Darkness is pure.
The shadow of darkness always comes with the light while there could be no light in the endless night.
The film itself could be simply interpreted as the process of how Arthur was gradually swallowed by the Joker inside. It is noteworthy that both Arthur and his mother have serious delusional disorders, which means it is hard to determine what proportion of the story is true, or even the whole film is a delusion of Joker in Arkham Asylum. The first half of the story is mediocre, but every artistic choreography and metaphorical scene foreshadow the climax of the film – the birth of the joker – in which Joker led his disciples to bring chaos and darkness to the Gotham City.
What impressed me the most about Joker before this film is that he put a fire on a hill of money. Following a traditional storytelling mode, such a “bad actor” is unreasonable at all, but that's exactly what Joker wants. “Reason” and “money” are all products of the existing social order. The order, the light of the world, is the authoritarianism under individualism. The best antithesis is disorder.
Only disorder can claim the existence of the deprived people living at the edge of the city, who are bullied, ignored, and forgotten in a series of good names – justice, stability, net happiness, and long-term development. It is a simple call to make, whether a clown to make a smiling face for others or a joker to make fun of the world. I believe the latter may echo more people.
We are the forgotten children of history. In our times, there is neither World War nor Great Depression. We want to be a part of something that is greater than ourselves. Our fights throughout our lives are to reach out something that might not been written in the destiny, but “something” is the expectations from your parents, the assessments of the society, and even the attitudes towards you from strangers. “Laughing at the poor, not the whores.” That's the standard of our society.
Therefore, Arthur wrote "I just wish my death makes more sense than my life." There is no way for Arthur to find a way out of his awkward living situation. Moreover, when an individual has already become the "crooked man", still , "people expect you to behave as if you don't."
If this society suppressing me till my death, why not burn a fire on it? If the city is built on the skeletons of the deprived, why so serious about its fall? If this world only kneels to power, why not be the one that destroys the world?
Following the idea of utilitarianism, we cannot help but ask that is there anything wrong with the order apart from its nature of deprivation? Darkness is pure, it burdens no responsibility for its poetic and philosophical destruction.
"Rain does not wash away the zebra's stripes", says Masai proverb.
Blood can.
View more about Joker reviews