Skyler Sneathen

DCEU's Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is nearly upon us. The marketing is in full swing and Margot Robbie spoke recently on the film, confirming the lack of Jared Leto's Joker from Suicide Squad.

Interesting how such a song has real use in the Joker film. At times songs in a film will be picked out due to the director's bias or just because it sounds good in the given scene. At other times there is an actual artistic reason for selecting a song in film's soundtrack. What makes Frank Sinatra's song so wonderful is how it applies to both our protagonist, Arthur Fleck and a particular theme in the film.

The film opens on October 13 1981, according to the radio. Two months prior to this, President Reagan's budget is passed and signed into law. Later on in the film, the social worker gives Arthur Fleck the bad news...

To date over 6,000 Americans have died due to our blundering in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In the Vietnam War we lost over 58,000 Americans and what for? What have these wars brought to the American people I ask you? We are still in Afghanistan and Iraq. Vietnam was a complete failure and what is interesting is all of these wars never had a clear goal or mission in mind. I must ask what is our mission in Iran, if it begets war.

When Halloween III: Season of the Witch released it did not fare well. After two prior Halloween films, Halloween meant Michael Myers to its fans. This is not all that dissimilar to Friday The 13th: A New Beginning which introduced a new killer, replacing Jason. You toy with fan expectations and you get shunned. However, now the film is something of a cult classic and deemed at least original compared to the lackluster Halloween sequels. Personally, I have no problem with the lack of Michael Myers. The main problem comes from its dare I say, the ridiculous leftist, liberal narrative. Granted, I am no conservative at all. Still, this film relies on lame, old liberal tropes on American conservatism.

You are probably aware of the old quote, "It's funny until someone gets hurt... then it's hilarious." This quote itself is something of a joke. We are brought up not to laugh at the pain and suffering of others. Yet, eventually we all do. You have the slapstick comedy of The Three Stooges and other similar patterns, like in Looney Toons. Physical comedy is what describes these examples best. Other forms of comedy exist, and the pain and suffering of others does not always have to be physical. Take any joke of male rape from any film. They do not just joke about the physical aspect. If anything, they are truly laughing at how humiliating such an act is.