Plenty of memes have been born from Todd Phillips’s Joker , but none more hilarious than one particular scene that features Joaquin Phoenix (as the clownish villain) manically dancing down a set of stairs in the Bronx to the tune of Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part 2.”
It’s become so popular that fans of the film (and/or meme) and tourists have been flocking to the stairs to take photos and, of course, manically dance.
Located between Shakespeare and Anderson Avenues, the spot has recently (and oh-so-creatively) been dubbed the “Joker Stairs,” as seen on Google Maps.
Bronx natives, however, are not taking too kindly to the newfound love and reappropriation of a spot once more noted for criminal activity than anything else.
On their Showtime talk show, Desus and Mero dedicated an entire segment to the phenomenon, called, “Don’t Get Robbed at the ‘Joker’ Steps in the Bronx.” It includes breathless fans saying they felt “goosebumps” as they went down the steps and “felt what Joker felt.”
“There is a new tourist attraction in the Bronx and it sucks. I’m outraged,” said Desus. “Who here is from the Bronx? Who here hates these steps? Who here has almost died in the winter going down these steps when they don’t shovel them? Who here stays on the Bx13 (bus) so you don’t have to get on those steps?”
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez even commented on the fiasco, explaining that, when she was younger, she was warned to stay away from the stairs, but that they’re also a part of everyday citizens’ lives and not a movie set.
Speaking to TMZ , she said, “Keep your Instagram posts outside of the Boogie Down. This is for us.”
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
