Question: One thing confused me. If Penny Fleck abused Arthur and was confined to Arkham, why was Arthur living with her for most of the film, wouldn't he have been separated from her by the state?
Question: Does Arthur kill Sophie when he realises he's hallucinated their relationship? I know there may not be a concrete answer to this.
Answer: Yeah it's completely up to the viewer to believe he killed her or not. I don't think he did, he liked her, just like Gary. I think he visited to see if it was all in his head, with that confirmed he just left.
Answer: Todd Philips actually answered this in an interview on IndieWire; "As the filmmaker and the writer I am saying he doesn't kill her. We like the idea that it's almost like a litmus test for the audience to say, 'How crazy is he?' Most people that I've spoken to think he didn't kill her because they understand the idea that he only kills people that did him wrong. She had nothing to do with it. Most people understood that, even as a villain, he was living by a certain code. Of course he didn't kill this woman down the hall."
Question: Spoiler! The scene at the very end, with Arthur locked up talking to the doctor/social worker - is that meant to be later, after he's been captured again, or is it a flashback to when he was hospitalised before, as was referenced earlier in the movie?
Answer: This is later, as the building appears to be Arkham. He's committed there instead of going to jail based on his insanity. It appears he is laughing about the death of Thomas Wayne, we see a flash of that scene again for a reason.
Question: Why doesn't Arthur's doctor recommend a new doctor after their sessions end so he can keep getting his meds?
Answer: Arthur's therapy and medication are paid for by the city government. The entire program was cut and Arthur can't afford it on his own.
Question: Why was this movie so controversial?
Answer: In a nutshell, it's because the film's protagonist is a mentally disturbed killer, and certain groups in America thought the film's violence would lead to copycat behavior.
I never got this aspect of the controversy, if anything, it goes to show what can happen when mental illness goes untreated.
I agree with you on that, but unfortunately, there's so many people, at least in the United States, that have no sense of nuance and are prone to knee-jerk reactions. They would rather condemn and blame different kinds of media for society's ills, rather than stop and look at the message something is trying to tell.
I read about the concern over possible copycat behavior in an on-line article; Phaneron's answer is correct.
Answer: Because the left thought it would encourage violence and mocked liberal run cities.The right thought the same on violence, it seemingly justified a mentally ill guy's actions, that it made white businessmen bad guys. Both sides in general only complained about Joker for attention.
Question: My question's twofold: 1. Why does he do that dance down the stairs, for fun maybe? 2. When he speaks about comedy being subjective is this a knock on modern comedians and their controversial jokes and skits?
Answer: 1 - Why does he dance a bunch of times in the movie? It's kinda his thing! You can see that Murray himself does little goofy dances all the time during his show and Arthur sorta seems to have taken that trait from him. 2 - I have heard that "comedy is subjective" for years and years. It is sort of a truism but it does fit, some people like a certain kind of humor that can fall completely flat for others. I am not sure if you should read some specificity about it in this movie, except for the fact that obviously he's using it to justify his own actions to the point of considering 'funny' to commit murder in the context of the perspective change when he starts considering his tragic life a whole big joke with no punchline. I don't really see in this movie a satire of show business or shock comedy, since it seems to focus on other themes (mental illness, emargination, etcetera).
Answer: 1. It's supposed to be a highly emotional moment for him, the first time he takes control of his own life. He basically celebrates that. 2. I think he is referring to Murray, or at least something in-universe. This is all of course speculative.
Question: Why does Arthur kill his mother? Does he feel she lied to him about his father? Maybe his madness going further? Perhaps even he wanted to end her suffering?
Answer: I'd probably rule out of the last reason you mentioned, on the first one you have to consider that the lie goes deeper than just the father's identity, if that is a lie at all. Through the information he saw on the medical record - and he kills her after seeing that record - it turns out that she had let him be abused and beaten up since a tender age, which would probably be the cause of his mental and physical issues. In his line before the murder, he mentions her full name, and how he has not been happy a minute of his whole life, so the terrible childhood, which maybe now came back to him, is a real factor. Mentioning the comedy, so a play, might also imply a sort of detachment now that he understands that it was all a lie from the beginning and she's not even his real mother (if that's what he believes).
Question: What mental illness does Arthur's mother suffer from, if any? That, and why claim Arthur was Wayne's son if he wasn't?
Answer: It isn't exactly specified in the film what illness she suffers from but she definitely appears to be schizophrenic. This would also explain why she claimed Arthur was Wayne's son.
Question: Is it just me or did he fire 8 times with a gun that only holds 5 rounds at a time? I am referring to the subway scene where Joker got his first kills of course.
Answer: I counted 4 shots on the train and 3 shots on the platform. Someone submitted a mistake about this, then someone corrected it saying he could have reloaded, then someone commented it's unlikely. I find it unlikely that he reloaded when on the train because on the platform he shoots 3 times and then dry fires 2 more times because he's out of rounds but doesn't seem to realise. So you'd have to say he had the wherewithal to reload a gun that's not empty, or only had 4 rounds in it for some reason, but reloaded it with only 2 or 3 more rounds, and then forgot how many rounds he just reloaded it with.
He has time to reload so it's plausible, that's all it takes really. Arthur is out of his mind at that moment, having just been beaten up again and working purely on adrenaline and blind rage. I doubt he is counting his shots. Does fit him though that when he saw the 3rd guy run he wanted to kill him too but wasn't sure if his gun was empty so he loaded 2 more bullets before he exited the train.
Question: What did Arthur mean when he said "They couldn't carry a tune to save their lives"? What does singing have to do with their deaths?
Answer: The 3 men on the subway started singing 'send in the clowns' moments before they attacked Arthur. He is making a joke about their deaths, by saying their singing was really bad and that's why he killed them.
Question: When the ambulance rams the police car Arthur's in was this accidental or intentional? If intentional how'd the guy driving it know Arthur would be in it?
Answer: I think they intentionally rammed a police car, not because Joker was in it but simply because it was a police car.
Answer: I think the guy stole the ambulance and intentionally rammed the police car because they were rioting against the police.
Question: Is Murray Franklin a mix of Johnny Carson and David Letterman?
Answer: Murray Franklin is loosely based on Johnny Carson. He can also be seen as sort-of a general reference to nighttime talk-show hosts. Robert De Niro has also said he played the character as a bit of an homage to his character Rupert Pupkin from the 1982 film "The King of Comedy." (Though he stresses they are not meant to be the same character).
Question: So if Thomas Wayne is Arthur's father does that mean that he and Bruce Wayne are brothers?
Answer: Half brothers, yes, provided Thomas really is Arthur's father.
Question: Regardless of any crossover or franchises, I know Joaquin Phoenix said he has no interest, I get that. My question is that regardless of all that, does this movie take place in the same universe as Robert Pattinson's "The Batman" or has it been denied or neither confirmed or denied as of right now?
Answer: No-one's saying anything at the moment. There's a rumour that The Batman is set in the 90s, which seems an odd choice unless they're specifically leaving the door open to tie the films' worlds together. That said given Robert Pattinson is 34 and Bruce in Joker was played by a then-9 year old, the ages don't quite line up for them being connected, even in the 90s.
Answer: In the movie Arthur is an adult. He would have been separated from her as a child but, once he turned 18, if he wanted to live with his mother as soon as she was released nobody could stop that.
lionhead