Amidst all the divisive reactions, concerns regarding the narrative’s social impact, and controversy for rehashing ideas from Martin Scorsese’s movies, the biggest challenge 2019’s wildly successful DC movie, Joker, initially faced was justifying its existence in the first place. Agreed, solo movies based on supervillains are quite common these days and given the fact that Gotham’s Caped Crusader boasts a number of iconic ones, making features on the city’s worst criminal elements seems like a logical choice. But picking someone whose mysterious, undisclosed past is part of the enigma that surrounds him seemed like a choice that undermined the character’s significance. Even though the movie fared pretty well, thanks to actor Joaquin Phoenix’s spellbinding, haunting performance as the titular clown prince of crime, taking the origin story approach in a movie that unfolds as a very on-the-nose treatment of issues like class conflict and mental health still doesn’t seem like the best way to do a Joker movie.Â
Perhaps the more bewildering aspect of the movie was that, despite being a so-called gritty character study that ended on a high note, a sequel to Joker, titled Joker: Folie à Deux, is going to hit theaters later this week. It has been over five years since the first installment was released, so let us jog your memory by discussing crucial events and all the intriguing details from Joker, which will help you enjoy the sequel that much more.Â
Gotham’s Deadly Grip on Arthur’s Mind
Expecting the dreaded psychopathic criminal mastermind version of Batman’s archenemy in Joker would be a mistake, as the movie charts the journey of a demented, downtrodden man who finds escape by committing to derangement and ultraviolence as the world—in this case the city of Gotham—continues to test his limits. The stage is 80s Gotham, a soulless, veritable urban hell that justifies the fictional city’s notoriety with its ever-growing class divide, corruption, a severe lack of governmental care, and the general apathy prevalent among its people. Caught up in this squalor, Arthur Fleck, an anorexic, mentally unstable man in his mid-forties, lives with his bedridden mother on the minimum wage of a performing clown—basically, Arthur is a nobody. Arthur suffers from a neurotic condition that prompts him to laugh uncontrollably whenever he feels nervous—quite ironic considering his profession as a clown. His condition has resulted in him growing more and more isolated, as he is deemed a freak by most, and the lonely existence is taking a toll on Arthur’s mind. Life for Arthur is a cruel, sick joke that hasn’t reached its punchline yet.Â
The only silver lining in Arthur’s life is the late-night talk show hosted by charismatic Murray Franklin, as Arthur dreams of making it big as a stand-up comedian and getting cheered for by Murray. However, Arthur lacks understanding of social cues; being the butt of life’s jokes all the time, comedy has indeed become very subjective for him. His therapist shows customary concerns for Arthur’s degrading mental condition, but Arthur doesn’t know how to help himself in the first place—his social anxiety, fear of interaction, and self-consciousness make it impossible for him to take a step forward towards progress. His bouts of laughter, resulting from his condition, are more frequent than ever and sound more like a desperate, muffled cry for help.
Arthur’s Gradual, Violent Descent to Derangement
Through sheer chance, Arthur gets involved in a romantic relationship with his neighbour, a single mother named Sophie, and as he invites her to one of his performances at the comedy club, his dwindling mental state gets the better of him and he makes a fool out of himself. During his work hours as a performing clown, Arthur poses with a sign after being hired by a local business and ends up getting brutally beaten by punks in the street for no reason at all. One of his colleagues, Randall, gives Arthur a gun to protect himself—but really to get rid of the firearm—and Arthur makes a mess by accidentally exposing the gun in a children’s hospital. Randall denies having given the gun to Arthur, and as a result, Arthur gets fired from his job. As a distraught Arthur makes his way to his home on a late-night subway ride, a trio of drunk, perverted, uppity socialite brats start harassing a woman in front of him. A nervous Arthur is unable to control his laugh, and making the most of this distraction, the woman escapes to safety by deboarding at the next station. Arthur starts getting beaten black and blue by the brats when he finally snaps, and in self-defense, shoots all of them to death. Instead of breaking down in panic or anxiety, Arthur finds a cathartic release as he lets himself free while moving in a trance-like motion, almost imitating a meditative dance performance. The brats were employed at Wayne Corporation, owned by the wealthiest person in the city, Thomas Wayne. In the movie, the Waynes are not presented as the kindly, benevolent philanthropist couple; instead, they are among the leeches who are turning the city hollow by feeding off of everything. The news of three Wayne Corps employees getting gunned down by an unknown man in clown makeup turns into a hot topic, and soon enough, people turn the act into a symbol of standing up against oppressive one percenters.
Arthur discovers his mother, Penny, who used to work as a housemaid in Wayne Manor, presumably had an affair with Thomas Wayne, and he is supposedly Thomas’ illegitimate son. The knowledge of his parentage is a big deal for a nobody like Arthur, who lived his life in search of the bare minimum validation and recognition. With hopes of getting acknowledged by his father, Arthur goes to Wayne Manor to meet Thomas and comes across a young Bruce Wayne. The duo share a moment as Arthur shows a magic trick to Bruce from outside the gate of Wayne Manor, until he is interrupted by Wayne family butler Alfred Pennyworth. After learning Arthur’s reason of arrival, Alfred reveals that his mother, Penny, suffered from delusions and cooked up the lies about Thomas’ affair with her. A brief scuffle ensues between Arthur and Alfred, and eventually Arthur rushes off. Penny gets hospitalized as her physical condition deteriorates, and to top it off, medication for Arthur’s psychological treatment stops as social service funding gets pulled. As Arthur’s mental condition plummets to rock bottom, the clown-inspired anti-authoritarian movement rages on in Gotham.
Meanwhile, Detectives Garrity and Burke start suspecting Arthur’s involvement in the murder of the socialites after learning about his recent history, and Arthur often finds himself questioned and pursued by them. Video of Arthur fumbling at the comedy club is played at Murray’s show, where he is brutally ridiculed by the talk show host, who terms him a ‘Joker’. It takes Arthur a little bit of time to realize that he is being mocked by the person he idolizes, as initially he considered it a gesture of appreciation. Arthur makes a desperate attempt to meet Thomas, pretending to be an usher; he comes across Thomas at the theater. However, Thomas rudely rebuffs him, expressing the similar sentiment Alfred shared of Penny, and upon realizing that Arthur had met Bruce previously, Thomas beats him, promptly warning him to stay away from his family. Arthur manages to get a hold of Penny’s medical records and learns that Penny had a mental condition as she concocted a false narrative of her affair with Thomas Wayne, when in reality, she and a young Arthur were subjected to brutality at the hands of her abusive boyfriend. A devastated Arthur visits Sophie with hopes of finding some solace in her presence—but has a rude awakening after he realizes that, like his mother, his afflicted, battered mind concocted a false reality of having a relationship with Sophie. Arthur is no longer surprised; now he sees the punchline of the prolonged joke destiny was making of him, which is his pathetic existence itself.
Arthur Becomes Joker
With pressure mounting on him, Arthur decides to let go of his shackles once again, this time by suffocating his own mother to death at the hospital. Meanwhile, he has been invited to Murray Franklin’s show, as the episode of his mockery has turned out to be a massive hit among the audience, who want to see the Joker in his full glory. Arthur prepares to deliver a performance of a lifetime as he gets ready in clown makeup, or should we say the iconic Joker makeup, with the intention of killing himself during the show.
Randall, accompanied by Gary, arrives at Arthur’s apartment, as he wishes to discuss the situation regarding the gun he gave to Arthur, and teetering on the verge of insanity, Arthur ends up brutally killing Randall—but spares Gary’s life, as he was supposedly the only person who was ever kind to him. The act of liberation is celebrated by Arthur with a staircase dance. On his way to Murray’s studio, Arthur is nearly captured by the detective duo Garrity and Burke, but he manages to escape as a violent clash erupts between the detectives and the clown rioters at the subway. Reaching the studio, Arthur meets his idol backstage and specifically asks him to introduce him as the Joker to the audience.
As the show begins, it soon becomes apparent that, fuelled by violence, Arthur’s delirium has cracked through his constrained, timid self and turned him into a confident, psychotic person who is no longer willing to see himself get trampled. Arthur makes a number of crass, morbid jokes, prompting Murray to call for censure, and eventually, in a simmering rant about the ever-growing apathy, Arthur confesses killing the brats in the subway. Things escalate gradually and take a dramatic turn as Arthur starts grilling Murray for mocking him and ends up shooting him to death on live television. As a direct effect of the terrible incident, chaos engulfs Gotham as rioters kill, loot, and vandalize to their heart’s desire—and a mugger ends up shooting Thomas and Martha Wayne to death in Crime Alley, leaving the young Bruce Wayne an orphan. In a twisted way, the Joker ends setting up the stage of Batman’s arrival.
As Arthur is taken into custody, he feels a genuine joy at the sight of Gotham hailing his ideals, and rioters manage to free him as he once again channels his freedom through a dance and paints a bloody smile on his face. Much later, Arthur is seen being questioned by a psychiatrist, as fleeting thoughts result in him laughing uncontrollably. However, Arthur refuses to share with her the reason for his sudden feeling of amusement, and as the movie ends with him leaving a bloody trail while going outside, it is suggested that he has found his therapy in violence.
