by Chris Snelgrove
| Published
Recently, the world was rocked by the sudden assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the subsequent arrest of shooting suspect Luigi Mangione. Because I a Popular culture writer Because I'm an all-around geek, I tend to view major events through the lens of TV and movies, and the widespread support for the CEO's death led me to a wild and somewhat uncomfortable realization. In short, the Joker is real and he's all of us, with Todd Phillips' first film about the Clown Prince of Crime perfectly anticipating how we will react to these strange events.
We are all clowns
What he made joker What was notable when he appeared was how he provided an authentic look into the psychology of a comic book villain who is often dismissed as just a murderous clown. Instead of giving the titular villain a very ambiguous origin as the previous comics and films did, joker It shows very clearly how his descent into homicidal madness was driven by the system constantly failing him when he was at his weakest. This culminates in his execution of three arrogant Wall Street brothers and a satirical talk show host, and the film's conclusion shows how much his actions resonate with a supportive audience.
when joker After it came out, this ending seemed every bit as crazy as the Clown Prince himself. It doesn't seem real that so many people would riot and support a complete stranger after finding out he was a murderer. However, that's exactly what happened recently when the CEO of UnitedHealthcare was shot and killed. Even before Luigi Mangione was arrested as a suspect, there was a huge outpouring of public support for his actions. Since his arrest, he has enjoyed more support, with fellow prisoners recently crying out for his release even if he is found guilty.
Without commenting on the morality of the shooter or the moral responsibility of the victim, I can only point out that these events proved the plot of the attack. joker To be frighteningly real and insightful. In this film, the main character kills powerful Wall Street bullies who we see harassing a helpless woman, and later kills a talk show host who can't believe our favorite clown finds his murderous actions so funny. The Joker also kills Murray Franklin, after realizing that the man's primary role is to shore up support for a broken system that devours dreams and spits out bodies.
The resemblance is uncanny
If you think I'm concluding that the Joker has become too real, go back and rewatch the movie and see how some of the quotes fit into the rhetoric surrounding the CEO assassination. Joker confronts Murray and asks “Have you seen what it's like over there?” He rhetorically asks if powerful figures like Thomas Wayne “ever thought what it's like to be someone like me?” In justifying his decision to shoot the Wall Street bros who worked for Wayne, Joker declares that the tough guys “think we're just going to sit there and take it… that we're not going to wolf down and go wild!”
There was similar reluctance from those defending the Brian Thompson assassination, with many pointing out that UnitedHealthcare's history of denying allegations (they are said to have denied one in three allegations) meant the company was responsible for hurting or even killing ordinary people. As such, the CEO became a kind of Thomas Wayne figure, and many were as unsympathetic to his death as the Joker was to Murray Franklin for the same reason: the belief that people can only be pushed so far before they start to back down.
Despite the overwhelming support for suspected shooter Luigi Mangione, mainstream media publications have largely responded with horror to the idea of anyone turning a blind eye to the killing of Brian Thompson. For those who condone or even celebrate this murder, it symbolizes what Joker told Murray in another part of the true vision of the power structure tearing the country apart. “You are all the system that knows too much: you decide what is right and what is wrong in the same way you decide what is funny and what is not funny.”
We get what we deserve
While Luigi Mangione's guilt has yet to be determined, it is worth noting that his own background seems to indicate that he may feel betrayed by the healthcare sector. He suffered a major back injury that made everything from surfing (his favorite pastime) to sex impossible, and he notably turned murderous when he was 26, the same age at which young adults could no longer be covered by their parents' insurance. In Murray's final Joker joke, he keeps it real by asking what you get “when you cross paths with a mentally ill person and a society that abandons them and treats them like trash?”
The killer line is “You get what you deserve,” and it's hard to avoid the conclusion that America is, in fact, getting what we deserve. The health care system has become increasingly unaffordable and irreversibly broken, but we are all primed to tolerate a world in which executives can collect millions of dollars while handing poor patients who reject their claims a death sentence. But a few years ago, it would have been strange to think that someone who did not attack the rich and powerful might motivate the general public to treat him as a hero.
Now, although the Joker is real, he is not necessarily the suspected shooter. Instead, it is everyone who is increasingly turning to “wolf” and “savagery” out of a desire to confront a sick system that preys on the sickest. Given the recent glut of CEO wanted posters that have popped up in New York City to encourage other vigilantes to take more action against the rich and powerful, it looks like this joke isn't going away anytime soon, and we may soon see more memes that forever change the discourse. Health care in America.
