The Joker Is Now Real And The Movie Perfectly Predicted Our Reaction
By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Recently, the world was shaken by the sudden killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the subsequent arrest of the alleged shooter Luigi Mangione. Because I’m a pop culture writer and intellectual, I often watch big events on TV and film, and the widespread support for the CEO’s assassination led me to see the opposite and feel uncomfortable. In short, the Joker is real and belongs to us all, with Todd Phillips’ first film about the crime lord perfectly predicting how we’ll react to these strange events.
We are all Clowns
What was done The Joker notable when it turns out that it gave a real look into the psychology of a comic book villain that is often dismissed as nothing more than a killer game. Rather than giving the titular villain a mysterious origin like previous comics and films did, The Joker it clearly shows how his descent into homicidal madness was fueled by a system that continues to bring him down when he is at his worst. This culminates in his murder of three arrogant Wall Street bros and a sneering talk show host, and the film’s finale shows how his actions affect the community he supports.
When The Joker came out, this fate seemed as crazy as the clown prince himself. It didn’t seem to be true that many people would rebel and support a stranger after finding out that he was a murderer. Anyway, that’s exactly what happened recently when a UnitedHealthcare executive was shot and killed. Even before Luigi Mangione was arrested as a suspect, there was public support for his actions. And since he was arrested he has received a lot of support, even those who were arrested recently are crying for him to be released or found guilty.
Without commenting on the behavior of the shooter or the culpability of the victim’s behavior, I cannot help but note that these events have proven a conspiracy The Joker to be honest and shockingly knowledgeable. In that film, the title character kills the Wall Street bullies we see abusing a helpless woman, and later kills a talk show host who can’t believe our favorite character finds his murders so funny. The Joker kills Murray Franklin, too, after realizing that the man’s primary role is to prop up a broken system that chews up dreams and spits out bodies.
Amazing Similarities
If you think I’m reaching for the Joker being too real, go back and re-watch the movie and see how well the other quotes fit the talk about the CEO assassination. Joker confronts Murray and asks “Have you seen what it’s like over there?” and openly asks if powerful people like Thomas Wayne “ever think about what it’s like to be someone like me?” In justifying his decision to shoot the Wall Street bros who were working for Wayne, the Joker declares that the powerful “think we’re going to sit there and take it…so we don’t become wolves and go wild!”
There has been a similar backlash from those defending Brian Thompson’s murder, with many pointing out that UnitedHealthcare’s history of denying claims (reportedly, denying one in three claims) means the company was responsible for harming or even killing people every day. As such, the CEO became a kind of Thomas Wayne figure, and many were as unsympathetic to his death as the Joker was to Murray Franklin for the same reason: the belief that people can only be pushed so far before they start to backslide.
Despite the support of suspected shooter Luigi Mangione, the mainstream media has reacted with horror at the idea of anyone favoring the killing of Brian Thompson. For those who favor or celebrate that killing, this is a sign of what Joker told Murray with some real insight into the power structure that divides the country. “Everyone, the show knows best: you decide what’s right or wrong the same way you decide what’s funny or not.”
We Get What We Deserve
Although Luigi Mangione’s case has yet to be decided, it is important to note that his personal background seems to indicate that he may feel betrayed by the healthcare industry. He suffered a severe back injury that made everything from surfing (a favorite pastime) to sex impossible, and he became a serial killer at 26, the same age when teenagers no longer have their parents’ insurance coverage. In Joker’s final joke to Murray, he keeps it real by asking what he gets “when you cut a mentally ill loner out with a society that rejects him and treats him like trash?”
The killer punchline is “You get what you deserve,” and it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that America actually gets what it deserves. The health care system is increasingly unaffordable and irreparably broken, but we have all been conditioned to tolerate a world where executives can make millions of dollars while actually giving poor patients their claims that overturn the death penalty. However, a few years ago it still seemed out of control to think that a relative who attacked the rich and powerful could inspire the public to treat him as a hero.
Now, however, the Joker is real, but not necessarily the alleged shooter. Instead, it’s all the people who are becoming more and more “wolfish” and “crazy” out of a desire to push back against a sick system that preys on the sickest. And considering the recent number of CEOs who wanted posters sprouting in New York City to encourage other vigilantes to take more measures against the rich and powerful, it seems that this joke will not end soon, and we can soon see other lines change forever the discourse of health care in America.
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