Everything in this movie that isn’t real

love it or hate it, Joker is a film that forces the audience to question how much of what they witness is actually real. Although Warner Bros. and DC were in the midst of a shared universe with the DCEU, a rare beast found its way to the mainstream movie release schedule. Rated R and free of franchise restrictions, the confines of a specific comic book narrative, or the need to set up a sequel, it eventually did with Joker: Folie à DeuxTodd Phillips Joker is a harrowing cinematic journey.

ironic, Baggage is one thing Joker brings in abundanceWhich is perhaps true of Arthur Fleck more than any previous iteration of the villain. Joker was given free rein to delve deep into the psychology of the Clown Prince of Crime, taking light inspiration from The killing joke And The Dark Knight returns and twisting Joker’s comic origins into something entirely new. This unflinching approach results in a movie that is not only dark but creates a truly disturbing aura of discomfort, leading viewers to wonder what was really going on.

Arthur’s relationship with Zazie Beetz’s Sophie

Whatever one’s interpretation of Jokers ending and the relationship of the film to the overall Batman The story, there is something not quite right about Arthur’s friend, Sophie, and this is one of the few cases where Joker Admits to his deception. Arthur and Sophie first meet when they share an elevator. As Sophie’s young child begins to tease her mother, the two adults share a telling look, and Sophie makes a “shoot me” gesture as a joke.

This Triggers an obsession in Arthur, who begins stalking the woman. Later, at the Fleck apartment, Sophie confronts her neighbor about his creepy behavior. Strangely, Beetz’s character decides that she is not too bothered about the stalking and hints at a possible future date between the two. After committing his first three murders on the subway, Arthur is emboldened to make a move on Sophie, and the two begin a whirlwind romance.

Everything seems to be going smoothly until Arthur lets himself into Sophie’s apartment after killing his mother, and she barely recognizes him. Viewers then see alternate versions of Sophie’s scenes where Arthur is interacting with thin air, Clearly indicate that the entire relationship was a fabrication. Since something must have triggered Arthur Fleck’s obsession with Sophie and she at least recognizes him as a person who lives nearby, it is safe to assume that the elevator scene really happened.

While Arthur begins a fantasy romance after bumping into this complete stranger, Sophie seems to think nothing of the interaction and goes about her life in blissful ignorance of her dangerous neighbor. Arthur never tried to hurt Sophie, let her live, and she makes an appearance in Joker: Folie à Deux As a witness in Arthur Fleck’s trial.

Sophie reveals that she was scared of Arthur And thought he might hurt her and her child, indicating her meeting in that scene is just a front. She reinforces the idea that Arthur made up everything about the two of them in his head, saying that she only ever interacted with him a few times. The most damning thing she brought to the trial was revealing more about Arthur’s mom.

She said that Penny Fleck would talk about Arthur, telling Sophie that she was lying to Arthur when she told him that he was there to make people happy. In fact, Penny Fleck was horrified that Arthur believed her and continued to try to be a comedian. Sophie’s testimony further reinforced the tragedy that was Arthur’s relationship with his mother.

Arthur’s first “look” at Murray Franklin

Another clearly signposted sequence from Daydream is Joker’s appearance as an audience member on the Murray Franklin talk show. When Arthur and his mother settle down to watch their favorite TV host, Arthur begins to experience a reverie in which Franklin plucks himself from the audience to come down and appear on the show. While Joker Making little attempt to paint this scene as fact, the sequence does hint at some parts of Arthur’s psyche that become vital later in the story.

Not only does Arthur idolize Franklin, he mentally regards the television personality as a kind of father figure, which explains why Joker reacts so badly when Robert De Niro’s character mocks Arthur’s stand-up comedy routine and laughing condition. The scene also foreshadows Arthur’s love of the limelight and desperation to be recognized, as well as his belief that appearing on the Murray Franklin Show would represent the pinnacle of his entire life. All of these elements combine in explosive fashion Jokers finale.

Arthur’s laughing condition

First and foremost, pseudobulbar affect is a genuine medical condition in which a person’s outward expressions do not reflect their true emotional state, and this can actually result in unwanted hysterical laughter at inappropriate times. Joker Also strongly suggests that Arthur’s condition may be the result of a head injury suffered during childhood. Somewhat similar to Tourette syndrome, Arthur’s laughing seems most likely to occur during periods of great stress, such as his first comedy show or when confronted by a woman on the bus.

The more confident “Joker” persona Arthur adopts in the film’s final act suffers far fewer outbursts. While it’s possible that Joker is just less prone to stress than Arthur and, therefore, less likely to trigger his condition, it wouldn’t be a huge stretch to suggest that the entire laughing condition could be psychosomatic. Arthur’s obsession with comedy and making people laugh can immediately lead to him unconsciously laughing in awkward situations – a kind of dark humor that the Joker would be proud of. It also wouldn’t be too difficult to print and laminate a fake medical card.

Penny Fleck & Thomas Wayne

Thanks to Arthur releasing some medical records from a disgruntled administrative assistant, viewers know that Arthur was adopted by Penny Fleck, a woman who was once diagnosed with a severe mental illness and found to have neglected and abused the child in her care. The same records state that Arthur’s biological parents are not known, which fits with the traditional Joker backstory in terms of his identity is a mystery. Penny, however, believes that Arthur is not only her son but that Thomas Wayne is his father, Penny has worked for Wayne Enterprises in previous years.

Like Thomas himself, the audience is encouraged to dismiss Penny’s words as the ramblings of a deeply troubled woman, but, as with everything in JokerThe obvious answer is not necessarily the correct one. JokerThomas Wayne is much less honest than the usual portrayal of the character. If he had an affair with an employee, It would not be outside of Wayne’s considerable influence to have records altered to protect his reputation and prevent any illegitimate children from inheriting a slice of the family fortune.

alternatively, Arthur may be the son of Thomas Wayne and a second mystery woman. The businessman then could have had one of his workers adopt the child to hide his parents, perhaps even choosing a mother with medical issues so that no one would believe her story. This would explain why Penny insists that Thomas is Arthur’s father, even as an older woman who is clearly of sound mind than she was in the past, and would also account for the TW initials on the photo of Arthur as a child.

in Joker: Folie à Deux, It is officially confirmed that Penny adopted Arthur Fleck, meaning that the possibility that she and Thomas Wayne are the birth parents of is shut down. In fact, Thomas Wayne does not even appear in the film, most likely indicating that he was never the father and Arthur Fleck just grasped the idea because of the idea his mom planted in his head.

The whole movie

While JokerIts ending can certainly be interpreted in a variety of ways, many suggesting that the vast majority of the movie was in Arthur’s mind. This theory claims that only the scenes with Arthur in an asylum are actually real, and that the rest of the story was imagined by Fleck from his padded cell. of course, Joker: Folie à Deux Shoot down the idea that Arthur is on trial for killing five people, not six, since no one knows that Arthur also killed his mother. It turned out that most of the significant events did take place.

Arthur’s Joker persona

One of the main narrative threads in Joker: Folie à Deux grapples with the idea of ​​what Joker is. Prosecutor Harvey Dent is pursuing the death penalty, while Arthur’s own attorney is trying to Convince the jury that Arthur Fleck and Joker are two separate personalities That Arthur did not remember or have control of his actions when he killed the people.

Lady Gaga’s character, Lee, is in love with Joker, and constantly tries to get Arthur to embrace that side of himself throughout the film. to Joker: Folie à Deux’s Finally, Arthur confesses to the jury that he committed the crimes, and Joker is not a split personality. In fact, Joker is simply nothing more than the persona Arthur Fleck has adopted, and was never part of his mental illness, or meant to be the champion of the Dantradan. At the end of Joker: Folie à Deux, Everything that happened in Joker is recontextualized.

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