Joker (2019 film)

"For my whole life, I didn’t know if I even really existed. But I do, and people are starting to notice." —Arthur Fleck

Joker is a 2019 American Psychological Thriller film directed by Todd Phillips, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scott Silver. The film, based on DC Comics characters, stars Joaquin Phoenix as The Joker. An origin story set in 1981, the film follows Arthur Fleck, a failed stand-up comedian who turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City.

Joker is heavily inspired by Martin Scorsese films such as Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy. It is the first live-action theatrical Batman film to receive an R-rating due to its violent and disturbing content.

WARNING! There are unmarked Spoilers ahead. Beware.

Tropes used in Joker include:

• Actor Allusion / Casting Gag: Robert De Niro plays a talk show host in the film, the opposite of his roles in The King of Comedy and Taxi Driver, where he played disturbed individuals.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Dr. Thomas Wayne is a far cry from his comic book counterpart. While the original Thomas Wayne was a good-natured philanthropist who worked tirelessly to try and improve Gotham City, this one is a an out-of-touch elitist slimeball who doesn't give a rat's ass about the poor. He does care about Bruce when he believes the boy is in danger, though.
• Ascended Meme: Arthur/Joker blames his actions on "a society" during his appearance on Murray Franklin's talk show. This drew comparisons to the "we live in a society" Joker memes.
• Asshole Victim: In an interesting spin on this trope, it's played straight then subverted as more people die, and Arthur's excuses hold less and less weight due to his definition of evil expanding to anyone that upsets him in any way. It's hard to blame him for killing the Wall Street guys since they were viciously attacking him and harassing at least one other person, same with his mother when he finds out that she was abusive towards him. You might even be willing to look the other way with Randall's murder because of his horrible treatment of Gary and the way he callously manipulated Arthur. But while he was willing to humiliate Arthur on his show, Murray Franklin comes off as an otherwise decent guy and seems to genuinely want to get through to him and make him see the best in people after he admits to killing the Wall Street guys on his show. Did he really deserve to die? Did Thomas Wayne really deserve to be shot by one of Joker's crazy fans just for being rude and out of touch, and in front of his loved ones, no less?
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Arthur spares Gary because of this reason.
• Black Comedy:
  • After Randall's murder, a traumatized Gary, when attempting to leave Arthur's apartment, can't reach the chain-lock because he's too short.
  • On Murray's show, Joker makes a dark Knock-Knock Joke:

Joker: Knock knock. Murray: Who's there? Joker: It's the police, ma'am! Your son's been hit by a drunk driver. He's dead!

• Boom! Headshot!: Joker shoots Murray in the head on live TV.
• Break the Cutie: The movie's practically a case study of this trope in action, and shows how bad someone can snap when they're stuck with a society that is downright hostile to them. The fact that so much tragedy befalls the initially friendly, if socially awkward Arthur is nothing short of heartbreaking.
• Cain and Abel: Arthur's mother tells him that the adoption was a ploy and he really is the son of Thomas Wayne, making him the defacto brother of Bruce Wayne, also known as Batman.
• The Chew Toy: You'd be forgiven for thinking that Arthur is God's personal punching bag thanks to all the seriously horrible things that befall him.
• Crapsack World: Gotham city's portrayal in the movie could be considered as one of its darkest one to date. The city is overflowing with garbage to such a degree that it has spawned an invasion of 'Super Rats', the Town Hall is striking social welfare programs down, and the resentment of the downtrodden against the higher classes of the city grows as the movie goes on. Once Bruce Wayne grows up and becomes Batman in this universe, he's really going to have his hands full with cleaning up this version of Gotham.
• Creepy Child: Heavily downplayed, but Bruce Wayne can come off as a bit unnerving thanks to how weirdly calm he is during moments that would frighten any other child. When his parents die though, he starts showing proper emotions.
• Downer Beginning: The first scene of the film is Arthur smiling in great pain. The second has street kids stealing his sign and beating him up in an alleyway.
• Downer Ending: It comes off as no surprise that in the end Bruce's parents are dead and Arthur became The Joker. The only glimpse of hope is the knowledge Bruce will grow up to fight against Arthur and his followers, but no hint of that is shown aside of a small reference to the 60s TV show with Bruce sliding on a pole.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Arthur, before he goes full Joker. He isn't evil or even particularly scary, but Thomas Wayne and Alfred are both disturbed by his behavior towards Bruce.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Arthur plays this straight at first: he loves his mother and won't tolerate people insulting her. However, when he finds out that she let him be abused by her boyfriend as a child, this attitude gets flipped on its head and he kills her with no remorse whatsoever.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Murray is not impressed when Joker explains his nihilistic world view and blames it on the trauma inflicted by his cruel treatment at the hands of other people, and bluntly calls it out for being blatant self-pity.
• Friend to All Children: It's clear that Arthur adores kids and wants nothing more than to make them happy. Unfortunately, most parents are creeped out by him and don't want him anywhere near their children despite his good intentions.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Murray Franklin may have been enough of an asshole to humiliate Arthur on his show, but once Arthur admits to murdering the Wall Street guys, he legitimately wants to help him buck his nihilistic world view by trying to convince him that not everyone in the world is awful. Unfortunately, it doesn't work out.
• Loony Fan: Arthur Fleck is or was by the third and final act of the film, this for his favorite Comedian idol, Murray Franklin, and early on the film, used to have delusions that he could've been a father figure to filling his Missing Father role, than a complete stranger and celebrity for Arthur. This was until his idol mocks his mental condition as his "comedic act" on national television. Which, leads up him into a darkish sad road into villainy over the course of the film. Which ending up, kill his former idol of ever dare to mock his disability like the rest of Gotham's society
• Monster Clown: Take a wild guess. Though in a departure from this trope, this version of the Joker is a lot less malevolent and far more sympathetic than many of his other incarnations, even if he is willing to brutally murder those who cross him.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Gary could be looked at as a subtle stand-in for Gaggy, Joker's original sidekick before Harley Quinn came into the picture. Both are midget clowns who are close friends with the Joker, and their names even sound similar!
  • Joker appearing on a talk show and murdering the host in front of a live audience is evocative of a similar scene in The Dark Knight Returns.
  • At one point, Bruce slides down a pole at the Wayne Family's personal playground, which brings to mind a sillier Batman adaptation.
• Papa Wolf: Thomas Wayne cares a lot about Bruce and punches Arthur in the face for messing with him. In his own words, "Touch my son again and I'll fucking kill you."
• Sanity Slippage: Arthur's sanity deteriorates after the incident at the train. The revelation that he was adopted, and that his mother, the one person he loved, let her boyfriend beat him up when he was a child, suffering from head injuries that could possibly be the source of his mental issues, is enough to shatter what's left of his sanity, prompting him to become the Joker.
• Small Role, Big Impact: At the end of the movie, Joe Chill shows up as one of the clown-masked rioters and guns down Thomas and Martha Wayne - which will bring about the rise of Batman like it does in every other adaptation.