Todd Phillip’s Joker is based on the celebrated villain character of DC Comics, ‘Joker’, set in the Gotham city in 1981. Even though the characters in the film are based on DC Comics characters, the story of the film is an original story co-written by Todd Phillips himself. The film pinpoints and shows how society oppresses and mocks underprivileged and downtrodden people. A tormented and sidelined human being can turn into a monster. If society mocks at somebody’s illnesses, it has to suffer the ill-effects. A wrong action invokes its repercussions.
Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is an impoverished aspiring stand-up comedian and lives with his mentally ill mother, Penny (Frances Conroy), in Gotham city. He works as a party clown as a part-time job to make his livelihood. He has been suffering from a rare mental disorder, which makes him laugh at odd moments, since his birth and depends on government-funded medical facilities for the treatment. Whenever he laughs at odd moments in public places, he shows a signboard that indicates his mental disorder. He does not do any harm to anybody and is focused on his own life. A gang of delinquents attacks him in an alley and snatches his signboard. His friend Randall advises him to keep a gun for his safety. Gotham city is suffering from massive unemployment, crimes, poverty, and many other endless miseries.
Arthur befriends his neighbor Sophie (Zazie Beetz), a single mother, and falls in love with her. He invites her to his upcoming show. Arthur’s gun falls down while performing at a children’s hospital. Randall accuses him of buying and keeping the gun all by himself. He gets caught and fired from his job. While returning on the Subway still dressed up as a clown, he is attacked by three drunken Wayne Enterprises businessmen. He kills two of them in self-protection and executes the third. The mayor candidate Thomas Wayne condemns this attack strongly and accuses the underprivileged citizens of this heinous crime referring to them as envious and ‘clowns’. The citizens of the Gotham city strongly protest and riots break out across the city against the rich. The government spending on social services is stopped and the common citizens in the need for free medication suffer including Arthur.
Arthur performs at a show, which Sophie attends, but cannot control his laugh. His performance deteriorates and a clip of the show becomes popular when Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro), his childhood idol, shows it on his comedy show. Arthur is shattered by Murray’s act. He finds out a letter written by his mother, wherein she mentions him as the illegitimate son of Thomas Wayne. Arthur becomes angry with his mother for hiding the truth and visits Wayne’s residence to confront him but is ousted by his butler, Alfred. Two detectives of the Gotham City Police department tracks Arthur’s residence and visits for the investigation. After this incident, Penny suffers a stroke and is admitted to the Arkham State Hospital.
Arthur gets to meet Thomas at a public event and confronts him over his identity. Thomas refers to Penny as delusional and clarifies that he is Penny’s adopted son. Arthur visits the hospital and steals Penny’s file, which validates Thomas’ claim. Penny denies the file records and alleges that the records were fabricated by Thomas’ influence. Arthur is devastated again and enters Sophie’s apartment without her permission. Sophie gets frightened and tells him to leave. Arthur’s relationship with Sophie was nothing but his imagination. He kills Penny the next day.
As his comedy clip has received widespread popularity, Arthur is invited to appear as a guest on Murray Franklin’s show. As he is about to leave for the show, Randall and his ex-colleague Gary pay a visit to him. He remembers Randall’s past behavior and kills him. Gary is spared for treating him well in the past. En-route to the studio, Arthur is chased by two detectives who cannot recognize him in the train full of clowns and shoots one of them instigating a riot. While the detectives are being thrashed, Arthur escapes.
Arthur requests Murray to introduce him as ‘Joker’ and walks into the show with huge applause when the show goes live. He confesses his crime on the live show and strongly condemns society for its treatment of the underprivileged and downtrodden people. Arthur murders Murray on the live show when the latter criticizes him. He is caught by the police but freed shortly afterward when the police-van is stopped by striking a car across by the rioters. Arthur comes out atop the car and stretches his hand with the cheer of the crowd.
The strength of a nation lies in its treatment towards the underprivileged. The same holds true for society as well. The socially and economically weaker sections of society pull the mass down. The consequences can be extremely impactful. The rich hurls tantrums and insults to the poor. The system does not even spare the mentally unstable. The right to live with dignity belongs to everybody. If a person is isolated, insulted, and kept below the standard, he will retaliate, maybe tomorrow even if not today. Discrimination, mockeries, and stereotyping have been the major problems and hindrances in the modern world in the 21st century. The outlook towards differently-abled citizens should be changed not only in a particular country but all over the world. Even if the protest does not take place immediately, it will break out at some point in time. The suppressed souls will come out someday.
Joker was criticized for its violent content. Multiple complaints were filed against the film worldwide accusing it of instigating violence in society. Movies are reflections of society as a whole. So, it is quite inevitable that the downsides are caught on camera. For the ill-effects, the actions need to be condemned, not the reflections. The basic purpose of art is to transmit consciousness amongst ordinary civilians. Cinema is not an exception. The outlook needs to be changed. Joker teaches that one of the most important aspects of society is shouldering social responsibility.
Todd Phillips and Scott Silver deserve applause for the original screenplay, which diverts from the comical representation of ‘Joker’ character and makes the film a psychological study. Joaquin Phoenix is extraordinary in playing the character and has received universal critical acclaim. His staircase dance will be remembered for a long time. The original score by Hildur Guðnadóttir justifies the theme of the film and is simply amazing. Robert De Niro as Murray Franklin is apt as per the character. Joker has bagged numerous awards including Joaquin Phoenix and Hildur Guðnadóttir winning at the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, and the BAFTAs. Joker won the Golden Lion at the 76th Venice International Film Festival.