‘Joker 2′ ending explained: who’s the real Joker and who’s out by the end of the film

The ending of ‘Joker 2: Folie à Deux’ is one of those that will arouse passions and leave no one indifferent. For some it will be the only redeemable part of the film, for others, it will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. But for both defenders and detractors, it might do them both some good to recap what happened. Joaquin Phoenix’s farewell may be the best joke of the saga. Were we fooled?

Spoiler of the ending

First the obvious: Arthur Fleck is stabbed in prison and dies before our eyes. He does it alone and without anyone caring. He has fired his lawyer, Harley has rejected him, the prison guards are out to get him, and his fellow inmates and supporters have stopped admiring him. He has spent his life searching for love and dies without a shred of it. A cruel denouement that settles the score with the audience. Having seen that many viewers made the character’s speeches in the first film their own, Todd Phillips has taken it upon himself to plunge the character into the mud. Deep down. The director wanted to make it clear that there is no reason to admire the Joker.

But there’s more: what if the story we’ve been told isn’t even the story of the Joker as we know him? Arthur is stabbed to death by an inmate the camera keeps pointing at throughout the film. A fellow inmate who, as he falls to the ground, begins to laugh in a way that is both macabre and familiar. He even uses the same knife he stabs him with to cut open his mouth immediately afterward, creating the scar that will give shape to cinema’s most iconic smile. How would you feel if we told you that Arthur is the man who inspired the real Joker? He is the author of the title and all that it symbolizes, but not the one who holds it. Arthur creates the Joker, but he is not the Joker.

Think about it. Doesn’t his killer tell him a joke about a young clown who crosses paths with another legendary clown in decline and beats him to death? Doesn’t Harley tell him that she won’t run away with him because he broke the fantasy and refused to be the Joker? Arthur is a poor, confused man who spends the whole film looking for a little love, torn between what is right and what seems to be expected of him. Both Lee and his new followers. But once the mask is on, Fleck can’t take much more. He continues to suffer in the face of violence and abuse, as when he hears of his fellow prisoner’s death, and is forced to bully his old friend Gaggy, the juggling dwarf. This behavior tears him apart. He just wants to run away and live in peace.

It’s the last joke of the director and Joaquin Phoenix. The performance and the final deception. We’ve seen the Joker born but as a symbol. We thought he would also be born as a character, but that only happens in the final minutes of the film. It’s legitimate because the Clown Prince has had several names throughout his history (Jack Napier, Jack White, John Doe, and many others). Arthur Fleck could be just another one. We may have just witnessed the first change in his career. A bold choice that will annoy part of the audience and motivate the other half to watch the films from this point of view.

Phillips warned in a publicity interview. ““Arthur clearly is not a criminal mastermind. He was never that “Were we following the story of a man with problems and violent tendencies and seeing how easily he could mobilize society? Was it all a contemporary critique hidden behind a lot of make-up? Do they want to reflect that the audience doesn’t like the talk about mental health, but the spectacle? And wouldn’t that be brilliant?