JOKER

SPOILER ALERT: DON’T INVITE CRAZY PEOPLE ONTO YOUR LATE NIGHT TV SHOW

Finally, the highly-anticipated Joker film starring Joaquin Phoenix has hit theaters. As I am a comic book nerd, five of my friends and I flocked to the movie theater on a Thursday night — not ready for the psychological trauma that would ensue. Yes, we all know the Joker is deranged and mentally unstable, but to watch a two and a half hour movie through the eyes of a man losing his grip on reality (or already too far removed from reality) is not an easy watch, even for the most seasoned moviegoers. So bear with me as I piece together what exactly went down in the film. Warning to anyone who really wants to watch the film, stop reading right here.

The film’s first half is very slow, starting off in the streets of Gotham City as a garbage strike has made its streets look more like a landfill (or the streets of NYC at night.) The subject of the film is Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a man struggling to make ends meet in a chaotic world. He works as a clown for hire and has a condition that makes him laugh uncontrollably at any given time. Being the good boy he is, he lives with his mother who has instilled in him that his purpose in life is to make people happy. Arthur is no stranger to mental illness, as we learn he has been previously admitted to a mental institution and forced to meet with a counselor every week. He aspires to be a famous comedian, writing jokes in his notebook (a notable one being “I hope my life makes more cents than my death”) and fantasizing about his favorite late-night host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro). He also takes interest in his next-door neighbor Sophie, who jokingly puts two fingers to her head and shoots herself in an elevator. He stalks her to her daughter’s school and her place of work.

A friend gives Arthur a gun, which causes him to lose his job as he takes it to a children’s hospital. On the train home, covered in his work garb, he witnesses three men catcalling a woman and starts uncontrollably laughing. This causes Arthur to gain their attention and they soon start beating him up. Arthur pulls out a gun, tired of the constant harassment of the world, and shoots the men multiple times in a brutal act of self-defense. Arthur, endowed with a new sense of self-confidence, begins his stand up comedy career and a relationship with Sophie. The city is now on alert for the “killer clown,” with the lower classes of the city idolizing him as a vigilante against the bourgeoisie. Meanwhile, Thomas Wayne starts running for mayor in response to the growing unrest in Gotham. With this information, Arthur’s mom writes letters to Mr. Wayne, begging him for help with their situation.

This prompts Arthur to open one of the letters, where he learns his mother believes his father to be Thomas Wayne. Arthur then visits the Wayne manor and meets Bruce Wayne, forcing the kid to smile by putting his fingers to his mouth and forcing a smile. He is then stopped by Bruce’s bodyguard, who informs Arthur that his mom is crazy and making everything up. Not satisfied, Arthur then confronts Mr. Wayne who informs Arthur that he was adopted, and his mother was admitted into Arkham Asylum when Arthur was a kid. While being questioned about Arthur’s involvement in the clown killings, Arthur’s mother has a stroke and is rushed to the hospital. At the hospital, the Murray Franklin show is on and to Arthur’s surprise, it showcases him during his first comedy gig. Murray mocks Arthur for his lack of humor on national television. This is another person in Arthur’s life putting him down, making him even more unstable.

Arthur then goes to Arkham Asylum to find out the truth about his mother. From paperwork, he finds he was adopted and abused as a child, causing him to lose his wits, killing his mother in a rage. He then goes to Sophie’s apartment, where, in a moment similar to Fight Club, we learn that his relationship with Sophie was all a fantasy.

Arthur is then invited to appear on the Murray Franklin show due to popularity from the roast of the clip that Murray did. He dyes his hair green and paints his face, a mark of no return. As he is getting ready to go onto the show, his ex-coworkers visit to make sure he is okay. He kills Randall because it was Randall’s gun that was used to make him the killer clown, but spares Gary in a bit of comedy in the film. He is then chased by two detectives on a crowded subway train, which then leads to a riot by protesters on the train.

At the show, Arthur tells Murray to introduce him as Joker, a nod to Murray’s roast. When on stage, he confesses to killing the three on the subway and is about to take his life on national television but instead kills Murray Franklin. He is arrested and as he is transported to jail there are riots ensuing in the streets, which causes him to laugh. An ambulance hits the police car, knocking him out. Protesters lift him out of the car and symbolically place him on the hood. The movie cuts to another scene, showing the Wayne family leaving a theater, and Martha and Thomas Wayne being murdered right in front of Bruce’s eyes.

Arthur wakes up to a bunch of rioters surrounding him. He gets up and draws the Joker smile with his fingers and dances on the car to his many fans. The shot then goes to Bruce Wayne standing over the body of his murdered parents, and the Joker in a mental asylum. He is talking to his therapist about a joke she won’t get and starts singing “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra, the song that Murray Franklin quoted as he ended the show. The movie ends with the Joker comically running from the wards of the institution with bloody footprints trailing him.

The movie is honestly disturbing. There are no cathartic moments, as everything feels wrong in the world of the character. The end also makes us question if anything was even real in the film, or if we were in Arthur Fleck’s mind the whole time.