Since its debut in competition at the Venice Film Festival where it won the Golden Lion for Best Film, the global success of Tod Philips’ Joker is generating bona-fide “Joker-mania”. The Joker is the iconic character of the moment, also due to Joaquin Phoenix’s intense performance, and more and more fans are searching for details and information about the film and its extravagant titular character, including visiting the locations featured.
The director created his hostile and crowded Gotham City from a composite of various locations: the cities of Newark and Jersey City in New Jersey and several areas in New York. However, the principal place of pilgrimage for Joker fans has become the now-famous staircase where Arthur Fleck in his red suit lets free, dancing to the strains of Gary Glitter’s Rock ‘n’ Roll – Part 2. The “Joker Stairs”, as they have been rechristened, can be found in the Bronx, a neighbourhood not often visited by tourists, at 1165 Shakespeare Avenue, New York.
The previously anonymous place is attracting a significant flow of tourists and the curious, who head there with the single goal of taking photos to post on social networks with the hashtag #jokerstairs. The bravest even shoot video footage of their attempts to recreate the Joker’s dance, having brought all the necessary equipment, despite rising upset from the residents.