Who’s Laughing Now? The Striking Parallels Between Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy and Todd Phillips’ Joker Anonymous 12th Grade

When asked about the works that inspired Joker (2019), director and co-writer Todd Phillips cited two Martin Scorsese classics (as well as a couple of others films and comic books): Taxi Driver (1976) and The King of Comedy (1982). Not surprisingly, Scorsese was initially attached as a producer on the film. He later demoted himself to Executive Producer and elevated long-time collaborator Emma Tillinger Koskoff to Producer. While both Taxi Driver and Joker feature main characters that are mentally disturbed loners who are menace to society, Joker shares more in common with Scorsese’s later work, The King of Comedy. Still, Scorsese’s influence is felt throughout virtually the whole film.

The King of Comedy tells the story of Rupert Pupkin, an unsuccessful and mentally ill stand-up comedian who is obsessed with talk show host Jerry Langford. Pupkin wants nothing more than to be ultra-famous and successful. To that end, he decides to kidnap Langford so that he can finally achieve the fame which he has always desired. After he reveals to a stand up audience that he kidnapped Langford so that he could break into show business, Pupkin becomes infamous. He publishes a highly-anticipated autobiography, gets a number of film offers, and...