Miss Man

Ever since the release of Suicide Squad, people have debated over the performance of Jared Leto as the Joker; some loved him, some hated him and some felt as though we could have seen more and that people should not hate on him because he wasn’t given the screen time he deserved. As I had never seen another Leto movie, I decided, recently, to give a few films a watch as I loved him as the Joker and I am a big fan of Thirty Seconds to Mars.

I am just going to start with an overview of Suicide Squad; Leto’s Joker was very different to the Dark Knight Joker we had seen portrayed by the late Heath Ledger. Ledger’s Joker was a real life version; he was a mad man who was unwell and Ledger pulled off the perfect version for what Christopher Nolan was looking for. However, when it comes to Leto’s Joker, it has been taken back to looking at and focusing on the comics. I do not feel as though the film was following the comics, but Leto gave most fans what they wanted… He just wasn’t given enough screen time.

Yesterday, I decided to watch Dallas Buyers Club, a film that I have not seen before and not something I would tend to watch if I was scrolling through channels. However, I wanted to be able to compare Leto films. In DBC, Leto plays a drug-addicted transgender woman with HIV called Rayon who tries to be friendly in hospital with Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) and soon becomes partners in drug-dealing. Leto’s performance of Rayon is flawless; he brought a bit of humour to the film as he perceived the character so well, he shows that you can be whoever you want, and you don’t have to worry about what other people think about you because people will always be there to care for you.

I also started to watch Chapter 27. It is the story of the murder of John Lennon; Jared Leto portrayed Mark David Chapman, the main character in the true-story film. I personally don't like the film very much as I find the script rather slow and boring; I understand the story and find it quite sad as Chapman was a lonely man who idolised the Beatles. He wasn’t 100 percent well in the head and so ended up murdering an idol of his. Leto had to gain weight for this role and, even though the script was slow and all actors’ roles were boring, I admire him for delving into his role and sticking through with the film.

All-in-all, Jared Leto is one of my favourite actors. He may not be everyone’s favourite Joker but they should not hate on his acting just for that one role. If you do not like the new Joker because of how Leto acts, watch another one of his films and watch how he fits to each role. He makes it his own and tries to bring all scripts to life.