Joker, 2019
November 17, 2022 | HANNAH DRECHSLER
Joker is a psychological thriller that follows the story of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a social outcast who is a failed clown and an aspiring comedian. Arthur suffers from a mental disorder that causes him to laugh at inappropriate times and relies on Social Services for medication to help him. It takes place in 1981, where we see Arthur living in Gotham City with his mother, Penny. Gotham is full of crime and unemployment, leading to a large population of the city living in deep poverty, with the rich population standing by idly. The movie begins to pick up when Arthur is mugged by a group of delinquents and his coworker Randall offers him a gun for protection. He keeps it on him at all times, and while he is at work entertaining as a clown at a children’s hospital, the gun falls out of his pocket. Randall lies and claims that Arthur bought the gun himself, and Arthur is fired. On the subway home from the hospital, he is attacked by three Wayne Enterprise employees, he kills two out of self-defense and kills the third out of anger. Thomas Wayne then takes to the news and condemns the poor, saying those who envy the rich are clowns, and soon, demonstrations arise across Gotham among the lower class where people wear clown masks in honor of the man who killed the three businessmen.
Funding cuts then hit the Social Services program and this leaves Arthur with no medication. During a stand-up act that he scored at a bar, Arthur bombs his set because he is laughing uncontrollably. Later, talk show host Murray Franklin, who is admired by Arthur, pokes fun at the videos of Arthur at his stand-up gig on his show and this breaks Arthur’s heart. He then finds a letter written by his mother Penny addressed to Thomas Wayne, stating that Arthur is Thomas’ illegitimate son, and yells at his mother for not telling him the truth. He then goes to Wayne manor where he meets Bruce Wayne, Thomas’ son but is chased away by the family butler.
Arthur’s mother Penny suffers a stroke while being interviewed about Arthur’s involvement in the killing of the three businessmen and she is hospitalized. Following these events, Arthur comes in contact with Thomas Wayne at an event and confronts him. Thomas tells Arthur that his mother is delusional, and isn’t even his real mother. In response, Arthur steals his mother's case file from Arkham Asylum and discovers that his mother adopted him as a newborn, and they both suffered abuse from her boyfriend. She tells Arthur that Thomas fabricated the files to hide their affair, and Arthur realizes that his mother is in fact, delusional.
The following day, Arthur kills his mother in the hospital and receives a call from Murray to come on the show. As he is preparing for the show, he is visited by former coworkers Randall and Gary, where he kills Randall for revenge and spares Gary because he was “the only one that was ever nice to [him]”. On the way to the studio, Arthur is chased by two detectives on the case of the businessmen and on the subway, one of the detectives accidentally shoots a protester, leading to a riot and Arthur getting away. On the show, Arthur asks to be introduced as Joker, and while on the air, he tells morbid jokes and confesses to the train murders. He then rants about how society abandons the helpless and mentally ill and treats them poorly. He then kills Murray and is arrested as riots are breaking out across Gotham where Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha, are killed in an alleyway. Rioters in an ambulance crash into the police car and rescue Arthur, who dances atop a vehicle as crowds cheer him on. The movie then ends by showing Arthur in Arkham Asylum where he is laughing to himself. When the nurse asks him what is so funny, he looks at her and says “you wouldn’t understand”. He then runs away from the nurses and doctors, leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind him. So, how does this relate to Care Ethics? First, let’s talk about Care Ethics.
Developed in the mid-1980s by Carol Gilligan and Nel Noddings, care ethics, or ethics of care, are described as an ethical system that characterizes ‘good’ as helping to meet the needs of others. no matter the stage in life and cultivating relationships with others. It stems from feminine beliefs because women are characterized as caring and compassionate due to their position as child bearers and caretakers. It also relates to the human nature of wanting to help newborns, the ill, and the hurt. Rather than looking at people’s rights, care ethics look more at people's needs. A typical example of care ethics would be if an acquaintance of yours had recently gone through a breakup and was very upset, would you give them a hug to help soothe them? Many of us probably would, and some maybe not, care ethics would tell you that it is morally good to hug them because it is helping to care for them and help them feel better. If each person went out of their way to help one another, the world would be an undeniably better place. Joker is an example of what happens when someone who needs help and compassion, is turned away and ignored.
Joker shows us the side of the villain that we usually do not get to see. One of the main themes of Joker is how cruel the world can be, and how people don’t care about others anymore, especially the poor and mentally ill. Throughout the movie, we see how everything that Arthur lives for is stripped from him. First his job, then his medication, the love of his mother, and ultimately, his sanity. Now when you look at this, many of these things could have been avoided if people had been a bit more caring, not to just him, but to the lower class as a whole. There are many points throughout the film where Arthur clearly states that he just wants some warmth and kindness from people, the example that sticks out the most to me is when he is talking to Thomas Wayne in the bathroom at the public event and says to him, “I don’t know why everyone is so rude,” he states, “I don’t want anything from you, maybe a little warmth, maybe a hug, maybe just a little bit of decency?!” this interaction shows that Arthur is so desperate for empathy and tenderness from anyone yet, no one is willing to help. If someone had shown him some kindheartedness and helped out the lower class in Gotham, the film's events would have probably been much different, and more peaceful, for the city's people.
Refrences
“Care Ethics.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://iep.utm.edu/care-ethics/.
Phillips, Todd, director. Joker. YouTube, YouTube, 28 Aug. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGVQLHvwOY. Accessed 26 Oct. 2022.
WatchMojo, director. YouTube, YouTube, 9 Feb. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdVH8cSZ6yo. Accessed 26 Oct. 2022.