Joker

Arthur Fleck lives in Gotham with his ailing single mother, Penny Fleck, for who he acts as caregiver. She has never revealed to him the identity of his father. Arthur works as a clown for an entertainment booking company, although he aspires to be a stand-up comic, the fantasy always to do his routine on Murray Franklin's late night television talk show. Arthur suffers from mental health issues, he having spent some time recently in the hospital for such, he on a plethora of prescription medications, and he in publicly funded therapy. One of his symptoms is uncontrollable sinister laughter, often at the most inopportune of times, it the reason he carries a card to hand to people explaining his condition. The totality of his life makes him open for abuse and ridicule, both by people that know him, and by total strangers, the latter especially when he is dressed as a clown. He has no real friends, except perhaps for his fellow clown Gary, who also gets no respect in being a little person, although Arthur has recently made a connection with Sophie Dumond, the young single mother who lives down the hall from him and Penny. A series of events, including realities about his life coming to light that are contrary to what he had previously believed, lead to Arthur devolving mentally.