Gotham City’s Arkham prison is not a fun place. The inmates have been tortured and medicated into submission. Among the prisoners is Arthur Fleck - dubbed the Clown Prince Of Crime - who has shot to death a TV host Murray Franklin (live on TV) as well as three drunk people who bullied him on the subway. But when you see Arthur in prison: gaunt and submissive, bullied again and again by the prison guards you wonder if the legend of the joker is just that.
In prison he meets Harley Quinzel aka Harley Quinn aka Lee and falls in love with her. She tells him the world (and she) loves the Joker for what he represents: chaos and defiance of the world order. Arthur wants her to see him as he is, and not just the wild persona…This dark psychological thriller uses big band music as well as original songs written by Lady Gaga and is just a magnificent telling of a tale that shows Arthur Fleck and the Joker like never before. What money lessons can we learn from this Oscar Worthy film?
Arthur sings the song in despair, when he realises that the world expects too much from him, and is entertained only when the joker is humiliated and beaten up in kiddie cartoons. Arthur laments that grown ups laugh when he fails at tasks, because he’s just entertainment. He is never the hero of his story. No one cares what he feels or what he’s going through…The lyrics of the song (‘There’s always a joker’ by Shirley Bassey and then recreated for the movie when both Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix sing it) say: ‘They don't care as long as there is a jester, / Just a fool, as foolish as he can be/ There's always a joker, that's a rule / But fate deals the hand and I see / The joker is me!
When pushed to the brink by his daily humiliation, The joker turns the world upside down and he is put in jail where he’s taunted, ‘Tell us a joke Arthur!’
In your portfolio too there will be some stocks that you have invested in that make you the joker among your fellow investors. They want you to invest like them. But you know that you are in the investment ‘game’ for a long haul. They might take pride in the small term, immediate gains. But the day your portfolio decides to explode and bring you skyrocketing returns, they will stop calling you the clown.
Then they too will sing for you as the prisoners sing at Arthur’s defiance: Yes I want to be in that number, / When the saints go marching in!’
Arthur’s defiance has been broken down by his stint in the prison. An evil guard knows his penchant for showtunes, and takes him to the music therapy class where Arthur meets Harley ‘Lee’ Quinzel. The whole lot is made to sing ‘put on a happy face’ because ‘when you’re smiling’ the whole world smiles with you…’
Lee tells Arthur she’s in love with the Joker, and sings to him, ‘Why do birds suddenly appear / Every time you are near? /Just like me they long to be, / close to you…’ Starved for affection Arthur is seduced by Lee. She helps him escape into a fantasy world where they would ‘make a mountain of a small hill’… And as all defiant love stories do, there is no happy ending because Arthur wants to be loved for who he is, and not because he’s the Joker.
As investors, you too will find yourself being seduced by the promises of new financial offerings, And some of us then will not be able to see the reality of the scam. We must always keep a lookout for such seductions and sure, if you have money put away to invest in such schemes, go ahead and indulge. But always following Harley Quinn in real life too will turn into disappointment and that’s why you must have a backup plan that will save you when you realise that you are not the Joker, you are just Arthur Fleck.
Joaquin Phoenix has already won an Oscar for his physically demanding transformation into a gaunt, tortured prisoner and his fabulous performance in the previous film. You will be floored by his flawless performance in the film. The proof is when the whole world wants to wipe the clown makeup off Arthur’s face, and you want to wipe that smug smile off the prosecutor Harvey Dent’s face! Don’t miss this film!
Manisha Lakhe is a poet, film critic, traveller, founder of Caferati — an online writer’s forum, hosts Mumbai’s oldest open mic, and teaches advertising, films and communication. She can be reached on Twitter at @manishalakhe.
