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Donald Trump and The Joker  Michael Boylan                         As I sit in the waning days of Donald J. Trump’s presidency, I recall a conversation I had with my son soon after the movie, “The Joker” (2019) was released

15/1/2021

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The character of the Joker is part of the Batman saga from D.C. Comics (just before WWII).  The Joker is originally introduced in the story as a psychopath (which is also how Mary Trump characterized her uncle, Donald (she is a Ph.D. clinical psychologist)). She sets out her case in her book (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/01/mary-trump-book-the-reckoning-presidents-niece).  The Joker felt he was a loser when compared to the Wayne family where his mother worked. The head of that family was Thomas Wayne (Bruce Wayne’s (Batman’s) father). The Joker, Arthur Fleck, also believed that Thomas was his unacknowledged, illegitimate father.  For this reason (and perhaps others), the Joker (in one version) killed Thomas Wayne and his wife in the presence of their son, young Bruce (who later becomes Batman).  The Joker does not like to be thought of as a “loser,” so he takes action so that others “fear” him.
 
After that, Arthur Fleck (the Joker) tried various jobs that he despised and continued in a love-hate relationship with his mother, who he eventually kills. The Joker lives for himself.  He is the ultimate narcissist.  Anyone who stands in his way has to be destroyed.  The society in which he lives, does not adequately appreciate the brilliant worldview of the Joker so it must go down, as well. 
 
One of the signature scenes of the movie has The Joker dancing down a long outside, concrete stairway while two policemen watch at the top of the stairs trying to make sense of it all.  Finally, the police call him out. At that moment, the Joker and his vision of narcissism and his contradictory worldview “pops” like a soap bubble. The Joker runs away.
 
Q: What is The Joker’s goal in life?  A: To create chaos and destruction. To facilitate nihilism whenever he can.  And at the end he revels in the automobile accident that sets him free to confront his followers who also believe in him—like a mythical cult figure who stands against the established way things are done. This “established way” has proved to be a source of failure for the followers of Joker. They are “losers” just like he is. THIS ISN’T FAIR, or so they say.  It’s time to make things right and tear down the society that has not recognized their true worth. The Joker, and the “want-to-be jokers” (all in their joker masks), wreck chaos on the streets of Gotham City. The murder of Thomas Wayne and his wife is replayed in The Joker’s mind.  Everything the Joker has stood for comes together in a destructive, nihilistic composite during this final destructive mob scene.
 
This is similar to the endgame of Donald Trump.  He dreamed of his many dirty deeds in his life that sought to take everyone down: normal business practice, his alleged alliance with the Mafia, and his pact with Putin (enemy of the United States).  All that was left was his violent, nihilistic vision that he directed against Black people, Brown people, and the Congress of the United States as they were about to certify his election defeat.  His “Trump want-to-be” followers  stormed the Capitol in a riot that was inspired by their cult leader—the nihilist, narcissist, anarchist, loser: with one goal in life: to bring down the society that never gave him adequate due:  Donald J. Trump, The Joker.     
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