The Joker. A household name that throughout generations has become a worldwide phenomenon. In the most recent Joker movie, starring Joaquin Phoenix, we are introduced to a sad looking man putting white face make-up on. We soon learn that this man is the one and only Arthur Fleek (soon to be Joker), he walks outside and begins to work his job as a sign-flipping street clown. Due to his job, he is harassed on a daily basis. 

One contributing factor to his daily harassment, is that Arthur suffers from a mental condition where he laughs in uncomfortable or nervous situations and is unable to stop laughing until he has calmed down. As the movie progresses, we learn that Arthur is a struggling comic who loves to make people laugh, but cannot because of his condition. One day as Arthur is taking the subway back to his ill mother’s apartment, he is attacked by a group of three brutal men. Under all this pressure, Arthur shoots the men and takes off running, as he is running through the subway, it is revealed to the audience that he slightly enjoyed what he had done. The murders leads to an uproar of Joker supporters and riots across Gotham City. 

 This movie was a cinematic masterpiece shining a light on what it is like to have an uncontrollable mental illness. Rotten Tomatoes scores are giving “The Joker” a 68%. Joaquin Phoenix was the best actor that could have been chosen to play this role, he was able to embody the character to the best of his ability and put his heart and soul into his acting. 

Besides mental illness, “The Joker” was a new version of how this very well known character came to be. It was exciting to watch him grow into the hated character he is today. One of the most emotional parts of the movie was when Arthur had all his face make-up on and is on his way to guest star on the Murray show, he dances on a set of stairs and during this strange scene, the audience finally gets to see how interesting this odd man actually is, in a way, we almost could connect to Arthur and what he is going through. This illuminated what he’s been going through all this time and the true pain this man feels every day and night.

“The Joker” was a tug at the heartstrings. Joaquin Phoenix was able to portray a struggling man going through a terrible illness no human on earth should ever have to experience.