Picture courtesy of Pixabay
I’m always fascinated by how pop culture spirits change with the times. Older spirits are more set by the context of the cultures they originated from, so although they may change somewhat through the lens of modern culture, pop culture spirits are more flexible and fluid in some ways. Yet they too can become fixed and set to some degree by the expectations of the fans that enjoy the pop culture they originate from. And yet sometimes a spirit can break out of the mold in unexpected ways.
Recently I went to see the new Joker movie. I saw it once and I went back and saw it again in the theater (something I normally don’t do). Why did I go back? Because the Joker movie isn’t really a movie. It’s an experience of a person becoming the Joker. The second time I saw the movie, I watched how Joaquin Phoenix used his face and eyes to convey the gradual evolution of Arthur into Joker, but what I also saw was a dynamic rewriting of the pop culture spirit of Joker, in a direction that no one else had taken him.
When you see Joker depicted in TV shows, films, and comics, he’s typically treated as a deranged pyschopath who kllls people for kicks, beats on his sometimes girlfriend and has an ongoing love hate relationship with Batman. He’s a force of chaos and all he really cares about is himself. And yes, the Joker movie did show some of that, but it also showed some other aspects of Joker and made him into a character you could sympathize with, and also the face of protests.
The Joker is evolving through the medium of the movie and the interaction people have with that movie. This version of the Joker is a person on the fringe, representing the people who are outcasts and on the edge of society, oppressed by the system until they rise up and strike back. but this Joker is also vulnerable, in pain, someone who trying to survive and fighting with everything he’s got.
At the time of this writing, I’m doing a month long work with the Sephiroth of Geburah and the archangel Khamael, as well as the planetary energy of Mars. What I’ve found is that this version of joker fits perfectly with this month, because he is the embodiment of severity and judgement on societal systems. He is ironically the other side of the coin of Batman, who also fits the embodiment of severity and judgement, but where Batman upholds and protects the system, flawed as it is, Joker sits in judgement of the system and tears it down.
Pop culture spirits evolve with the constant retelling of their stories and the new interpretations that come out of the retelling. The evolve through the fan interactions with them and how those fans take the stories and embody them in their own words and actions. And that in turn can also change how they show up in pop culture magic workings. Yes you could work with the Joker as a force of chaos, but now you could also work with him as a force for protests and as a judgement on the systems that you’re protesting against.
The right pop culture interpretation can remake how we interact with a pop culture spirit and transform the magical work we would do with it. And when it does, everything we thought we knew about a pop culture spirit is blown out of the water as its transformed right before us into something else.
