Abstract
The Joker has always been a source of both fear and mystery in comic books as well as in movies. Focusing on Todd Philips’ Joker (2019), the following article analyzes the performativity of villainy and evil in the film. Close reading is used to study how the main protagonist Arthur Fleck develops and performs different versions of himself via different personas in the film. Lastly, the article discusses how the Joker’s villainy is not necessarily born out of nature, but the result of practicing, rehearsing, and performing different interpretations of different personas and characters.
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Filmography
Ayers, David, dir. 2016. Suicide Squad. Burbank, CA: Warner Bros. DVD.
Burton, Tim, dir. 1989. Batman. Burbank, CA: Warner Bros. DVD.
Nolan, Christopher, dir. 2008. The Dark Knight. Burbank, CA: Warner Bros. DVD.
Philips, Todd, dir. 2019. Joker. Burbank, CA: Warner Bros. Film.
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Ke Jinde, K. (2021). On the Performance of Villainy and Evil in Joker (2019). In: Zouidi, N. (eds) Performativity of Villainy and Evil in Anglophone Literature and Media. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76055-7_25
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