‘Joker’ is basically a Natalie Portman drama in disguise and these photos are proof

Remember back in 2010 when seedy artistic director Thomas Leroy was on the hunt for the perfect White Swan Odette in his latest ballerina show, and, after sprinkling a bit of depravity throughout his casting process, eventually settled on an undiscovered luminary by the name of Arthur Fleck?

Now, you might be sitting there thinking “Wait, that’s not how Darren Aronofsky’s Oscar-nominated psychological horror film Black Swan went at all.” If so, then we hate to break it to you, but you’re remembering the situation all wrong. Allow us to bring you back up to speed.

So how about it? Does this ring any bells, or are you seriously going to keep sitting there and insist that Nina Sayers absolutely did not shoot Murray Franklin right between the eyes in the middle of his talk show? Arthur would never approve of such gaslighting, especially after all he had to contend with when his mysterious doppelgänger, Lily, entered the scene as the Black Swan.

And who could ever forget Nina’s woe-smattered quote that was heard around the world, and which now litters the Facebook statuses and Discord bios of young men everywhere? Indeed, I speak of “I used to think that my life was a tragedy, but now I realize, it’s a f***ing comedy.” Though, we would be just as remiss to overlook Arthur’s haunting disposition when he looked Thomas dead in the eye, a gash coating the crash mattress in blood beneath him, and says “I felt it. It was perfect,” when asked what happened.

Don’t beat yourself up, though; even the most evocative works of cinema don’t always stick in the minds of everyone. Nevertheless, you’d be wise to strengthen that part of your memory sooner rather than later; otherwise, you’re gonna look awfully foolish when you’re at a party and inevitably blurt out “Wait, Marvel didn’t make a Tron movie, what are you guys talking about?”