Joker is right in the middle of awards season and fans are anxious to see how it will be acknowledged at the Oscars. Well, Burger King thinks the movie is pretty influential and parodied the now-iconic stair scene in a new commercial. The King himself offers some free Whoppers to people in the neighborhood who have grown tired of the steady flow of tourists visiting the cultural site. Things have been very busy on the corner of Shakespeare and Anderson in Highbridge and the residents have been resistant to all the changes. Last year, one man pelted some people who were taking pictures near the stairs with eggs. He yelled, “Y’all not spending no money in my store, but come and take pictures. Get the f*** out of here!” The incident was recorded and uploaded to social media with many people weighing in on the hostility. But, it feels like the neighborhood is going to have to deal with the intrusion heading into 2020.
Videos by ComicBook.com
All this foot traffic has become enough of a news item that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez decided to chime in on the phenomenon. The New York 14th Congressional District official grew up in the Bronx. AOC spoke with TMZ, “When I was growing up, everyone would tell us to stay away from those steps or go with a friend or whatever. The Bronx is much safer now and I’m happy to say that but I think the way a lot of us feel is ‘keep your Instagram posts outside of the Boogie Down. This is for us.’”
Ocasio-Cortez added, “People have been doing that dance for a long time,” she says. She also suspects it will remain a tourist attraction, but continued, “We got to own it though. We can’t let anyone take that away from us”
Earlier this week Joker star Joaquin Phoenix found himself in trouble with authorities. He was arrested for his part in a climate protest and released. Fans of the movie were absolutely amused by the entire situation and talked about it a lot on social media. He gave a speech about responsibility and how it factors into Climate Change effects. The entire thing sounded very similar to his heavily edited Golden Globes speech from last weekend. Who knows what we all might hear if Joker brings home an Oscar? It seems like this movie will be rattling around in the pop-cultural consciousness for a bunch of 2020 as well.
