"What's up with that funky title?"
That's the thing that all my A*List movies had in common. Each member of this week's trio had that same running time.
"That seems rather odd. No, wait a minute! Two of those movies were the same!"
That's correct! I watched "Joker: Folie a Deux" twice. I very nearly watched it two days in a row, back to back, but I took a day off to watch "Joker", as I haven't seen it since it came out in 2019. That's five years ago between that first one with Joaquin Phoenix and this second one. So, I'm glad I did took the time to watch it again! Comcast gave it to me as a reward this week, so I took that coincidence as a sign for me to do a bit of research.
"Sounds like an interesting venture..."
Yes, it was. I had forgotten about this line 'Arthur Fleck' wrote in his journal. "The worst part about having a mental illness is... people expect you to behave as if you DON'T." That's the key to both of the movies. Well, that and the falsehood his mom told him so he wouldn't kill himself when he was younger.
"Yeah, that thing about 'he was born to bring people joy and make them laugh', is that what you mean?"
Absolutely. That's why he got a job as a clown. That's why he made up bad jokes and wrote them in his journal. That's why he wanted to be a stand-up comedian. He had been told for as long as he could remember that his special purpose was to make folks laugh. He just misunderstood. The people were laughing at him, as a person, not at his jokes or antics.
"Oh, that's so horrible and so sad!"
Right? And there was a series of unfortunate events that led him to prison. First, Arthur was getting beat up by young bullies for doing his clown job. Second, Gotham was having a war of the classes, with Tom Wayne - you know, the future Batman's mega-rich father - leading the struggle of the wealthy against the working class. Third, one of Arthur's fellow clowns gave him a gun for protection, even though they both knew their boss didn't allow weapons. So, the stage was set.
"Indeed. He was already taking 7 different medications, but those weren't helping. Than the social program that supplied him with a therapist was discontinued, so he didn't have that outlet anymore. Then he got fired for using the gun as a prop in his comic routine. Yes, life was not working in his favor."
Correct. So, when he was riding the subway home, he witnessed those three well-dressed young men bullying and harassing the young woman. His manic laughter after the woman left brought him to their attention, which led to them beating him up. Plus, they stole part of his costume. Arthur brought out the gun to even the odds... and lost control after pulling the trigger the first time. Perhaps it was shock that kept him shooting at them, shock that drove him to chase down the one that was getting away.
"Yes, that happens with people who are unfamiliar with guns. That's the danger."
Enter the media, reporting on the incident. Tom Wayne made out the three bullies as fine, upstanding, members of society with prestigious college degrees. The news revolved around "a clown" seen fleeing the scene. And, justthatfast, others embraced the clown makeup as a symbol of revolt, much as rebels had gladly donned Guy Fawkes masks. It didn't matter that the three bullies had been killed for being bullies, not because they were well to do. The misunderstanding was now etched into the mindset by the media.
"That's true. But Arthur Fleck believed that the crowds of people donning clown makeup or masks were in support of him for standing up to the bullies. He took that as a sign of him finally being accepted - no, lauded - by others. That gave him the confidence to try out his stand-up comic routine... and that brought him to the attention of a TV snark host, Murray. Then, watching Murray's TV show one night with his mom, Arthur was first thrilled to see that host running footage of him at the club, but them Arthur was appalled to realize the host was making fun of his act.
"Yikes! That's right. That host was someone his mom adored. What a cringe moment for poor Arthur to have the man making him out to be a fool!"
Indeed. Then, Murray invited Arthur to come onto his TV show. And Arthur did, making sure to rehearse his entrance and rehearse what he was going to say. Had he planned to kill Murray, or did that just happen? Well, here's my take on that: you don't bring along a loaded gun if you're not planning to use it. It's just that simple. Perhaps Arthur didn't know it still had bullets, perhaps he did. In any case, he brought it with him, even practicing how he would pull it out.
"Very true. Then, he put on the clown makeup, too."
Well, he did that because Murray had referred to him as "a joker" when Murray was maligning Arthur's stand-up act. Arthur had believed his 'fans' would enjoy seeing him in that makeup on the TV show, so he'd carefully put it on before his entrance. He had artfully crafted that character specifically for Murray's show. I think Arthur was a little disappointed when he had to remind the snarky host of the origin of that 'joker' character.
"You know, that reminds me of that 'mercial where the woman's antidepressant meds aren't working, so she uses a hand sign with a fake smiling face to mask her sadness."
Exactly. Arthur was a clown because he could literally "put on a happy face" with that greasepaint, even though he was always quite unhappy. Being "a joker" was his bid for acceptance by others and his bid for fame on TV.
"Mental illness is certainly a tough topic."
That it is, and it's dealt with throughout "Joker: Folie a Deux", both his and that of others. For instance, Harley is portrayed as a celebrity groupie who sees the fame surrounding Arthur Fleck as her means to also get into the limelight. Her lack of self-esteem is reflected in the lyrics she sings. "If My Friends Could See Me Now" is her tune as she enters the courtroom where all know she is Arthur's love. "There's a light, a certain kind of light, that never shone on me", she sings, as part of a duet of "To Love Somebody" on the "Harley & Joker" fantasy show. Then she says "I've Got The World On A String" as she becomes the media darling after convincing Arthur to fire his lawyer and defend himself.
"So this really is a musical?"
Yes, a musical about mental illness. Sometimes it's obvious that the song and dance routines are simply in the mind of the singer, but sometimes it's left for us to decide. For instance, are Harley's songs for real, or do they exist only in Arthur's mind? I know I speak often of my mental jukebox, but I don't mount a dance when a song gets cued up. For Arthur, the fantasy is everything. Everything. he doesn't even get that Harley's a celebrity groupie when she insists on putting the "joker" character makeup on him before they have sex in his cell. He goes along with her fantasy, not realizing she is part of the problem. She thinks "The Joker" is who he really is, not just something he created. In fact, his lawyer didn't get that, either. Her entire defense rested on "The Joker" being a split from his personality, a manifestation of his mental illness. He went along with that since the lawyer was convinced it would get his case a judgement of "not guilty by mental defect". That would mean he and Harley would be able to be together again.
"Wow. So, this was more akin to the darkness in Sweeney Todd than to The Joker as played by Jack Nicholson, right?"
Yeah, you could say that. I know I've very much enjoyed using my AMC A*List to see this musical twice. Who knows? I may see it again next week.
"What about the Coppola film?"
Film my ass. What "Megalopolis" clearly showed is that Francis Ford Coppola, at 95 years old, has lost his touch. There was a good science fiction story buried deep within all that hot mess - like, way down deep - but you had to wade through schlock to put it together. Here's how I knew it was no good: the physicist didn't want to discuss it afterward. He was the one who had been so hot to see it!
"Yikes. That's pretty brutal if the bfe didn't want to talk about it after making such a fuss for weeks about seeing it."
Yes. Such a waste of a talented cast. Perhaps he should take a lesson from the 66-year-old Viggo Mortensen. His Western, "The Dead Don't Hurt", was incredible... and he even wrote the score and starred in it, not just wrote, directed, and produced as Coppola did. Maybe I can find that movie on Peacock to watch sometime... but, now, I'm going to enjoy the look and sound of "Warm Bodies"! That's still my favorite zombie movie. (smile!)
