Joker = Spectatorship

Question 1

What is spectatorship in Joker?

Answer 1

• It explores how viewers engage with Arthur Fleck subverting typical audience expectations forcing them to confront mental illness, societal alienation and violence

Question 2

Whose POV do we see Joker from?

Answer 2

• The film is told from Arthur’s Fleck perspective, it blurs the lines between reality and distortion. We are positioned to experience the world through Arthur’s eyes which creates empathy.
• This forces to acknowledge that his actions are violent and erratic which questions whether we should sympathise or question his reliability as a narrator