Recently, I finally watched this DC comic book movie "Joker".
The Joker is the villain of DC in the United States, and he is a fierce rival of Batman. He was the first of the top 100 villains voted by the American media and the greatest villain in IGN history.
He was a being with dyed green hair, a white face, a blood-red mouth, and accompanied by his eerie and demonic laughter.
He behaved strangely, he was not for money or for power, he was murdering for the sake of murder, destroying for the sake of destruction, fearing for fear.
Every "superhero" has a "prequel" whether he ends up being a good guy or a bad guy, but this prequel mostly describes the protagonist as a good guy. It is no wonder that people are inherently good at the beginning, in fact, every bad person is a good person before he really becomes a bad person.
The Joker is no exception.
Arthur, a low-class citizen of Gotham City in the 1980s, is a small person who makes a living by playing a clown, but he has a dream, that is, to be a stand-up comedy actor, so that he can bring more happiness to everyone.
But life is not as satisfactory as imagined, he lives a poor life, is ridiculed by colleagues, is robbed of billboards by small and beaten, and the only object of his talk, a psychologist, is also perfunctory to him. When you get home, you must also face your mother with a smile, be a filial son, and let your mother not worry about money.
Arthur's mother gave him the name "Happy," which means to make him happy and to keep smiling no matter how bad things he encounters in life and how many difficulties he encounters.
Arthur did it, and whenever he encountered difficulties, he would laugh to cover up his inner anger and sadness and to untangle his inner knots. So gradually, he was like a disease, as long as he was nervous or confused, he began to laugh, and it was an uncontrollable laugh, others thought he was a mental illness, but only he himself knew, only in this way could he prove that he still existed.
Arthur was a humble man, like a speck of dust in the world, and no one would notice his presence, no one would pay attention to him. The eyes that looked around him were full of disdain, full of disgust. He just wants to be a good person, but he always brings him endless pain. Even when he was playing with the children on the bus, the mother of the children said: Don't harass my children.
Arthur's colleague gave Arthur a gun, which was actually premeditated. Arthur also carried it with him, at least so that he would feel a little safe. So Arthur also took it with him when he performed for children in the hospital, but accidentally fell off his body, which directly caused Arthur to lose his only job opportunity. Arthur said he loved the job, but his boss wouldn't give him a chance. Afterwards, Arthur learned that this was the premeditation of his colleagues, who successfully ascended to the throne and replaced him.
The turning point of the plot is that Arthur is on the subway home, encountering three men flirting with a woman, Arthur looks at them, and the woman also sends a look for help. Arthur was nervous at the time, so as soon as he was nervous, he began to laugh, and the three men asked Arthur what he was laughing about, and Arthur laughed and said that it was a disease, but the three did not believe it and began to beat him, and Arthur, who had been depressed for many days, finally did not hold back and shot the three people.
Arthur, who killed people, did not fear and be restless like many people, but appeared unusually calm and indifferent. After the media report, while the police tracked down the murderer, the whole incident began to ferment in society, most people believed that these three people were scum and deserved to be killed, and the murderous clown began to be regarded as "heroes" by more people.
The whole film is imbued with a very depressing tone, and the only tender part is arthur's story with a black woman. He was Arthur's neighbor and a single mother. She dated him and watched him perform, and her mother was sick and was with him. However, these are all arthur's intentions, he is just a marginal person who lacks care and care, lacks love, he is eager to be loved, but in reality, he does not get too much love.
When he saw the letter written by his mother, he thought he was an illegitimate child, so he hurried to find his father, hoping to get a little warmth there. However, he was disillusioned, he never knew that his mother was actually mentally ill, and there was a record of child abuse, and he was only an orphan adopted by his mother. He is not loved, his world is an isolated individual, without love, without sympathy, without care, without even a little warmth.
The last straw in Arthur's psychological defense line was also broken, he hated the world, he hated this cold human world.
"I used to think my life was a tragedy, and now I find out that it's a comedy."
Yes, his existence is a comedy, making people feel ridiculous, coming and going, twists and turns, in fact, you are an orphan that no one wants, how ridiculous it is. When the pain reaches its extreme, he will actually have no hope for anything.
Arthur killed his adoptive mother in grief.
Arthur returned home, watched his idol Murray on TV, sorted himself out, learned the gesture of the idol, and began his own performance. I think this may be a kind of farewell to his past, he just wants to be a stand-up comedy comedian all his life, but when he looks back, he finds that the biggest joke is himself.
In the film, the dance on the ladder after Arthur killed the colleague who had killed him fully shows that arthur now seems to have freed himself from the shackles that have always plagued him, a symbol of freedom and liberation. Letting go of his dwarf colleague shows that there is still a trace of goodwill in his heart, that is, he will not bully the weak. There is a sentence in Arthur's diary: I only hope that death is more worthy than my life." Perhaps, this is the greatest and most painful summary of the value of his life as an inconspicuous little person.
Jacqueline Phoenix, the actor of Arthur in this film, redefined a different classic clown image for us under this careful interpretation. The previous Joker's classic actor was Heath Ledger in Batman: The Dark Knight, and unfortunately, he died young, and he was jealous of talent.
Heath Ledger's version of the Joker
Jacqueline Phoenix's version of the Joker
But thankfully, we have a new clown, and Jacqueline Phoenix has brought us a new classic clown image through his amazing, meticulous, and tear-jerking performances, which can be said to be too successful.
This film has both realistic criticism and romantic sadness. The story of Arthur, the protagonist of the film, is a story that is more sad than sad, it is a naked display of real society, and it is also a complete display of the distortion of human nature. In the final analysis, it is actually a call for society to care for the marginalized and underclass. As long as everyone gives a love, the world will become a beautiful home.