phillips tells in Joker and the issues that this cinematic masterpiece raises are so profound, so necessary, that if you look away from the genius of this work of art, you will miss the gift of the mirror it is offering us.

“Yes, there’s a disturbed clown in that mirror, but he’s not alone — we’re standing right there beside him.”

He then referred to New York City, the presumed model for Joker's Gotham City, as “the headquarters of most real-life villainy”, adding: ”This movie is not about Trump.

“It’s about the America that gave us Trump – the America which feels no need to help the outcast, the destitute. The America where the filthy rich just get richer and filthier.”

Joker came out in October 2019 and has since become the most successful R-rated film of all time at the box office, following a controversial launch.