Anyone see the movie, Joker?

[Secular Sanity]

That was brilliantly acted. His laughter was really a sob.

Hmm…maybe. It could have been something similar to the look in the review mirror in the ending of Taxi Driver. If the ending of Taxi Driver was a fantasy maybe that look was his final realization before he died. Maybe he realized that he would be seen as a villain rather than a hero.

Phillips conceived Joker in 2016 and wrote the script with Silver throughout 2017.The two were inspired by 1970s character studies and the films of Martin Scorsese (particularly Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy), who was initially attached to the project as a producer. The graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke (1988) was the basis for the premise, but Phillips and Silver otherwise did not look to specific comics for inspiration.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joker_(2019_film)

Both of these endings were fantasies.

[Syne]

That was brilliantly acted. His laughter was really a sob.

Hmm…maybe. It could have been something similar to the look in the review mirror in the ending of Taxi Driver. If the ending of Taxi Driver was a fantasy maybe that look was his final realization before he died. Maybe he realized that he would be seen as a villain rather than a hero.

Not his final laughter, his earlier, uncontrolled bouts.

[Leigha]

Yea, it showed as an expression of his deep, inner pain. Unlike Heath Ledger's version of the joker, where he laughed ''at'' others and the pain he was inflicting on them. Different approaches to similar characters (Joker however was considered to be a stand-alone piece) yet it begs the question - are all ''super villains'' struggling with mental illness? In a way, I'd much prefer watching a movie about a ''super villain'' over a super hero. Super heroes always ''save the day,'' and while happy endings can be moving, I tend to come away from Batman, Spiderman and similar movies, feeling underwhelmed.