In what could be the greatest cinematic blunder of our time, Joker: Madness for Two flopped at the box office, and many experts now point to the film’s most glaring flaw: the Joker’s face was green, not black. That’s right, folks. After endless debates about the character’s psyche and the artistic merit of the film, it seems the only thing standing between the Joker and success was a simple change of face paint.
Studio execs are now kicking themselves for not going with the edgier, politically-savvy choice. “We wanted the Joker to be unsettling,” one insider said, “but green? It’s outdated, like something from the 1970s. Had we gone black, imagine the social commentary potential! The film would’ve skyrocketed with that level of boldness.” Instead, the Joker’s clownish grin and toxic waste palette fell flat with audiences, leaving many asking, “Why so green?”
Critics speculate that a black-faced Joker might have received the kind of distribution that guarantees success in the USA—meaning it would have stirred up so much controversy that everyone, from political pundits to Twitter warriors, would have needed to see it just to have an opinion. “A missed opportunity,” one critic mourned, adding, “if only they’d dared to challenge more than just Gotham’s underworld. A Joker with blackface could’ve hit social media like a firestorm. But instead, we got a green joke and silence.”
In retrospect, it’s clear the film wasn’t about madness at all—it was about cowardice. The studios took the safe route, fearing the all-consuming wrath of the color police. Now, instead of controversy and billion-dollar earnings, Joker: Madness for Two is destined to haunt the bargain bins of DVD stores, leaving behind one crucial lesson: don’t skimp on face paint if you want a cultural revolution.
