'The Joker' by Todd Philips: Movie Analysis

Scenes 1 - 7

The opening of the film frames two main aspects of what we are about to hear - “The condition of the city & its status” and “Arthur’s character & place in society”.

Arthur Fleck (the main protagonist), is introduced as a “clown”, who is unhappy with his life, job, and surroundings. He is seen being harassed by pedestrians, and threatened by his boss, displaying his position in society and how he is treated. Another crucial element to Arthurs character is his “hysterical laughter”. As Arthur is talking to his Psychologist, he is seen to be in a fit of laughter expressing his negative feelings – this further adds to tell us that he suffers from a mental condition hence explaining his displacement in society further.

The most important scene to me was scene 7 (Arthurs imagination), as it provides greater insight into Arthur's character. Arthur is imagining Murray (his comedic idol) singling him out on stage and then engulfing him into a hug – this showcases a longing for a father-figure, recognition for all that he does and his desire for attention and respect. The scene also establishes that, regardless of whatever mental issues he has, Arthur has aims in life.

In the very first scene, we hear a radio playing in the background, where the spokesperson is heard addressing the current state of the city affecting all economic classes that reside in it. From my understanding, this suggests an economical matter, like a strike against the labour laws, to elect the right mayor.

Scenes 8 - 17

The most important scene in this sequence, in my opinion, must be the moment Arthur meets Sophie - a single mother- that lives in the same wretched building as Arthur. In scene 8, when we are introduced to Sophie as a character, she comments on the building that her daughter repeats and slightly annoyed, Sophie gestures a gun to her head; giving us a brief glimpse into Sophie's life as well. Another aspect in this scene is Arthurs reaction to her making a conversation with him; Arthur at that moment sees a beautiful woman talking to him, noticing him and being kind to him- something Arthur is not used to. We later see Arthur following Sophie drop her daughter at school and to a building that we assume is her workplace - this shows development in Arthurs emotions towards a new character which could be crucial in reading Arthurs character evolve further.

In Scene 9, Arthur is giving a bath to his frail old mother, delicately taking care of her. At one point here, Arthur tells his mother not to worry about money because he believes his career as a comedian is going to take off - to which his mother responds "don’t you have to be funny to be a comedian?"- which could mean that his mother has no hope from and is waiting for Wayne to come and rescue them from their state. Arthur has a trustful relationship with his mother, he does not know why she does what she does, but he respects her about it. He loves and cares for her since she is the only person in his life that hasn’t betrayed him and as he wished he had a father to hold pride for him, he settles with her acceptance and promises her that he’ll provide a better life for her as soon as his career takes off. While Arthur is someone that’s always pushed around, neglected, and unnoticed by everyone else in the world, what keeps him sane to an extent is being there for his mother, a slight glimmer of hope and acceptance for him in this world- the last string holding him together.

Arthur's response to the murder steps from a moment of shock to panic and finally to acceptance with no remorse. After the murder, Arthur runs to a public restroom where he locks himself in and once he's alone, Arthur starts dancing slowly. Someone that suffers from pseudobulbar affect has said to have a disconnection between their effect and motor responses so keeping that in mind, we could say that Arthurs response to the murders was another example of how he responds to a stressful situation and could later be a form of expressing how he evolves from this into a menacing figure. Director Todd Philips in an interview said “Arthur had music in him, which manifested itself through the character's dancing, something that kind of evolved to show how the music within Arthur was fighting to get out." – this could add to express, how Arthurs mind responds to situations like this.