You Can’t Look Away as Joaquin Phoenix Descends into Madness (and Violence) in Joker
At the beginning, Joker starts with Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) sitting in front of a dressing mirror, pulling at the corners of his mouth, forcing a grin and a grimace. This is reminiscent of the two masks, tragic and comic, that actors wore for ancient Greek dramas. They are a reference to a later line in the script: Arthur Fleck first thought that his life was a tragedy, but he soon comes to see his life as a comedy.
Arthur Fleck is a down-on-his-luck, always smiling guy who works as a clown. He has a variety of mental illnesses that requires seven different kinds of medications, which include him laughing uncontrollably whenever he is stressed or distressed. He takes care of his ailing mother and is trying to launch a career in stand up comedy. It’s just that his life is like a never-ending car pile up of bad luck: just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, it does. He gets set up by a coworker and is fired, and on his ride home, he is beaten up by three Wayne employees.
It’s when he ends up killing these three men that Arthur starts to go down a dark path that frees his inhibitions. He gets an outlet for his frustrations and grows bolder; even as life keeps piling on more shit, Arthur takes charge and carves a path of violence through Gotham.
