Arthur Fleck killed seven people, two of them were in the act of self-defense with the other 5 being cold-blooded murder. These acts of violence started due to the degrading mentality of Arthur Fleck and his ideas of Gotham City. Arthur was looked upon as a hero among the poorer class in Gotham City but the middle and upper class saw him as a deranged killer. Was Arthur Fleck a sociopath with the intent of hurting other people, a broken man who took his actions too far, a mentally unstable man with crazed ideas, or a cold-blooded killer.
Joker directed by Todd Phillips stars Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, a man with mental illnesses that lead to him becoming more deranged. To understand whether Arthur Fleck is a sociopath or just a broken man, you have to first understand Joker. The film starts off with Arthur Fleck being beaten up by a group of teenagers. In that moment you see Arthur Fleck as an almost relatable character. You feel bad for him as he isn’t shown as being violent there but just as a man trying to do his job. The film tries to make Arthur appear as relatable at first. Up until the end of the first act, Arthur is seen as a relatable character. The first act ends with Arthur killing three Wall Street Bankers. Two of the Wall Street Bankers were in self defense but the last one was hunted down in cold blooded murder. That act of murder sets Arthur down a path of little remorse for others. The second act continues with Arthur becoming more deranged and his violent acts continue from killing one of his coworkers to murdering his mother for lying to him. The third act is where you see Arthur become the Joker where he kills talk show host Murray Franklin and causes riots across Gotham City. The third act is the most important to helping determine the mental state of Arthur Fleck. One specific scene in the third act shows Arthur spreading blood across his face to form a smile. The blood appears to be his own but it could also be the blood of one of the dead police officers. That scene marks the death of a man and the birth of a killer. That scene is the culmination of everything that Arthur has done before and is key to Arthur proving to be a sociopath and not just a broken man. But while the plot of the film could be considered straight forward or simple, the characterization of Arthur Fleck is the most intriguing thing about the film. More importantly Arthur’s mental state.
Arthur’s mental illnesses are never fully mentioned by name in the film. Throughout the film, Arthur is seen having a card that states he has a mental illness where he has uncontrollable laughter. This is a real mental illness known as PBA, you can confirm this as when he does begin having his uncontrollable laughter he is cackling and sobbing. Another mental illness can be added from Arthur’s relationship with Sophie Dumond. After Arthur’s first time meeting Sophie, in an elevator. He begins to envision himself in a relationship with her. Arthur sees Sophie at his standup comedy routine, he sees her supporting the killer clown (the clown killer is Arthur). In the end of the second act, it is revealed Arthur was seeing all this in his head and he never did have a relationship with Sophie. This reveal confirms Arthur’s case of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is characterized as experiences that feel out of touch with reality or difficulty with concentration. There is no clear cause for schizophrenia, the NHS believes schizophrenia can be genetic, stress, drug abuse, or psychological damage. While there is no clear determination as to where Arthur’s schizophrenia formed, in one scene in the film where Peggy Fleck, Arthur’s mother, speaks of how her then boyfriend tied Arthur to a radiator and beat him leading to brain injuries. That moment which Arthur reads about in a newspaper clipping, changes Arthur from caring for his mother to murdering her. But the brain damage Arthur was given when he was a child is where the schizophrenia appears to have formed.
Arthur clearly has depression and suicidal thoughts. Arthur is shown taking seven different medications. From the mental illnesses determined above the medications would be antipsychotics to suppress psychotic symptoms but increase depression. Arthur would also be taking antidepressants but would be unable to stop the side effects of antipsychotics. That would explain why Arthur says “I haven’t been happy one minute of my entire fucking life”. The medications would be able to suppress the psychotic symptoms but not the depression. When Arthur quits taking his medications he begins to envision him and Sophie Dumond romantically paired which was all in his mind. The suicidal thoughts begin when Arthur is practicing for his time on the Murray Franklin show. Arthur is seen practicing some of his jokes. He begins a knock knock joke like normal but then holds a gun to his head and shoots, the gun was empty but he was clearly preparing to kill himself live on television. Arthur can also be diagnosed with anxiety. Arthur is seen bouncing his leg and his arms shake, which are symptoms of anxiety. Arthur’s anxiety is shown usually before a major event, like the murder of Murray Franklin. It is difficult to determine all of Arthur’s mental illnesses, he clearly has brain damage, PBA, depression, and suicidal thoughts. The schizophrenia can be determined by the symptoms shown but other mental illnesses could also be determined as what Arthur has.
Arthur’s mental state increasingly gets worse as the film progresses. He starts out just depressed but begins cutting out his medications. His schizophrenia then forms and his depression and suicidal thoughts increase. But nothing has been stated as to what causes Arthur to kill. Schizophrenia can cause a fake reality to form in one’s mind. If we are to say that this formed in Arthur’s mind, he’ll see a fake reality with no repercussions as his world where he’ll act in his own way when in fact he’s acting out in the real world. This could be used to explain why when he gets arrested he doesn’t appear fazed, he appears almost as if he knows he’ll be fine. But causing him to become erratic would be his brain trauma and depression. Depression can cause a lack of empathy in oneself. Arthur would see characters like Randall and Murray Franklin as not even real people when he killed them. The lack of empathy can be seen when Arthur kills his mother. Someone who in the beginning, he cared so deeply about, he now is suffocating them without a tear in his eye. He kills his mother with no empathy towards her.
Seven people die in Joker. Three Wall Street guys, Penny Fleck, Randall, Murray Franklin, and an Arkham Psychologist. These seven characters all hurt Arthur in some way. Sophie and her daughter were possible kills, it can’t be confirmed nor denied so due to that they won’t be put in the list of kills. The three Wall Street guys harassed Arthur in a train, Penny Fleck lied to Arthur all his life and is a cause for his brain damage, Randall got Arthur fired for giving him a gun, Murray Franklin made fun of Arthur on live television, the Arkham Psychologist locked Arthur up. After Arthur kills Randall, Gary is let free to go. Gary was the only employee nice to Arthur and Arthur tells him that before letting him go. That little scene confirms Arthur is only killing those who have hurt them. This can be tied back to empathy. Arthur shows empathy for those nice to him, he lets Gary go and gives him a kiss on the head. But if someone is rude to Arthur he acts out irrationally. Arthur was nice to his mother even after the Wall Street guys died. But when Arthur learns what she did, he kills her.
Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne are shot dead in an alley, the standard Batman origin. The difference this time is the killer is motivated by Arthur. The riots upon the rich are caused by Arthur’s murdering of the Wall Street guys. Law enforcement isn’t powerful enough to put an end to the riots and Gotham City becomes darker. Arthur is seen as a hero and people begin to notice who he is. That’s what Arthur always wanted is to be noticed. Arthur tells Murray before all this he was a normal guy on the street who people would step over. Arthur’s wishes became his reality as if his reality isn’t real. At the beginning of the film there’s a quick shot of Arthur locked in a cell in Arkham Asylum with a clock reading 11:00. At the end of the film Arthur is in an Arkham Asylum cell with a clock reading 11:00. In both cases it is bright in the room with the light appearing to be natural confirming the scenes are during the day. The idea that the entire film takes place in Arthur’s head isn’t a farfetched but reasonable idea. Arthur’s mental illnesses would stay the same so he would still have his schizophrenia. It was confirmed before the film took place that Arthur spent time in Arkham Asylum. It would be reasonable to assume that Arthur became more crazy while locked up and thought up this idea of a world where he is a hero to some people. This idea would explain why the law enforcement were not powerful enough to stop the riots, this would also support the idea of Thomas Wayne being cruel. In all iterations of the Batman origin story, Thomas and Martha Wayne were seen as the heroes of Gotham City. But in Arthur’s mind, Thomas Wayne is a cruel politician and businessman. One final idea to support the film being in Arthur’s mind is the murder of the Wall Street guys. Arthur is seen using a revolver, which holds 6 bullets, yet Arthur fired 7. It’s shown in the film that Arthur doesn’t really know much about guns which supports the idea that this is in Arthur’s mind.
But what if this did all happen, would Arthur be a killer or just a broken man who acted incorrectly. That question depends on the context. The first two Wall Street guys were in self defense so Arthur could be seen as broken there. But after that his kills are on innocent people or hunting someone down. Serial killer is a word thrown around in association with Joker. A serial killer kills three or more people over a standpoint of at least a month. Arthur can’t be deemed a serial killer as the film appears to take place over two weeks. Arthur being deemed a broken man would be an incorrect statement. Glorification of this character is clear, there’s reports of people cheering in the theater when he kills Murray Franklin. Glorifying Arthur Fleck is an incorrect way to approach this character, Arthur is not just a broken man, he knew exactly what he was doing and willingly went through with it. He spent time prepping to kill Murray Franklin which shows he didn’t just get nervous and act incorrectly, he planned it out. Arthur practiced for his time on the Murray Franklin show, he practiced bringing the gun onto the show. Arthur is a killer and not a broken man in any way.
When looking back at this study of Arthur Fleck, there are two possible situations for the character. Arthur either envisioned everything in his mind while being in Arkham Asylum or if the events did occur then Arthur is a sociopathic killer with several mental illnesses. Schizophrenia and depression cause for Arthur’s violent actions, the PBA is what causes people to make fun of him, the suicidal thoughts and anxiety are not as important as the other mental illnesses but they do create Arthur Fleck. Going back to one of the last shots in the film, a blood covered Arthur Fleck stands on top of a destroyed police car with nearby buildings on fire. People wearing clown masks are surrounding him, cheering for him to be exact. Arthur takes the blood on his hands and uses it to make a smile on his face. This moment marks the death of a man and the birth of a sociopathic killer known as The Joker.
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