Joker Page #22

Joker just keeps staring at her as she exhales--

JOKER BACK IN THE STAIRWELL LOOKS UP FROM THE FILE, looks

like maybe there's cigarette smoke drifting in front of his

face--

CUT TO:

81 EXT. SCHOOL PLAYGROUND, STREET - AFTERNOON 81

Joker walking fast toward the playground. Sees Sophie talking

with some other moms, as GiGi and a few kids play on the

monkey bars.

Sophie walks toward him, still disturbed about last night--

SOPHIE:

What the hell was that? You can't

just walk into my apartment like

that.

He is taken aback by her anger--

JOKER:

No, wait,-- Sophie, we can get

through this, that's why I'm here.

SOPHIE:

What are you talking about? What do

you think this is?

JOKER:

I don't know. I mean I've never

been with a woman "like that," but,

this feels like a beginning to me.

SOPHIE:

Arthur, I was just being nice to

you. I felt sorry for you. I have a

boyfriend.

82.

JOKER:

You what? What? What kind of woman

are you? Who does that?

Some of the other mothers turn toward them--

SOPHIE:

You need to leave. I'm not having

this conversation with you.

JOKER:

(shouts)

Why not?

GiGi runs up to Sophie's side to see what's going on, to see

if her mother's okay.

SOPHIE:

(turns to her daughter)

Go back with your friends, honey.

Mommy's having a grown up talk.

Before GiGi leaves Joker looks down at her--

JOKER:

No. Don't listen to her GiGi, you

need to hear this. Your mother's a

bad person. She's a whore, she's

seeing two men at once. You can't

trust her,-- She'll break your

f***ing heart.

Joker turns to go, behind him GiGi starts to cry. He's close

to tears himself.

Sophie takes off after him, and reaches out and grabs him--

Joker spins quickly around to face her, looks like he might

even hit her--

JOKER:

How come nothing ever comes easy

for me?

And Sophie slaps him hard across the face-- Then turns and

walks away.

CLOSE ON JOKER, he begins to laugh--

CUT TO:

83.

82 INT. MOM'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - NIGHT 82

Joker manically pacing around the living room, banging the

side of his head with his hand, muttering to himself, almost

like he's having a conversation with himself, taking part in

some story in his head, in the background the 11:00 News is

playing on the television.

Footage of a protest in front of Wayne Tower... Protesters in

"Joker" clown masks... Hear the NEWS ANCHOR's bombastic voice

over, "The anger and resentment that's been building up for

weeks now, seems close to exploding. Protestors today, many

dressed as clowns, took to the streets in front of Wayne

Tower in one of many planned demonstrations."

Joker stops when he hears this, turns to the flickering

screen--

ANGLE ON TELEVISION, protesters in the middle of a massive

crowd outside a Wayne Tower.

"CLOWN" PROTESTER #1 (ON TV)

You'll see what's gonna happen at

City Hall next Thursday. We're

gonna--

Joker sits down on the couch eyes, leaning forward to make

sure he's seeing what he's seeing--

"CLOWN" PROTESTER #2 (ON TV)

(interrupts; screaming

into camera)

[Beep] the rich, [beep] the media,

[beep] the blacks, [beep] the

whites, [beep] everybody. They all

[beeped] us, that's what this is

[beeping] about!

CLOSE ON JOKER, doesn't even blink, it's like he's watching

himself on television.

CUT TO:

83 INT. MOM'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - MORNING 83

Sun peeking through the windows. PHONE RINGING. Joker opening

his eyes.

His orange cat is sitting on his chest, staring at him.

Joker finally got some sleep. He lies there for a beat. Phone

still ringing, until the machine picks up the call.

84.

SHOW BOOKER (ON MACHINE)

This message is for Arthur Fleck.

My name is Shirley Woods, I work on

the Murray Franklin show.

Joker sits up, the cat jumps off his chest. He can't believe

what he's hearing. He gets up off the couch as the woman

continues to leave a message on the machine--

SHOW BOOKER (ON MACHINE)

I don't know if you're aware, but

Murray played a clip of your stand-

up on the show recently and we've

gotten an amazing--

Joker picks up the phone--

JOKER:

(into phone; skeptical)

Who is this?

SHOW BOOKER (OVER PHONE)

Hi, this is Shirley Woods from

Murray Franklin Live. Is this

Arthur?

Beat.

JOKER:

(into phone)

Yes.

Joker looks down at the cat purring at his feet, and kicks it

away.

SHOW BOOKER (OVER PHONE)

Hi Arthur. Well, as I was saying--

we've gotten a lot of calls about

your clip, amazing responses. And,

Murray asked if I would reach out

to see if you would come on as his

guest. Can we set up a day?

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