Joker: Every Death Ranked

3. The Three Yuppies

Some people will want to talk about the dangers of Joker's portrait of Arthur as a justified victim - as if Rambo, Taxi Driver and lots of other stories haven't already trod the same boards before - but there's no getting away from the fact that Arthur IS justified in looking for revenge. It's just that his means to do so are clearly warped.

His first three murders might as well be an anti-NRA PSA. Having been beaten up while working his clown job, Arthur is given a gun, which he very knowingly says he's "not allowed" (the insistence of the allegory here practically drips off the screen). And then when he's attacked again in public, by three drunken employees of Thomas Wayne's financial department he turns to the gun for protection, shooting all three.

It's presented as a breaking point for Arthur and Joker, but the interesting thing is that it may well be - at least partly - fantasy. The gun Arthur carries is a 6 shot revolver, yet he fires it 7 or 8 times without reloading before the bullets run out. It's another little trick to the performance and the film's portrait of fantasy that really adds to the moment.