Recall | Joker 2019 - Dancing scene on the stairs. Arthur is pursued by the two detectives @recall3550 | Uploaded October 2020 | Updated October 2024, 12 hours ago.
Arthur is invited to appear on Murray's show due to the unexpected popularity of his comedy routine's clips. As he prepares, Arthur is visited by Randall and fellow ex-colleague Gary. Arthur murders Randall but leaves Gary unharmed as he treated him well in the past. En route to the studio, Arthur is pursued by the two detectives onto a train filled with some of the clown protesters. One detective accidentally shoots a protester and incites a riot, allowing Arthur to escape.
This isn’t a review of the Joker (2019 Movie). This is just an interpretation of a key scene that has audiences polarised worldwide — while one section of the audience revels in the grooving beats of ‘Rock and Roll Part 2’ accompanying the screenplay, the other section just sits shuddering silently.
The scene in question is that of the Joker dancing away in full glory after a murderous spree, post having strangulated his adoptive mother and butchering a former colleague.
Masterstroke Screenplay : Introduce Anarchy
As per the story-line, which takes most of its inspiration from The Killing Joke (1988 graphic novel), the Joker is a subdued character living against extremely trying conditions. He wants validation and craves admiration. This can be seen in his hallucinatory flashback scenes — a) where he is appreciated by Murray’s crowds and is eventually hugged by Murray and b) where he is imagining his date enjoying his jokes in a comedy show.
Throughout his life, he’s been disappointed because of his constant hysterical laughing condition accompanying his mental illnesses impeding him from having a normal interaction with anyone — he neither embraces his condition nor tries to do anything about the constant barbaric taunts by the society and thereby repeatedly falls prey to them (Wild kids stealing the signboard and colleagues trying to throw him under the bus).
The one time he tries to do something in his self-defense is the moment that marks his initial trajectory and essentially catapults his transition to becoming “The Joker”. And, he celebrates that in a scenic bathroom ballet-style dance. The aftermath to that just adds onto his delusion of grandiose fame, as the downtrodden masses don clown masks as a symbol of their revolution against oppression by the rich of the Gotham City.
As the story-line unfolds, we have him exploring his own truth. His confrontation with his alleged father (*not his father*) leads him to another painful truth about his adoptive mother and eventually the truth about his mental condition. That is the second jolt to his trajectory, and thence he is on his own path in embracing his madness in full.
He is no longer the slouched character we see climbing the stairs, nor is he the one ‘being manipulated’ by the society. He’s the one dancing victoriously on the stairs, and he’s the one manipulating the masses to do his bidding by orchestrating the chain of events to kill the two detectives pursuing him.
And, the scene that captures the essence of all this and gives meaning to this transition of the Joker’s character arc is the dancing scene on the stairs. Without this scene, we just see the Joker being on a random killing spree. This scene is neither meant for us to rejoice nor for us to shudder, but is meant for us to pause and reflect on the transitions that has happened. Like a pause is to a speech for the audience to grasp the meaning of what was just said, this scene in the Joker (2019 Movie) is for us to pause and reflect the trajectory of the character that is the super-villainous Joker.
And the icing on the cake is when the Joker discards the clown-mask signifying that he doesn’t need a mask anymore. He is essentially THE clown-prince of crime in Gotham, and the penultimate scene in the movie is when we see him earning that very title.
Director: Todd Phillips
Writers: Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix (Arthur Fleck \ Joker), Robert De Niro (Murray Franklin), Zazie Beetz (Sophie Dumond), Frances Conroy (Penny Fleck), Brett Cullen (Thomas Wayne), Shea Whigham (Detective Burke), Bill Camp (Detective Garrity), Glenn Fleshler (Randall), Leigh Gill (Gary)
Production Companies:
BRON Studios (in association with) (as BRON Creative)
DC Entertainment
DC Comics
Creative Wealth Media Finance
Joint Effort
Village Roadshow Pictures (in association with)
Warner Bros.
#Joker2019
#Joker
#DC
#DCComics
Arthur is invited to appear on Murray's show due to the unexpected popularity of his comedy routine's clips. As he prepares, Arthur is visited by Randall and fellow ex-colleague Gary. Arthur murders Randall but leaves Gary unharmed as he treated him well in the past. En route to the studio, Arthur is pursued by the two detectives onto a train filled with some of the clown protesters. One detective accidentally shoots a protester and incites a riot, allowing Arthur to escape.
This isn’t a review of the Joker (2019 Movie). This is just an interpretation of a key scene that has audiences polarised worldwide — while one section of the audience revels in the grooving beats of ‘Rock and Roll Part 2’ accompanying the screenplay, the other section just sits shuddering silently.
The scene in question is that of the Joker dancing away in full glory after a murderous spree, post having strangulated his adoptive mother and butchering a former colleague.
Masterstroke Screenplay : Introduce Anarchy
As per the story-line, which takes most of its inspiration from The Killing Joke (1988 graphic novel), the Joker is a subdued character living against extremely trying conditions. He wants validation and craves admiration. This can be seen in his hallucinatory flashback scenes — a) where he is appreciated by Murray’s crowds and is eventually hugged by Murray and b) where he is imagining his date enjoying his jokes in a comedy show.
Throughout his life, he’s been disappointed because of his constant hysterical laughing condition accompanying his mental illnesses impeding him from having a normal interaction with anyone — he neither embraces his condition nor tries to do anything about the constant barbaric taunts by the society and thereby repeatedly falls prey to them (Wild kids stealing the signboard and colleagues trying to throw him under the bus).
The one time he tries to do something in his self-defense is the moment that marks his initial trajectory and essentially catapults his transition to becoming “The Joker”. And, he celebrates that in a scenic bathroom ballet-style dance. The aftermath to that just adds onto his delusion of grandiose fame, as the downtrodden masses don clown masks as a symbol of their revolution against oppression by the rich of the Gotham City.
As the story-line unfolds, we have him exploring his own truth. His confrontation with his alleged father (*not his father*) leads him to another painful truth about his adoptive mother and eventually the truth about his mental condition. That is the second jolt to his trajectory, and thence he is on his own path in embracing his madness in full.
He is no longer the slouched character we see climbing the stairs, nor is he the one ‘being manipulated’ by the society. He’s the one dancing victoriously on the stairs, and he’s the one manipulating the masses to do his bidding by orchestrating the chain of events to kill the two detectives pursuing him.
And, the scene that captures the essence of all this and gives meaning to this transition of the Joker’s character arc is the dancing scene on the stairs. Without this scene, we just see the Joker being on a random killing spree. This scene is neither meant for us to rejoice nor for us to shudder, but is meant for us to pause and reflect on the transitions that has happened. Like a pause is to a speech for the audience to grasp the meaning of what was just said, this scene in the Joker (2019 Movie) is for us to pause and reflect the trajectory of the character that is the super-villainous Joker.
And the icing on the cake is when the Joker discards the clown-mask signifying that he doesn’t need a mask anymore. He is essentially THE clown-prince of crime in Gotham, and the penultimate scene in the movie is when we see him earning that very title.
Director: Todd Phillips
Writers: Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix (Arthur Fleck \ Joker), Robert De Niro (Murray Franklin), Zazie Beetz (Sophie Dumond), Frances Conroy (Penny Fleck), Brett Cullen (Thomas Wayne), Shea Whigham (Detective Burke), Bill Camp (Detective Garrity), Glenn Fleshler (Randall), Leigh Gill (Gary)
Production Companies:
BRON Studios (in association with) (as BRON Creative)
DC Entertainment
DC Comics
Creative Wealth Media Finance
Joint Effort
Village Roadshow Pictures (in association with)
Warner Bros.
#Joker2019
#Joker
#DC
#DCComics
