his violence that he gets the attention he craves – literally thanks to the media. Patriarchy rewards him for his violent contribution.

His followers adopt the clown mask as their symbol, and this device serves multiple purposes in the narrative of the film. Arthur reflects on his mental illness in a journal/joke diary, glimpses of which we see repeatedly throughout the movie. He writes very clearly that, “The worst thing about being mentally ill is that everyone expects you to behave as if you’re not.” This sense of pretending, and of hiding behind a façade that frustrates him so much in the first half of the movie contrasts with the fact that anarchists are later liberated by the anonymity that clown masks afford them. Similarly, in the final act, Arthur insists on wearing his clown...

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