The Joker's Talk Show Takeover
Talk shows are usually bright and cheerful, filled with people who share stories and laughter. They
engage audiences and build a feeling of community. However, Joker smashes this image to smithereens.
It takes this well-known format and twists it into something dark and disturbing. Instead of providing a
means of connection, the talk show becomes the site for chaos and violence. It contrasts, showing the
character's madness and touching on the societal problem. The talk show scene, around 1 hour and 45
minutes into the movie, is where Arthur Fleck insinuates with the Joker, mounting the platform to air the
ideology of chaos to the large masses. The scene presents quite a sharp deviation from what typically
happens in talk shows. Instead, it becomes a platform for the airing of chaos and violence. In this case,
talk show iconography is used to underline the alienation of the character and to identify the different
causes that triggered his mental breakdown. It is also a commentary on how media can enlarge
extremist voices. Turning a formerly safe, controlled space into something anarchic says everything
about the dangers of individualism that cannot be checked against current societal guidelines. The scene
of a talk show is just an actual case study on tension and discomfort, ushering viewers further down the
rabbit hole into Joker's world, showing a mind unravelling at the seams. What is typically a milieu of light
entertainment and contrived bonhomie, the talk show is turned into a rather hair-raising theatre of
chaos. While many would argue its sensational portrayal of people who have mental illness, it is a potent
indictment against a society that most often forgets or villainizes those who suffer from disorders. The
film shocks us across the interface by changing a cheerful, familiar setting into a platform for madness
and forces upon us several uncomfortable truths, such as the questions of isolation, inequality, and the
very fragility of the human psyche.
Works Cited
Phillips, T. (Director). (2019). Joker [Film]. Warner Bros. Pictures.
https://moviesanywhere.com/movie/joker-2019
