Film Review: A Dark Tale From Gotham

On a busy street in Gotham City, a clown carries a billboard while dancing cheerfully, joyfully, and passionately. Not long after, teenagers came and snatched the billboard. The clown spontaneously chased the robber. The billboard is his lifeline to earn wages. Hastily, the clown chased the teenagers into a small alley. When he entered the alley, he was beaten by the teenage robbers.

This assault becomes the entry point for a constructive and to some extent deconstructive discussion of what is called good and what is called bad that runs throughout the film. The relativity related to good and bad certainly reminds us of the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche who questioned the truth again. Slightly different from him, this film does not discuss at all nihilism, but rather enters into the antagonism and contextuality of good and bad.

The poor clown is the Joker. The film is set in 1981 with the main character Arthur Fleck, a 40-year-old clown who suffers from a brain disorder. This disorder causes him to laugh at inappropriate times or at random times. People who see it can be offended, if they do not put themselves in context or know Arthur's background. Arthur routinely takes sedatives to overcome his madness, the drugs are provided by social services in Gotham.

As a 40-year-old man, Arthur still lives with his mother, Penny. In one act, Arthur thinks that Thomas Wayne, the father of Bruce Wayne (Batman), is his biological father. Arthur finds letters from his mother Penny, to Thomas Wayne that the child she is carrying (Arthur) is the child of her affair when she was a maid in the Wayne family.

It turned out that it was an illusion from Penny, she had a mental disorder, until finally she was fired by the Wayne family. As for Arthur's continuous laughing attitude, it was the result of a hard collision when he was a child. When he was a child, Arthur was a victim of physical violence by his mother. In the end, Penny's life was lost by Arthur's hands, when Penny was in a hospital bed. Before killing Penny by covering her face with a pillow, Arthur said "I used to think that my life was a tragedy, but now I realize, it's a comedy”.

Ideology, Truth, and Symbols

Like any other work of art, the interpretation of a film is also determined by its audience. My background in social sciences prompted me to look more closely at the social setting surrounding the film. It is true that mental health issues are one of the most discussed aspects, but on the other hand, the social issues surrounding the film are worth paying attention to.

Like most films with a heroic background, Arthur is full of hope and confidence that the socio-economic problems in Gotham City, which were chaotic at that time, can be solved if Thomas Wayne becomes Mayor. This belief does not diminish, even though the socio-economic conditions of Gotham City are increasingly uncertain. There are many murders, looting, and a crisis of legitimacy in law enforcement institutions. This hope is dashed when Arthur finally becomes a symbol of community resistance. At this point, people who loot and fight against state authority are considered heroes.

There are several narratives that emerge, especially how Gotham City can get out of the problems that surround it. There is a narrative that says that the solution lies in the form of a communist society, namely a classless society where the distribution of welfare is given evenly, without looking at the contribution to society. A different solution is the socialist model, where the distribution of welfare is determined by how the individual contributes to society. A different model is liberalism, where individual freedom is the main value. In this liberalism model, the tendency of the problem of welfare distribution is in the capitalist system which emphasizes individual freedom.

It is not specifically explained about the problem-solving approach in the Joker film, only that the alternative narrative of chaos is in these models. Arthur was originally considered a person with a mental disorder, the idealization of normality that Arthur views, becomes a collective consciousness of his masses. One of the symbols attached to this symbolization is his clown mask. From this perspective, chaos is basically a rhythm.
Anarchism is also an interesting side of this film. Anarchism can be interpreted as a condition when the state is absent. This condition shows that the state and its legal apparatus do not work in regulating its citizens. This condition of the absence of the state is called anarchism, while people who take action without the rules of this state are called anarchists.

This chapter about mass mobilization reminds me of similar films, such as the film 'V for Vendeta'. At this moment, socio-political injustice is fought with anonymity, but still, the class struggle needs symbols. In a chaotic situation, a charismatic leader is always present, whether on the side that is considered good or bad. Arthur, who initially expected salvation from the chaotic situation to established elite, ultimately becoming a symbol of the struggle for order that he was striving for.

Anonymity

Throughout the film, the audience is immediately brought to the possibility of meaning and re-questions the discussion related to truth. The construction related to truth has so far been identified with Batman, or Super hero which we have always considered right. The Joker film actually tells the reality and construction of truth from the side that we have always considered bad. Basically, truth depends on which side we stand on, and how reality is constructed. In other words, there is no absolute truth. The narrative and the reality that surrounds it are continuously produced and shape the truth.

The interesting thing is the importance of anonymity in producing counter narratives. This reminds me of a book entitled Revolution 2.0, a memoir that tells how the revolution in Egypt was carried out with propaganda on social media. The author of the book is one of the people who carried out propaganda against the authoritarian regime. In his efforts, the author carried out propaganda with an anonymous identity. In the end, the authoritarian regime fell after the propaganda succeeded in attracting the masses to occupy strategic places.

What is shown in the Joker film shows that in an effort to fight against a regime that is claimed to be right and hegemonic, alternative spaces are needed. Even in some cases, anonymity is needed, because it can be said that oppression produces the same suffering. However, this suffering does not immediately result in collective action for fellow oppressed people. The Joker film re-disturbs our belief in truth, that everything is basically a construction. Indirectly, this film re-deconstructs our hegemonic image that Batman is the right party and Joker is the party that is always wrong. Basically there is no difference between Batman and Joker, the difference is only in where the two stand and on which footing between the two is considered normal by the hegemonic image.

Final Conclusion

The construction of truth, this is what is inherent when trying to reflect back on the outline of this film. This film can be said to be dark, heavy, and not suitable for consumption by teenagers under the age of. Many things that reawaken our views on many things, be it heroism, truth, to normality. For me, the Joker film provides a lot of reflections related to how the regime of truth is in the real world. Many things make us think again, for example, whether the solution related to our leadership through elections so far is just a ceremony that is not the right solution for society. Elections are just a rotation for established elite. On the other hand, the presence of a charismatic leader like Joker, becomes important as a symbol for a layer of the oppressed class, for groups that are not heard. This film shows that perhaps a radical step is needed to be able to overcome problems or to voice voices that are considered minor, when the mechanisms that are considered normal and steady cannot be a solution for realizing justice.

Bibliography

Phillips, T. (Director), (2019). Joker. United States: DC Films Ghonim, W. (2012). Revolution 2.0: The power of the people is greater than the people in power. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.