Watching it again, I can understand the popular interest in trying to figure out what in this film is real and what is not, as various moments are highlighted as being delusions in Arthur’s head. However, simply just labelling the events of the movie as real or as a delusion wouldn’t quite do it justice, and it’s been done a thousand times over. What I’m more interested in is Arthur’s distorted mental state and the conditions that led to him finally putting on the face we all know – Joker.
This is Two Takes and this is One Shot. An analysis of 2019’s Joker.
I’m going to get right to the point. The aspect of the Joker persona is not created in a particular way but is the result of trauma and loss of identity, and in the movie this shows only one of the many possible origins. Let me explain.
Arthur And His Multiple Choice
Throughout the film there seems to be scenarios that present another choice. Delusions of grandeur perhaps, or just wishing for something else, another way. Theories online have opened the doors to these thoughts of the film being more than just inside Arthur’s head, which I am thankful for. Because that would be too simplistic. No, the concepts lie in inspiration or construction of identities.
Reddit user ComradeCarly explores the concept that Arthur isn’t actually the one who shot the guys on the subway but was instead inspired by the real Joker who did the killings. Arthur imagined the scenario to be happening to him instead, and constructed what we see later on by that; much like people can be inspired by historial or political figures that bring violence into the equation.
Another theory by reddit user Bristus420 leans into the opposite:
“…I believe Arthur is not the Joker but instead a theoretical Joker. The actual Joker, whilst fantasising about his past to himself in the asylum, constructs Arthur as a possible backstory”
Like what I have partly explained in my episode merging Fight Club and 2019’s Joker together, it can be understood that we are following around the construction of an identity as an unreliable protagonist because this is all we are able to see. Like in Moon Knight, who we follow doesn’t make them the main character. And it’s a possibility here, with Arthur. I mean, Joker and his persona has been created and re-created so many times in the past, it would be interesting to see it the other way around. Like in the comic, the Killing Joke:
“Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another…If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!”
And in all honesty, who really knows the Joker’s backstory? Like another story, another interpretation, why not have Arthur be something the Joker might have invented because he cannot remember his past? Either way, we follow an unreliable protagonist with many created scenarios and delusions as his storyline, until he finds the identity he feels most comfortable in. His truth coming out, per say. His intentions were never political or to really have any affect other than on himself; everything that was done, every reaction that led to riots was essentially the cherry on top of an unstable society that was on tipping scale that could boil over at any point. Joker’s actions led to this conclusions, but he did not intend for it. Arthur’s intentions, however, were more simplistic; to spread joy and keep a mask over his depression.
‘I Hope My Death Makes More Cents Than My Life’
Arthur’s earlier conversations with his counsel worker might present a certain nihilism behind the meaning of both good and bad feelings. He might have a certain struggle of showing his real feelings. We know Arthur is depressed, that much is true. Depression could be interpreted as rage turned inward unto oneself, killing any passionate response, whilst also lowering the stakes when it comes to coping with loss. And Arthur has lost a-lot, especially when we can tell the difference of delusions to reality. He imagines a better life, with nicer conversations and people. But it’s not his truth. The joke in Arthur’s journal
‘I hope my death makes more cents than my life’
is his nihilistic truth of the fact that perhaps his life can be presented as meaningless. He works as a clown to try to spread joy, but understanding his outward facade does not coincide with his inward turmoil, the battle of what is making him feel this difference between himself and others is hinted at throughout the film. He laughs at the wrong moments, and when he does it right, he looks around him to make sure he’s got it right. The real laugh is only when, after many moments of violence and chaos, he finds his freedom in realising that what he wrote is indeed true by the time we see that written joke later on in the film. Let me explain.
The second time we see that on the written page, Arthur is dressed up as Joker and is on the Murray Show. And for me, this was the moment when Arthur changed tactic. I say this because we see him practice in his living room how to enter the room, take a seat, talk to Murray and then the gun appears where he shoots himself, smiling as he does it, like a punchline to a joke. When he’s on live television, Arthur’s link to that joke, the thing that reminds him of what he’s done (killing his mother, Randall, shooting the subway guys), who he used to be (a depressed man), stems into realising that the death that happens that makes more sense doesn’t have to be his physical self. But again, before I simply say that he killed Murray and that was the death that made more sense, there is more to it; Arthur might have killed his identity as Arthur, and was re-born as the Joker. Like the theory of Arthur only really being a backstory, it can hold some weight here, whereupon Joker becomes the persona, takes over, with Arthur’s death making more sense in this scenario because he needed to die for Joker to essentially live.
‘It’s Enough To Make Anyone Crazy’
And when Joker does live, the humour is darker, and he stops caring of what he’s done, the consequences or his next actions. Admitting to killing the subway guys on live television shows he is making his own meaning come back into his life. Meaning doesn’t have to be purposeful or even good, but the intention, now that does have something.
“Let me get this straight, you think killing those guys is funny?
I do. And I’m tired of pretending its not. Comedy is subjective, Murray. Isn’t that what they say? All of you, this system that knows so much, you decide what ‘s right or wrong, the same way you decide what’s funny or not”
Joker goes further, explaining his killings by how awful those guys were. But we know, from how we have followed Arthur, that these words hold a-lot of weight.
This stems perhaps from his lack of support in the system, whether thats with his mental health, or his want to try and understand people on a comedic level.
And killing those people was because they were awful, and in that moment, us watching them beat him up simply for laughing, is awful. Doesn’t reason away the murder aspect, but beat someone into a corner and they are going to eventually lash out.
Joker doesn’t take responsibility but rather makes people aware of what he has done. To have someone really listen to him, to take him seriously. There is no punchline in this joke when it comes to life and death it seems.
But he goes further. From everything we have seen in the world of Gotham, from people struggling with the garbage and complaining about it on the radio, to Thomas Wayne presenting his solution of running for Mayor in a city that is disliking the rich; Arthur’s words ‘its enough to make anyone crazy’ is presented by his own lapse with identity.
It goes further into his thoughts on the outside world, how no-one is civil anymore, how Thomas Wayne, just because he talked about the wall street guys’ loss on TV, doesn’t make them into any better people. How if Arthur was dying on the street, anyone in the audience would just walk on by. The aspect of class, of how people are not on the same level, and how no-one really takes care of anyone, hits harder and harder each time we see something horrible happen to Arthur, how he wanders the streets full of garbage.
It’s even upsetting to realise that Murrays intention was to ridicule Arthur as Joker, and the lack of respect is reciprocated by how Joker doesn’t pronounce Murray’s name properly. Joker or Arthur…whichever persona you feel is best, knows the reasons why he was put on that show. And he’s not going to pretend any longer. He is proud of what he’s done, because he did something that has a purpose.
And killing Murray, once his hero, emphasises Arthur’s agency of chaos, with Murray’s ending line ‘that’s life’. Because it is, the living and the dying. Arthur’s got nothing to lose, so kill those who have done you wrong. Thomas’ Wayne and his wife’s death, although not of his making, was a beautiful tragedy in his comedic endeavours.
Put On A Happy Face
Arthur’s intention, repeated by his mother, was to make people smile. The tragedy might lie in the fact that his attempts might work now and again (we see him at the hospital for children making them smile) but all in all, are not enough to make a difference in Arthur’s personal life. Wanting to become a stand up comedian, even going so far as to go on stage and attempt to make that dream come true; Arthur is brave enough to try it, but it seems to come up short. And to have a mother that is constantly instilling the intention that Arthur was born to spread joy and laughter, and to always put on a happy face, its no wonder when the facade falls when he’s on his own.
The delusion of Arthur being in the audience of the Murray show, being able to have a conversation with him, and then eventually able to hug Murray who comments about how Arthur could be like his son, shows the absence of a father figure. This is emphasised again with the scenes of Arthur thinking Thomas Wayne is his father. A moment of hope, less pretence of a happy ending per say. Until there is nothing, and his mother has betrayed him, carried him in her delusions. The murder of her is Arthur’s release, celebrating her death by celebrating his identity rebirth. The quote:
“You know what makes me laugh? I used to think that my life was a tragedy, but now I realise, its a fucking comedy”
this changing of seeing things as funny instead of tragic reminds me of The Man Who Laughs. Like a clown that presents itself to be happy and bring happiness to others, it doesn’t necessarily mean the person is happy on the inside. The Man Who Laughs has the scars, like many other Jokers, but for Arthur, its the change of mentality. Like the song of Frank Sinatra’s ‘That’s Life’, like the people of Gotham accepting what is around them at the beginning, Arthur had to accept his circumstance of being mentally unwell and considered a freak. And like that song, he bounced back, accepting his persona, the violence, the killings, admitting it as well, because, well, that’s life. That’s life and why not put on a happy face in these trials of death and chaos? Arthur chose to change his mentality, saying his life is a comedy, to find things funny, but in the end, he has nothing to lose. And we all know that a man with nothing to lose can find anything funny.
That’s Life
The Joker’s line in The Killing Joke holds weight with the ending:
“Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another…If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!”
Multiple choice about the Joker’s past, is the same for Arthur. We see him with his counsel worker discussing his time at Arkham State hospital and how even Arthur himself doesn’t really understand or reflect on why he was there, but the comfort of being there was apparently better than out in the real world. His laughter at the beginning of the film shows him in pain, however at the ending, Arthur is perhaps back at the hospital, with a genuine laugh, with all that he has done, that has impacted something more than just people complaining or ignoring what is in front of them. Like the garbage on the streets, Arthur made a dent in its meaning, at the disposal of others, with them either disliking what he is, what he does, or what he represents. He has found his equilibrium.
He is an unreliable narrator, so the timeline of what happens is not in any sort of proper order; we know this because of the made up relationship with Sophie Moore that was spelled out for us, as one such example. I mean, I might be wrong, all of this might be in his head, or Arthur made the Joker persona up, or the other way around, with the Joker making Arthur up as a coping mechanism. What is real when Joker is telling his story? Was it the aspect of Joker wanting to remember things, or wishing it went a certain way in various plot points? Or is this Arthur we are talking about?
Who knows. The beauty lies in the multiple choice and the punchline of how we wouldn’t get it. But I guess, that’s life.
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