THE JOKER
“The joker” is an American psychological movie directed by Todd Philips and produced by Emma Tillinger Koskoff in 2019. The movie’s central character is Arthur Fleck – who, according to the film, is a failed stand -up comedian. It is a production of Warner Bros Pictures together with Bron Creative and Village roadshow pictures. It was released on October 4, 2019. The movie, where Arthur is disguised as partly clown, is based in Gotham City, which happens to be a hub of crimes and has a high number of unemployed people. Arthur goes through unfortunate events, which make him become a murderer and a wanted suspect by the New York Police Department (NYPD). Todd Philips chose to use his main character as a joker to relay a specific message to the society. Usually, in the modern-day, jokers are famous for just making people laugh and doing things that are taken are often taken lightly by people. However, here, the joker represents the liberator of people and society as a whole.
The movie is about the insignificant Arthur Fleck, who faces rejection from the society even though he aspires for its acceptance. Arthur lives with his mother, Penny, in Gotham. He suffers from several mental ailments, such as one which makes him laugh himself out whenever he is nervous. Arthur, who wears a smudgy make up every day, struggles a lot to make people laugh in the City. However, society mocks him, bullies him, and above all, marginalized him. Soon after being brutally beaten by an unknown, his co-worker Randal gives a gun for protection. This marks the beginning of his troubles. That day, he meets Sophie Dumond, his neighbor, and invites her to his stand-up routine at a nightclub.
While entertaining children at a hospital, his gun falls from his pocket. He tries to defend himself that the gun was a prop for his shows, but Randall insists that it is real, making him get fired. On his way home, he is attacked by three drunken people. He shoots two of them and executes one, while still in his makeup. These killings resulted in demonstrations against Gotham City, where protesters carried banners displaying Arthurs Clown’s image. After these happenings, the medical supplies to Arthur are cut short, making him to have a mental breakdown. He later viciously murders Randal and publicly murders Murray, resulting in his arrest, as serious riots step foot in the City. As he rests in the police car, the rioters’ ambulance crushes into the car and release him. Arthur gets so excited and dances to cheer the crowd. He then runs from the orderly, leaving a string of bloodied footprints.
Generally, in the film, Arthur tries to be someone he is not. His life is filled with pain and rage. His life starts as a normal life, where he could partly manage his mental illness but ends abnormally with the mental illness taking full control of him, leading to a revolution that empowers criminal activities in the City. The message relayed here is that we should look down on insignificant people in the society as they also can massively impact the society.