Psychological. From the Greek words psukhē, meaning breath, mind, and soul, and logos, meaning speech, word, and reason. Psychological fiction, an uprising genre in both the gaming and movie worlds, is designed to hold up a mirror to reality and make us question the mentality of the characters placed before us. Todd Phillips’ Joker gives us a new psychological perspective on an already beloved character by placing him in the shoes of ‘Arthur Fleck,’ a lowlife in the midst of 1980s Gotham. Throughout the film, certain film aspects are used to portray the idea of a mental illness and allow the viewer to feel that same experience
In arguably the climax of the film, we are shown what seems to be the breaking point of Arthur’s mental stability. In this scene, Arthur is sitting on a subway. With him are three Wayne employees, who are clearly drunk, and a young lady being harassed by the three guys as she tries to read. All Arthur is able to do is watch as these men are rendered unable to take a hint. They begin throwing chips at her, and she looks over to Arthur for help. This is when Arthur’s laughing condition (pseudobulbar affect, PBA) kicks in. With Arthur distracting the men, the lady is able to move into another car of the subway, leaving the four alone together. Offended by his laughter, the men confront him and begin singing “Send in The Clowns.” Things begin to escalate as the men start beating up Arthur, and he pulls his gun on him. He shoots the first two in self-defence, but something clicks in him as the third runs away. Rather than letting him run, Arthur chases him down, closing in on him as he heads for the staircase out of the subway. 6 shots. Arthur shoots the final Wayne employee, emptying the gun of bullets.
Directors love to make us uncomfortable, and Phillips is no exception. In order to put us in the mindset of Arthur, the setting around him reflects his mental state and the decisions that lead him to become the Joker. Some fundamental aspects in this scene lead to this discomfort, including lighting, non-diegetic sound as in music and sound effects, acting as in dialogue and body language, and camera movement.
Lighting is an important aspect of any scene, as it can change the entire mood with the literal flip of a switch. We see a certain type of lighting in the subway, called compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). CFLs were commercialised in the 80s when the Joker takes place, so we’re able to assume these fluorescent lights were very common in places like the Gotham City transit. These lights are tinged with green, giving the subway this grunge and dirtiness. Imagine being in a dark theatre watching this scene, the green tinge lights up the room and suddenly you’re in the subway too. You feel the tension and everything is ten times worse.
Furthermore, there have been studies conducted on the effect of fluorescent lights on people with anxiety. One study published by Cureus in 2021 concluded that “Fluorescent light reminds anxiety participants of negative aspects more than healthy participants.” So not only do these lights have an effect on us as an audience but on Arthur himself, creating the perfect situation for a violent outburst. It’s not hard to assume that Arthur is vulnerable to an anxiety or panic disorder as it’s clear he is depressed and depression and anxiety are comorbid conditions.
These factors are only heightened by the flickering of the subway lights. Flickering lights in films are often used to create instability, drama or tension. So by adding these on top of the already disgusting and uneasy lighting, Arthur is not only thrown into a house of discomfort and triggers but we are too.
This scene accurately reflects and links the film to what it’s like to live in New York. Gotham has always been a commentary on New York City, and in this movie particularly we see a lot of parallels. For example, there is the rat population problem, the garbage strike of ‘81, but most importantly the NYC transit or “subway.” The real-life subway is rarely cleaned, as it would require shutting down entire trains at a time, leaving it disgusting and grimy. So the green and dirty look of the Gotham subway was used to also reflect this.
Have you ever been watching a horror film and a high pitched ringing plays in the background of a really tense scene? Or a low, sustained rumble that plays over numerous shots? You may not realise it, but these sustained notes are actually what can create this feeling of tension within the audience when nothing significant is happening on screen. Known as the “drone of dread,” these sounds are non-diegetic sound effects used in thriller and horror movies like Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, David Lynch’s Eraserhead, and John Carpenter’s The Thing to signify the presence of danger or a fracturing reality. They are unnerving noises purposefully placed into a scene to get a rise from audiences.
Phillips uses a higher-pitched version of this drone at the end of the subway scene. It fades in as Arthur fires the last two rounds of his gun into the back of the final Wall Street guy. It becomes much clearer as we’re given a close up of Arthur’s face, giving the indication that this is a sound that he is hearing. Using this sound, the audience is just as affected by the killings as Arthur is. The drone conjures up anxiety and tension anyone would feel after killing three people, as it is designed to do. Just as the lighting has an effect on the audience, this drone puts us in Arthurs’s shoes. It also signifies that something is very very wrong and, as TV Tropes in their article on the drone of dread says, “something very wrong or unusual is going on under the fragile surface of reality.” This is exactly what we see in this scene. Arthur’s relationship with reality is cracking, and he doesn’t even seem to realise he’s murdered people until he starts to run, which is after the drone begins to die down.
Watching the film, you may not have even realised there was a drone, or if you did, you wouldn’t have realised it was a “drone of dread.” The drone itself, as a sound, is very obvious, but at first glance (first listen?) it’s just the ringing of Arthur’s ears after shooting his gun so many times. This is also true, as any sound above 85dB is considered to be damaging to your hearing. A quick Google search will tell you that gunshots are 170dB at their worst, compared to a loud concert at 120dB, quite literally twice as loud as the baseline for hearing damage. This is just an extremely clever way for Phillips to hide an audio drone in a scene such as this.
To only intensify the effect, music is added into the background and begins to swell as the scene ramps up. Multiple sources, such as Psychology Today, and Inside Science, discuss how music connects to our brains both emotionally and behaviorally. It is able to stimulate emotion regulators and neurotransmitters, so placing music behind any scene can change how it affects its audience. For example, a YouTube channel called Loud Son took the introduction scene of The Lion King and changed the music behind it. Happier, higher tempo songs made it seem like a comedy or that something good was happening. Songs with more strings and lower notes gave off an ominous storyline. Something similar happens with the soundtrack of the subway shooting scene in the Joker.
If you isolate the original soundtrack (OST) from the scene, you’re able to audibly hear the tension start to rise, as the dynamics (the volume of the instruments and/or vocals) increase in volume. There’s a slower tempo and lower notes, two key concepts in creating a darker themed OST. Strings are common audio cues, most notably the short sharp violin screeches associated with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, in horrors and thrillers as a sign of something insane or evil, similar to the drone of dread. These are used in the OST of Joker too, a lot slower and deeper, but with the same effect. The OST of this scene digs into our subconscious to tell us that, even though at the beginning this is just a regular subway ride with a couple of douchebags harassing a young lady, there may be something else afoot. We are stuck in Arthur’s mind as he continuously fights his own mind and loses touch with reality and eventually falls victim to his mental health. The ramp-up and fall of the music simulate this and take us and our emotions along for the ride.
What is a good psychological thriller if not emotionally effective? The subway shooting scene is only one of many scenes within the Joker leaving audiences feeling uneasy. Mental illness and criminal insanity can feel disconnected from our own reality and by using significant film aspects, Todd Phillips is able to reconnect us to people like Arthur Fleck, who see the world so differently. There is an entire emotional world and individual story built from the soundtrack alone, tethering our conscious and subconscious minds to Arthur’s as he faces the Joker’s origin story. The lighting of each scene was extremely purposeful in its intent to throw us into 1980s Gotham, with that little side commentary of both 1980s and modern-day New York City. By watching this film, we’re asked to look into a mirror and see what is reflected. There is a mental health crisis in New Zealand as people whose symptoms aren’t considered “bad enough” are shoved to the side until they are a danger to themselves or others and we are explicitly shown the worst-case scenario of these actions through this film. If there was one overarching message of 2019’s Joker, it was to be kind to others. You never know what they are going through.
My sources, if you're interested in reading more about anything I mentioned :)
Determining dramatic intensification via flashing lights in movies
Send In the Clowns - Wikipedia
Why that drone sound in movies gives you anxiety
How Music Affects Film #17: The Lion King
Music, Emotion, and Well-Being | Psychology Today.
Why does music make us emotional? | Inside Science
Gunfire and hearing loss - how damaging is it?
Determining dramatic intensification via flashing lights in movies
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