Long before he found global success directing blockbuster hits, filmmaker Todd Phillips was documenting one of the most controversial figures in American underground culture.
In 1993, Phillips made his feature debut with Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies, a raw and often disturbing documentary following notorious punk rocker GG Allin during the final year of his life. More than 25 years later, some film fans and critics have begun drawing intriguing comparisons between that early documentary and Phillips’ Oscar-winning comic-book drama Joker.
While Phillips has consistently cited films such as Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy as key influences on Joker, viewers revisiting Hated have noted that both works share a fascination with society's outsiders and the creation of larger-than-life public personas.
At the centre of Hated is GG Allin, a musician whose concerts were infamous for violence, self-destruction and confrontation. Viewed by supporters as the ultimate anti-establishment figure and by critics as a dangerous provocateur, Allin built his reputation on rejecting social norms and embracing notoriety.
Many see echoes of that trajectory in Arthur Fleck, the failed comedian who transforms into the Joker. Both figures begin as marginalized individuals who feel disconnected from society before adopting identities that turn them into symbols of rebellion and chaos.
One of the strongest similarities lies in how both stories explore performance. In Phillips' documentary, Allin repeatedly presents himself as being at war with society, using shocking public behaviour as a form of self-expression. In Joker, Arthur Fleck's transformation is similarly tied to performance, with the Joker persona becoming a way to challenge the world that rejected him.
Observers have also pointed to the role of media attention in both narratives. Hated captures the strange relationship between controversy and fame, showing how Allin's increasingly extreme behaviour attracted growing public fascination. Joker explores a similar theme as Arthur becomes a media sensation following acts of violence that thrust him into the spotlight.
Perhaps most interesting is the question of identity. Throughout Hated, viewers are left wondering where GG Allin the person ends and GG Allin the character begins. By the documentary's conclusion, the distinction appears almost impossible to separate. Joker raises many of the same questions, with Arthur Fleck gradually disappearing behind the Joker persona he creates.
Film historians caution against drawing a direct line between the two projects. There is no public evidence that Phillips intentionally based Arthur Fleck on GG Allin, and the filmmaker has never identified the punk rocker as a specific inspiration for the character.
Nevertheless, the thematic overlap is difficult to ignore. Both works focus on alienation, public spectacle, notoriety, and the transformation of fringe figures into cultural symbols. Viewed together, they suggest that Phillips has long been interested in individuals who exist outside accepted social boundaries—and in society's simultaneous fear of, and fascination with, those figures.
For some fans, Hated now feels less like an obscure documentary from a young filmmaker and more like an early glimpse into ideas that would eventually resurface in one of the most talked-about films of the 21st century.
Whether the connection is intentional or merely coincidental, the journey from GG Allin's chaotic world to the streets of Gotham offers a fascinating look at the recurring themes that have shaped Todd Phillips' career from the very beginning.