The unnamed woman harassed by the three Wall Street men Arthur inadvertently 'rescues' is seen at a rally in a clown mask at around the 46th minute. This woman, whom Arthur sees in the taxi, was inspired by the three murders he committed.
Arthur's joke, 'When I was a little boy and told people I was going to be a comedian, everyone laughed at me. Well, no one's laughing now,' is an adaptation of the famous quip by the late British comedian Bob Monkhouse. Monkhouse, like Arthur, was known for the hundreds of handwritten joke books he wrote over the years.
When Arthur enters Sophie's apartment, he says, 'I had a bad day.' This line is a nod to the iconic comic book 'The Killing Joke,' in which the Joker argues that everyone is only one bad day away from madness.
Although Arthur's mother is indeed delusional, when a frame in her psychiatric file freezes, it is revealed that she underwent a lobotomy.
Arthur Fleck performs stand-up at 'Pogo's Comedy Club' in Gotham. Pogo the Clown was the stage name of the real-life professional clown and serial killer John Wayne Gacy.
The melody of the song 'Smile,' heard in the teaser trailer, was composed by Charlie Chaplin for the 1936 film 'Modern Times,' with lyrics added 18 years later. In the trailer, Chaplin's film is being watched by a live audience.
Leading neurocriminologist Adrian Raine said in his interview with Vanity Fair that he admired the film's authentic portrayal of the psychology of a criminal mind. Raine diagnosed Arthur Fleck with schizotypal personality disorder and uses the film in his classes at the University of Pennsylvania.
In Batman canon, the parents are usually killed by Joe Chill, while in the 1989 film 'Batman' they were killed by Jack Napier, who would become the Joker. In this film, however, the Joker, in a mask as an unidentified man, kills the Waynes; thus the film becomes the second production to link the Joker to the deaths of the Waynes.
On the back of her mother's smiling photograph, Arthur sees the inscription 'I've always loved your smile' and the initials TW. This raises the question of whether Thomas Wayne really is his father; however, given Penny's mental state, it is also possible that she signed the photograph herself.
Arthur enjoys watching a Sir Charles Chaplin film. The Joker, in most continuities, is a fan of classic comedians, and Chaplin is one of his favorites.
Arthur's adoption documents state that he was abandoned and that he has no real birth name. This is a nod to the comics, in which the Joker has no canonically recorded name.
Director Todd Phillips said he deliberately left it ambiguous whether Arthur is the real Joker or whether he inspired a separate character. Joaquin Phoenix, for his part, stated that he believes Arthur is the real Joker.
The scene in which the Joker kisses Dr. Salley on the Murray Franklin Show is a nod to the scene in the 1986 graphic novel 'The Dark Knight Returns' in which the Joker kisses Dr. Ruth, infecting her with joker toxin.
The two films playing at the cinema the Wayne family attends are 'Blow Out' (1981) and 'Zorro: The Gay Blade' (1981). 'Zorro' is traditionally the film the Wayne family is supposed to watch on the fateful night of Batman's origin story.
Arthur passes in front of the Amusement Mile sign; this is an important location in the original 'The Killing Joke' graphic novel. The Joker's co-creator, Bill Finger, was partly inspired by the Steeplechase Park sign at Coney Island.
Todd Phillips believes his film is about kindness and empathy: 'If I had to reduce it to one theme, it's the power of kindness. If you don't see that, you either have no soul or you're compensating for your own struggles.'
On The Playlist podcast, Quentin Tarantino stated that the film's talk show scene makes the audience hate Murray Franklin so intensely that they accept Arthur killing him.
The news clips at the beginning of the film mention a garbage strike; New York's garbage collectors went on strike in 1981. The Joker's talk show guest, Dr. Sally, is a nod to the 80s sex-talk-show personality Dr. Ruth.
Arthur Fleck is implied to suffer from an eating disorder (anorexia nervosa), through his skeletal appearance and his not eating. Being starved as a child by his mother's abusive boyfriend may have triggered his adult eating habits. His frequent smoking also contributes to his frail physique.
The line 'people walking over a dead man in the street,' which Arthur sees in his therapist's notebook, is connected to his words on the Murray Show, when the crowd boos him: 'If it was me dying on the sidewalk, you'd walk right over me.'
The 'super-rats' segment on Murray Franklin's show is a nod to Ratcatcher, a D-list villain who can mind-control rats. The character will appear in James Gunn's 'The Suicide Squad' (2021).
Since its release in late 2019, Arthur Fleck/the Joker has become a symbol in government corruption protests in countries such as Lebanon, Chile, Iraq and China. His image also appeared during the George Floyd protests in June and July 2020.
The film portrays Thomas Wayne as cold-hearted and possibly adulterous. It is implied that he had a relationship with Penny Fleck decades earlier. In the 2018 DC Black Label series 'Batman: Damned,' Thomas Wayne was portrayed similarly; in a flashback in the first issue, young Bruce sees his father with a woman who is not his mother, and it becomes clear that Wayne brought his son to meet his mistress.
The card Arthur hands to the woman who questions his laughing on the bus states that his condition is caused by a mental disorder or brain injury. This foreshadows that the physical abuse he suffered as a child led to brain damage and is most likely also the root of his mental problems.
Joker's red suit is a tribute to Rupert Pupkin in 'The King of Comedy' (1982). Pupkin, also a failed, unstable comedian, wears a red suit and kidnaps a talk-show host.
At roughly 1 hour 2 minutes, a poster and a brief clip from Charles Chaplin's 'Modern Times' (1936) appear in the protest scene. The film shares Joker's theme through Chaplin's Little Tramp character's struggle to survive in the modern world.
The clear indication that Arthur and Sophie's relationship is entirely imaginary is that Sophie addresses him by name at her door. Yet when they first met, they had not told each other their names.
Jackson C. Frank's heartfelt folk song 'My Name is Carnival' appears on the soundtrack and is discussed in the dialogue.
When Arthur is beaten by three Wayne Enterprises employees on the train, they say 'get down.' In the riot scene at the end, protesters urge the unconscious Arthur on by shouting 'get up.'
In Arthur's home, Thomas Gainsborough's 'The Blue Boy' hangs above the television; the same painting had also appeared in the art museum in the 1989 film 'Batman.'
The death count is 8: three Wall Street employees, Penny, Randall, Murray Franklin and Thomas & Martha Wayne. Although the Arkham therapist in the closing scene is implied to have been killed, she is not counted among Arthur's victims in the sequel 'Joker: Folie à Deux' (2024), so it can be assumed that this was a delusion.
Both Murray Franklin and Thomas Wayne die hearing their killers shout 'You get what you deserve!'
In the 1988 graphic novel 'The Killing Joke,' a single bad day is enough to drive the man who becomes the Joker insane, whereas in this film Arthur Fleck's transformation requires a lifetime of bad days. The film is partly based on this comic book.
In the film, Thomas Wayne is a candidate for mayor. In the first draft screenplay of Batman (1989), Thomas Wayne was also planned to run for mayor, and there was a rumor that this was why he was killed.
While talking with Randall, Arthur stubs his cigarette out on the wall in the shape of a smiling face, then presses his fist against it and picks up the scissors. This shows the Joker side slowly taking control.
Some suggest that the reason Arthur laughs in the final scene is that he has witnessed the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents and knows that he too will have a troubled childhood. Others think the scene takes place in the future when Bruce is Batman and that Arthur realizes he has indirectly caused the creation of his archenemy.
When we first see Arthur on the stairs, he is climbing up, which symbolizes his effort to be a normal person. In the last sighting, dressed as the Joker, he dances down the stairs, showing that he has embraced his madness.
In the subway scene, three Wayne Enterprises employees beat Arthur, while in the riot scene, three protesters rescue the unconscious Arthur after the accident. In the first scene he is humiliated; in the second he is recognized and pulled from the wreckage.
Alongside Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, the film also bears similarities to Carrie (1976). Carrie White and Arthur Fleck are tragic characters driven to madness by horrific family histories and a toxic society: both are lonely, have abusive mothers, are bullied, ultimately kill their mothers, and are humiliated at a public event before going mad and committing acts of violence.
As Arthur smothers his mother to death with a pillow in her hospital room, he says: 'I used to think that my life was a tragedy. But now I realize, it's a comedy.' This line restates Charles Chaplin's words: 'Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.'
After learning of his mother's relationship with Thomas Wayne, Arthur shouts during an argument with Penny that he will kill her; and indeed he later does so.
All the clocks in the film read 11:11. While fans connect this to Bible verses, director Todd Phillips says it is a coincidence.
The film is full of references to previous Batman productions: as Arthur applies his makeup, Batman's facial features appear in the mirror; Bruce slides down a climbing frame with a movement reminiscent of Adam West's Batman; Arthur's 'put on a happy face' line nods to Jack Nicholson's Joker; his leaning against the window in the police car recalls Heath Ledger; and the ambulance strike and the placing of the body in the police car are a tribute to the Joker's death scene in Batman: Arkham City.
While Arthur talks with Hoyte in his office, a clown image constantly appears over his left shoulder; this is a shot that emphasizes his duality and symbolizes the devil on his shoulder in Arthur's descent into madness.
Sharon Washington's character Debra Kane is a tribute to Bob Kane, one of Batman's creators.
The deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne are handled as a kind of bad karma in the film. Thomas Wayne is shown as a cold and elitist individual; he treats Arthur badly in the theater restroom. After Arthur kills Murray Franklin and triggers the riot, a protester shoots the Waynes to punish them for turning their backs on the poor. Martha's pearl necklace is this time taken as a keepsake and is taken after the couple are dead, not during a robbery as in other versions.
When Arthur takes the subway to go to the Murray Franklin Show, one of the stops is Bedford Falls; this is a reference to the town in It's a Wonderful Life.
The film is set in October 1981 and was released in October 2019.
Joker is one of three films released in 2019 in which characters sing a Stephen Sondheim song. The others are Marriage Story (Being Alive and You Could Drive a Person Crazy) and Knives Out (Losing My Mind). In Joker, the bullies who attack Arthur sing Send in the Clowns.
The film was released 30 years after Batman (1989) and 53 years after Batman: The Movie (1966); the Joker plays a significant role in all three films.
The multicolored curtains on Murray Franklin's stand-up set are nearly identical to those on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show.
Some fans believe the entire third act of the film is Arthur's dying vision; this is based on the scene where Arthur gets into a refrigerator and tries to drown himself. Director Joe Russo finds the idea 'interesting' but states that it is not his own.
After Arthur suffocates his mother with a pillow in her hospital room, he stands by the window and closes his eyes; with the light falling on him, he looks peaceful. This symbolizes the freedom that killing her gives him, for the years of lies and the abuse he suffered because of her.
Jack Nicholson's Joker also says 'Put on a happy face!' in Batman (1989).
At the beginning of the film, Arthur imagines being welcomed as a father figure by Franklin on the Murray Franklin Show. In the end, on the program he appears on as the Joker, Franklin plays his failed stand-up video to mock Arthur, and Arthur kills him. This symbolizes a psychopath's extreme emotions: he can love the same person but kill them if betrayed.
After Arthur is fired, while he is on the train, three Wayne Enterprises employees harass a woman. When he starts laughing uncontrollably, he draws their attention; before the attack, one of them sings Send in the Clowns. Frank Sinatra's version of the song is heard in the credits.
Although the film does not explicitly state which year it is set in, a poster for Wolfen (1981) is visible in front of a movie theater during the riot at the climax. The radio announcer also says Thursday, October 15; in 1981, October 15 fell on a Thursday.
Although everyone Arthur kills is mean and rude to him, the only victims who directly threaten him are two of the three Wall Street traders. The others (the third trader, Penny, Randall and Murray) pose no physical threat; however, the third trader could identify him, Randall feels guilt for giving him the gun, and Murray humiliates him. If Arthur also killed his psychiatrist at Arkham, this is similar to his killing of Penny; the woman poses no threat to him at all.
Many songs from the late 1970s and early 1980s are played in the film; similarly, Phillips's The Hangover films also use popular songs of their era.
The radio announcer saying Thursday, October 15, and October 15, 1981 being a Thursday, confirms that the film is set in October 1981.
Joker is the second Batman-themed film set in October. The first is Batman Forever (1995), and the third is The Batman (2022). The film begins in mid-October: the radio announcer says Thursday, October 15. Although it is not directly related to Halloween, people wear clown masks. In Batman Forever, when Dr. Chase Meridian goes to the mansion for a date with Bruce Wayne, she greets Alfred by saying Happy Halloween; Alfred hands out candy. The Batman, meanwhile, opens on Halloween, and everyone is in costume.
While watching an old recording of the Murray show, Arthur rehearses coming out from behind the curtain (1 hour 22 minutes). The actor on the show is introduced as Ethan Chase. The main character in Todd Phillips's 2010 film Due Date is also Ethan Chase (played by Zach Galifianakis, who uses the name Ethan Tremblay).
Joaquin Phoenix had played Commodus, who kills his father Emperor Marcus Aurelius by suffocating him, in Gladiator (2000). In Joker, Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) kills his mother by suffocating her (1 hour 21 minutes).
The scene where Joker shoots Murray Franklin in the head (1 hour 45 minutes) may be a reference to the Joker's finishing move in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (2008): he first draws a joke gun, then shoots his opponent in the head with a real gun.
Joker's journal is written in several languages, including English, Italian, French and Spanish, for the international release. This is similar to Steve Rogers's 'catch-up list' in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014); his journal is also multilingual.
In the opening scene, while Arthur is putting on his makeup, an embroidered pillow reading 'You look MAH-VE-LOUS!' hangs above the mirror. This suggests that Saturday Night Live exists in the DC universe.
Similarities have been noticed between Arthur Fleck's transformation into the Joker and The Weeknd's 'Blinding Lights' video. Both feature dancing, getting into trouble, injury and satisfaction. Maroon suits and bloody smiles are also common to both.
The film shares its name with the 2008 DC graphic novel 'Joker.' In the work by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo, the crook Johnny becomes Joker's man and is driven to madness by the weight of the crimes.
The scene where Joker dances down the stairs (1 hour 30 minutes) has inspired many memes, including funny captions of him dancing to different songs.
Arthur pulling a bouquet of flowers from his sleeve (52 minutes) is a reference to the 'Put On A Happy Face' musical number in Bye Bye Birdie (1963).
This is the second DC film whose main character is named Arthur. The first is Aquaman (2018); Arthur Curry and Arthur Fleck.
Morpheus's suit on the poster for The Matrix Resurrections (2021) has been likened to Arthur Fleck's burgundy jacket, golden-yellow vest and green shirt with the collar turned up. Morpheus's suit is a darker burgundy and a longer jacket.
Arthur is called 'ARTHUR!' before the stairs and 'HAPPY!' as he picks up the scissors, probably by Detective Burke and Penny Fleck.