This is the worst Joker 2 scene and it’s not even close

In Joker 2, Arthur Fleck falls victim to everything; himself, Harley Quinn, the clowns chanting his name. It’s tiresome, like disdain distilled in celluloid, but one scene leaves a bile-bubbling taste. 

The inevitability of Fleck’s fall (and rise) in Joker was morbidly thrilling. This wasn’t a cackling prince of crime: in his words, he was a mentally ill loner, abused and abandoned by almost everyone in his orbit, and his fury lit a fuse. He had a purpose, and people were starting to notice. 

Joker: Folie à Deux doesn’t keep howling at the moon of society. It doesn’t continue Arthur’s path to supervillaindom. Its nihilism isn’t explosive (well, apart from that big explosion); it’s ineffectual, failing to communicate any sort of coherent message about Arthur, the Joker, or anything, really. The first film wasn’t subtle (understatement of the year), but it had weight – this does not. 

I could waste screeds lamenting the sequel’s flaws: limp, earsore musical numbers (‘That’s Life’ is innocent, of course), how it wastes both Lady Gaga and Harley Quinn, its tedious courtroom drama, its inability to match the gusto of its Looney Tunes opener. Instead, I’ll hone in on one scene that’s quickly sparked criticism: Arthur’s (apparent) rape. 

Why was Arthur Fleck raped in Joker 2?

Towards the end of Joker 2, Arthur fires his attorney and decides to represent himself. It goes about as well as you’d expect, prancing around the court as a jester is wont to do, but his arrogance is derailed by the testimony of Gary Puddles (the co-worker he didn’t harm in the first film). 

His tearful, frightened response pacifies Arthur, but while he declines to present his own defense, he takes a jab at the Arkham State Hospital guards in his speech. 

Warner Bros.

When he returns to the institution, the guards are waiting for him, practically spinning their batons in teeth-gnashing anger. They take him into the shower room, wipe his makeup off, strip him, and… well, it certainly seems like they rape him. We don’t see it happen, but it cuts to him being dragged back to his cell in a catatonic state. 

Now, admittedly, Todd Phillips hasn’t outright said Arthur was raped. But the implication is obvious: Arthur getting another beating would be par for the course, so why wouldn’t we see what happens to him? The undertones of this scene are obvious, with precedence in countless films and TV shows; if you’re alone in a prison shower room, things aren’t gonna go well for you. 

As I sat in the cinema, my wife and I side-eyed each other; ‘Did that really just happen?’ we whispered. The casual, out-of-nowhere cruelty was a problem (they enjoyed tormenting Arthur, but whatever happened in the bathroom was a gross overreaction), but it got even worse. 

Warner Bros.

The next day, Arthur renounces his alter-ego and accepts that he was responsible for the murders, not the Joker, just him. As a few viewers have crassly but fairly put it, he was “raped to sanity.” Another user said: “Arthur had the Joker literally raped out of him.”

Was that the point of Arthur being raped; that no matter how many followers shouted his name, he could still feel as powerless as Gary Puddles; that just as he lashed out against Murray Franklin for his mockery, the guards gave Arthur “what he f**king deserved” in their eyes? 

From Phillips’ POV, the point appears to be incredibly dull. “When you’re Arthur, you’re going to always lose, and corruption will always win,” he told IGN. 

We already knew the Joker wouldn’t win. He is historically fallible, whether he’s a terrifying gangster, an agent of chaos, or, in this case, a pathetic nobody who ditches the titular mantle. 

Ever since Arthur was introduced, the world has been against him. Misery is basically in his DNA. The question remains: if he was always going to lose, did he really need to get raped? 

To echo Arthur’s earlier words, “all I have are negative thoughts.”

You may be wondering who killed Arthur Fleck in Joker 2 – well, we have five suspects. We’ve also answered other questions about its ending, broken down its soundtrack (if you’re interested), and you can check out our list of the best superhero movies of all time.