Joker Page #12

Joker stops and stares at the headlines--

45.

CLOSE ON HEADLINES, "Subway Vigilante"... "Yuppie Slaughter"

"Killer Clown On The Loose?"...

SOPHIE (OS)

(re:
the headlines)

You believe that sh*t?

JOKER:

Yeah,-- I don't know how something

like that happens.

SOPHIE:

Please. I'll bet you five bucks

those rich a**holes deserved it.

He turns to her.

JOKER:

You think?

SOPHIE:

Look at their faces. Those smug

smiles. I've seen that look. F***

them.

Sophie flicks her cigarette away and starts walking.

SOPHIE:

The guy who did it is a hero. Three

less pricks in Gotham City. Woo-

hoo! Only a million more to go.

Joker watches her walk for a beat.

JOKER:

(calls out to her)

Hey. You want to get some coffee?

Sophie turns around and smiles. She looks great, even in

front of the mounds of garbage bags that line the sidewalk.

AN AMBULANCE SCREAMS BY, SIRENS BLARING as Sophie says

something that Joker doesn't hear. She keeps walking.

Joker chases after her and trips over a TIN GARBAGE CAN LID--

CLANG. CLANG. He falls down flat on his face.

Sophie turns and bursts out laughing. She can't help but

laugh. It's the first time she's laughed all night.

46.

48 INT. SZECHUAN ACE RESTAURANT, TABLE - NIGHT 48

Table covered with plates of half-eaten Chinese food.

Joker and Sophie sitting across from each other, middle of

conversation. Crowded room, brightly lit, looks more like a

casino. Almost everybody eating there is Chinese. It's loud.

SOPHIE:

--I'm telling you, it's across the

board. Wall Street, the banks,

politicians. They've been making a

killing for years. F*** them.

Joker takes a moment to think about what she said.

JOKER:

I don't know.

SOPHIE:

What don't you know?

JOKER:

Not all of them are awful. Take

someone like Thomas Wayne for

example. He's a hero.

SOPHIE:

Oh c'mon, he's the worst!

Joker is taken aback--

JOKER:

Sophie, he's the only one who can

save this city.

SOPHIE:

You can't be serious!? He's a

complete narcissist. Brags about

his money. Meanwhile, the rest of

us can barely make rent. Or feed

our kids.

Joker nods. Thinking about it.

Then--

JOKER:

What happened?

SOPHIE:

With what?

47.

JOKER:

With your job. At the bank?

SOPHIE:

(suddenly uncomfortable)

Oh. Yeah, I was, um,--

JOKER:

We don't have to talk about it.

Beat.

SOPHIE:

Have you ever been fired before?

Joker thinks it over for a moment.

JOKER:

Every time.

SOPHIE:

And have you ever wanted to torch

the place?

JOKER:

(thinks it over again)

Every time.

Sophie smiles.

SOPHIE:

Right. And this was like the first

good job I had in like, years. Not

waitressing or anything like that.

It was 9-5. I had benefits. You

know what that means when you have

a kid?

Joker just looks at her, he doesn't really know what that

means. He just smiles.

SOPHIE:

But from the very first day, the

manager guy starts smiling at me,

whispering in my ear, touching me,

trying to get me to sleep with him--

JOKER:

(interrupting)

Did you do it? Did you go to bed

with him?

48.

SOPHIE:

F*** no. The guy's a f***ing pig.

So finally I complained to his

boss, and they fired me... And now,

now I don't know what to do with

myself.

JOKER:

Right. Wait, what do you mean?

SOPHIE:

I finally felt good. Like I had a

future. A purpose. And now I don't

even know how I'm gonna pay my

rent.

AND JOKER STARTS LAUGHING. He puts a hand over his mouth

trying to cover it, but he can't stop cracking up--

It's unsettling and disturbing for Sophie. People eating,

waiters in red vests, busboys, all look over and stare at

him. A few laugh. Joker turns away embarrassed, he looks out

the plate-glass window, face turning red from laughing so

hard--

AS HE LOOKS OUT, HE SEES A GROUP OF ROWDY KIDS walking down

the street. One of them glances back before he turns the

corner-- HE'S WEARING A CLOWN MASK THAT LOOKS JUST JOKER'S

CLOWN FACE. And then he's gone. The group disappears around

the corner--

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