The Joker’s Iconic Dance Has Become A “Magnificent, Sublime, Monumental, Extraordinary” Meme
"The dance of freedom. The death bells. The rising of the Joker."
Few films released over the last five years seem to have hit as much of a cultural nerve as Todd Phillips’ Joker.
Even for a superhero film, the work has overperformed. Shot for a little over $50 million, the movie is a few weeks away from breaking the billion dollar mark, making it a colossal success.
But there’s another, equally important arena in which the project has won big: the world of memes.
Yep, pretty much since the moment that it rolled out in theatres, Joker has become fodder for hundreds of thousands of internet pranksters around the globe. Joker’s laugh has become an exploitable, as has the scene where he gets hit by a car. ‘Why so serious?’ a years old meme, has been resuscitated, and Joker-brand anti-society comedy has hit an all-time high.
Now, thanks to one massively popular tweet, Joker’s dance has become the hottest trend on the internet.
It all began when one eager Joker fan shared footage of the crown prince of crime dancing up and down a set of steps to the sound of Gary Glitter. Their caption? “The dance of freedom, the death bells, the rising of the Joker. One of the most magnificent, sublime, monumental, extraordinary scenes in cinema history.”
the dance of freedom. the death bells. the rising of the joker.
one of the most magnificent, sublime, monumental, extraordinary scenes in cinema history pic.twitter.com/uczsga2AZQ
— gabriela (@sherlwatson) October 18, 2019
So uh, big call. Cinema is full of transcendent moments. John Wayne walking off into the sunset at the end of The Searchers. The coke and PTSD puppet sequence from Meet The Feebles. Travis Bickle interrogating himself in a mirror in Taxi Driver, the film that Joker rips from wholesale.
In fact, it’s the sheer magnitude of the claim guaranteed that in a few days, it had become a massive new Twitter meme, with pranksters using the zealous introduction and pairing it with clips of — well, whatever they like.
the dance of freedom. the death bells. the rising of the joker.
one of the most magnificent, sublime, monumental, extraordinary scenes in cinema history pic.twitter.com/Q1PisvC8F2
— Conor Behan (@platinumjones) October 22, 2019
the dance of freedom. the death bells. the rising of the joker.
one of the most magnificent, sublime, monumental, extraordinary scenes in cinema history pic.twitter.com/I24FzDD3yT
— the island of dr. moron (@ZaaackKoootzer) October 21, 2019
the dance of freedom. the death bells. the rising of the joker.
one of the most magnificent, sublime, monumental, extraordinary scenes in cinema history pic.twitter.com/BdDukcFEdq
— ASAB (assigned sad at birth) (@FeelingFisky) October 23, 2019
the dance of freedom. the death bells. the rising of the joker.
one of the most magnificent, sublime, monumental, extraordinary scenes in cinema history pic.twitter.com/YMLrAZshi5
— Lidia García 🌈the queer cañí bot💃 (@thequeercanibot) October 23, 2019
the dance of freedom. the death bells. the rising of the joker.
one of the most magnificent, sublime, monumental, extraordinary scenes in cinema history pic.twitter.com/0t1FXYWQZa
— haunted az 🎃 (@lonelysaladleaf) October 22, 2019
the dance of freedom. the death bells. the rising of the troy.
one of the most magnificent, sublime, monumental, extraordinary scenes in cinema history. pic.twitter.com/KvdCogv13f
— mystic mel 🔮 (@reginagorrge) October 23, 2019
the dance of freedom. the death bells. the rising of the joker.
one of the most magnificent, sublime, monumental, extraordinary scenes in cinema historypic.twitter.com/nKIk6QCIym
— marta (@sevignis) October 23, 2019
Look at that level of online tomfoolery. The Joker himself would be proud.