Joker director Todd Phillips says that "woke" Hollywood and Twitter mob outrage culture has killed comedy.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Phillips said he turned to other themes because he found it increasingly difficult to make comedies in a new "woke" Hollywood that scrutinizes every joke through the lens of identity politics.

"Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture," said Phillips. "There were articles written about why comedies don't work anymore—I'll tell you why, because all the fucking funny guys are like, 'Fuck this shit, because I don't want to offend you.' It's hard to argue with 30 million people on Twitter. You just can't do it, right? So you just go, 'I'm out.' I'm out."

This is reflected in the script of the Joker, the plot of which centers around "an alienated white guy whose failure to be funny drives him into a vengeful rage."

Indeed, many have expressed concerns that the media's new found obsession with treating the Joker as a white incel propaganda movie will lead to actual incel violence on the day of its release.