One of the most important aspects of any Joker performance is the laugh. This seemingly small piece of the puzzle may seem minor, but it could make or break the role. Usually, the laugh is high-pitched and maniacal, although 2019’sJokeradds a new level. Since day one, the film has been highly praised forJoaquin Phoenix’s incredible performance. While his performance and the film can be dissected endlessly, his laugh is usually overlooked. Most fans associate the idea of his laugh with being a medical condition, but there is more to it than that. Arthur Fleck is a deeply, deeply disturbed individual. He uses humor to cope with his rapidly deteriorating mental state and life, but he doesn’t truly know what humor is.
His grip on sanity and the idea of what makes him truly laugh is revealed through the laugh itself. How one perceives comedy is a major plot point in the film, and it is fitting that one of the most successful comedy directors in recent years helmed it. The film was directed by Todd Philips, whose most famous films areThe Hangovertrilogy. In those movies, he uses humor at its core: suffering. He understood that most comedy comes from misery, and to great effect; comedy, be it slapstick or situational, is often the result of conflict or suffering, and uses comedy to enhance the misery of the characters. However, inJoker, he uses misery to enhance the comedy. Or rather, Arthur’s idea of comedy, which has been disturbingly warped thanks to his mother’s nihilistic nature rubbing off on him.
As a result, Arthur has three distinct laughs, and each one tells a story
Fake Laugh of a Joker
Arthur Fleck believes he has been put in the world to make people laugh. He writes jokes and even works as a clown. While any psychiatrist will say his desperation for humor is for himself, Arthur views his love for comedy as his way of helping others. As stated before, Arthur doesn’t truly understand humor. Quotes such as “I haven’t been happy one minute of my entire life,” and “All I have are negative thoughts,” show that humor is not something that comes naturally to him. Because of this, he has to mimic comedy and what makes others laugh. Whenever Arthur laughs because he thinks he has to, the laugh is shrill and high-pitched. While this may seem like the laugh of atypical Joker performance, there is one key thing missing. Emotion.
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There is no emotion behind this laugh. No joy, happiness, cruelty, or even sarcasm. Arthur does this laugh at a few points throughout the film, but there are two that are the most telling. After Arthur is attacked in the opening sequence, he is seen the next day in his job’s locker room. The other clowns mock one of their co-workers, leading them all to laugh. While Arthur is in the room, he gives this fake laugh in an attempt to make the others believe he is in on the joke. As soon as he walks away and is by himself, he stops instantly. The smile fades from his face and there is no sense of humor there.
The other crucial time is when he is watching a stand-up comic and taking notes. While the audience laughs naturally, Arthur laughs off-beat from the others and with this fake laugh. Arthur wants to be the one making others laugh and wants to be part of the joke, not the butt. The world laughs at him, and he wants to control the humor, but he’s arguably and tragically a hopeless lost cause. Outside of sadness or rage, Arthur can’t make himself feel emotions, so he has to mimic others. While not the most disturbing, this is probably the saddest of Arthur’s laughs. It shows that, before he snaps, there is a functioning human within him who just wants to fit in. Arthur wants to be one of the guys so to speak, and genuinely wants to make others laugh, or at least direct the cruel laughter of others away from him for a change.
Laughter as Medical Condition
Most of the time when Arthur laughs, it isn’t because he wants to. Arthur has a condition,a real condition, that makes him uncontrollably laugh when in moments of extreme distress. The laughter comes out with such force that it actually chokes him, causing him to almost regurgitate the laughter. This condition is why Arthur is led to believe he is meant to make others laugh. His mother tells him he is always happy and this is why he laughs like this. The reality is, he suffered extreme abuse as a child. His so-called humor comes from severe trauma he has chosen to forget.
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Arthur’s comedy comes from a place of violence and despair. This laughter comes at all the wrong times, making Arthur the outcast he has become. He sees his idol Murray Franklin, played by Robert De Niro in an inverse of hisrelevant filmTheKing of Comedy, as a man who makes others laugh. In Arthur’s mind, this is what he is destined to become. His forced laughter is, in his warped reality, his body’s natural laughter. Why else would he laugh all the time? Because that is who he is, a clown. While this is no doubt disturbing, there is one form of laughter from Arthur that is far worse.
Arthur’s True Laughter in Joker
When Arthur finally does begin to genuinely laugh near the end of the movie, it is a normal-sounding laugh. It isn’t high-pitched, insane, or threatening. It is the kind of laugh any normal person would have. What makes it so disturbing is what causes it. After a life devoid of humor, Arthur finds his laugh in chaos. When he brutally kills people, when he causes the streets of Gotham to become a war zone, that is when he laughs. This seemingly normal laughter marks the final snap in Arthur’s sanity. While not traditional, this laugh marks the birth of The Joker. He has always felt that humor is what drives him. He has finally found what makes him laugh, and he will do whatever it takes to keep it. This is whatJokeris all about.
In the comics,Joker does most of what he doesbecause it amuses him. He never has a true end goal, he just wants to laugh and enjoy himself. That is the character that emerges at the end of the movie. Killing Murray, stabbing a co-worker, causing riots in the streets of Gotham: these are the things that make Arthur Fleck laugh. To him, these are all jokes. This laughter is the most chilling because it is real. Pain and bloodshed make him laugh, and once he realizes this there is no turning back.
There are plenty of choices for the best Joker, and the laughs are usually taken into consideration. Arthur’s laugh is the through-line forJoker, and is what might make him the most unique Joker. While many may not consider his laugh the best, (Mark Hamill exists, after all), it is debatably the most disturbing. Seeing Heath Ledger laugh like a maniac on an amateur video is scary, sure, but a man standing amid chaos and laughing normally and naturally is absolutely spine-chilling, because it honestly feels real.
