Joker makes some long overdue history at the Oscars
Joker has been enjoying tremendous success on the awards circuit, but it topped it all off by making history at the 92nd annual Academy Awards.
Joker was, without a doubt, one of the biggest movies of not just 2019 but the decade in general.
A gritty, hardened reimagining of the Clown Prince of Crime’s legendary origins, it starred Joaquin Phoenix as the titular character and quickly made headlines due to the response it received from the film festival circuit.
Granted, since then it has received quite a divisive response, with most praising Phoenix’s performance and the overall presentation of the film, while others criticized the way in which it tackled certain themes – not-to-mention the refusal of some of those involved to give its comic book source material the credit it deserves.
In spite of that, the film had quite the history-making run at the box-office as it grossed over $1 billion globally (becoming the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time), while receiving a ton of nominations at every major awards ceremony imaginable – with Phoenix scooping up Golden Globe, BAFTA and SAG Awards for his performance as Arthur Fleck/Joker.
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This set the stage for a game-changing nomination at the Academy Awards when he became the first actor ever to be nominated in the Best Actor category for his performance in a comic book film. And, after much anticipation, he picked up that award at the 92nd annual Oscars.
Phoenix now joins the late, great Heath Ledger – who won the award for Best Supporting Actor for his unforgettable performance as The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s 2008 masterpiece The Dark Knight – in making history as the Clown Prince of Crime.
For years, fans of the genre have felt that there was an awards ceremony bias against comic book-inspired films, as they rarely received nominations in the major categories. However, just like Jack Nicholson received some major nominations for his performance as The Joker in 1989’s Batman at the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes, Heath Ledger had the Oscars following in those footsteps through his nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category.
With Logan pushing more boundaries in 2018 with its nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and Black Panther continuing to change the game last year with its nominations in Best Picture category, Joker has now seen the comic book genre finally make its way into the Best Actor category. And, to be quite honest, it’s about damn time.
Next. All 7 Joker actors ranked from worst to best. dark
Joker picked up a total of two Academy Awards, with Hildur Guðnadóttir winning Best Score for her outstanding work on the film’s music.
Are you glad that Phoenix won Best Actor at the Academy Awards for his performance in Joker? Let us know in the comments below!