I loved Joker 2! They spent an unbelievable amount of money for the audience to have a really really awful time and awful feeling in the stomach afterwards. Recommended it you want to have a bad time - with a film that just aims at that.
It's a musical. Either of your interpretations applies.
I’m in the tiny demographic who thinks Joker 2 being a musical starring Lady Gaga was a strong decision, let down by waves in the general direction of almost everything else about the movie.