Madness or true character, between these two personas, Arthur Fleck was torn apart by the society and past trauma. The first film repeatedly puts emphasis on how society pushes someone to exceed all limits to conform in a certain way of living or certain way of thought. If he or she does not conform, the society will tear that person apart. Arthur always wanted to become a great comedian, but again the society with its bullshit conformity pushed him over the edge in the first film. Nobody wanted to know what Arthur wants life. All of them wanted him to fit in.
We live in a society where mental health is taken for granted. The amount of unbearable childhood trauma Arthur had to face is insane which also his lawyer reiterated in the second film. Childhood days can have a immense impact in shaping the mind of a child.
Moving on to the second film, Joker: Folie à Deux shows the consequences of his dark transformation. Arthur as a person is not evil or have bad intentions in mind. His character showed helplessness in second movie. No he did not broke the laws inside the jail. No he did not try to break free from the jail (if we exclude Lee’s actions), which is again a normal human behavior and not a punishable offense in few countries. The fact that he never intended to become super popular in Gotham city, ended on becoming one inspiring thousands. Why? Because what Arthur had to face from the society and past, the same emotions are repressed inside us and nobody had the courage to talk about it. When Arthur became popular through his chaos in the first film, he almost started a revolution as if suddenly all those repressed feelings erupted and gave an impetus to even a greater chaos.
In the second film, we see that he was introduced to a girl who shares a similar mental state with him. It felt like the girl, named as Lee, thrown herself at him. She seemed very interested in the Joker persona of Arthur while completely disregarding his other side, or his real side. She almost fantasizes about building up a mountain with him, when he will be hopefully released from the jail. In the events of chaos, mental illness and love, this film showcases how their deepening bond is gradually intensifying the chaos around them through a musical journey. This is one of the reasons why I liked this film so much, the way it is presented is commendable. We can often relate to such fascination about someone in real life where one is simply mad about that one persona and that one excitement, and after that is gone, completely ghosts the person. This behavior also portrays one vulnerability in humans, that is to cling into one belief or one idea, i.e. confirmation bias and is often resistant to new information. Harley Quinn or Lee’s relationship with Arthur or Joker is considered toxic but both of them seem unbothered about it.
Arthur Fleck and Harley Quinn had sex in the lockup and she confirms that she is pregnant. However, who knows whether Lee is telling truth or not. Maybe she is lying about it. Considering it is true, that may have changed something in Arthur, maybe something happened which forced him to confess all truth about himself in front of everyone in the courtroom, just before a strong bomb explosion incapacitating nearly everyone in the courtroom. His confession genuinely shattered Lee’s imaginations with him. Soon after, he escaped the courtroom with no intentions of actually fleeing away from the law and order. One of his fans noticed him walking out of that blast and took him to safety with a car. However, after a while he ran away towards the stairs where Lee was standing. To Arthur’s shock, her indifference in attitude broken him into pieces even further to a point of feeling just numb. Initially in film we see that Arthur was seen very happy for the first time in his life, as if he found something very special. Yes it was her.
Throughout his entire life, he was in sheer desperation, madness, loneliness and mental illnesses. For the first time standing in those stairs, he has shown some of his paternal instinct and real desire to live a better life with her and their child, if that is even true as per Lee. However the turmoil around him questions this thought and his ability to become a good, responsible father. This whole scenario is not appealing for fans, but showing a distinct reality is an art in itself. This desire shows that from heart, Arthur is not a bad person. He aspired to become a great person and a great comedian, but society repeatedly misunderstood his intentions and eventually his love of life, maybe toxic, beaten him to death. But for Arthur, she was his love of life. Now that is for betrayal of Lee’s imagination or some other event, that is up for debate.
This film doesn’t have to be liked by everyone. But I definitely agree that this film gives a strong gripping message to the society. People usually hate it or get emotional when their heroes are defeated. People, again the society wants the Joker, not the real Arthur Fleck. Nobody gave a fuck about what Arthur wants. That simply portrays the society itself.
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