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In the new Joker movie there are a lot of things that are explained (or can be explained as mental illness) but why Randal did say that Arthur tried to buy a gun from him?

It is in the scene where Arthur speaks with his boss (Hoyt) in a telephone booth.

My mind has only one explanation, that Arthur really tried to buy a gun from Randall, but he refused so Arthur gets a gun some other way and just thought that it is from Randall.

But if it was "for real", why Randall would snitch and lie about Arthur? He seems friendly but his actions were possibly ill-intentioned.

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Arthur got in trouble for having the gun and was fired because of it. If his boss found out Randall was the one who got him the gun, Randall could also get in trouble too. So Randall lied that Arthur got it from someone else and that Arthur even tried to buy one from Randall. The point of this is to show the self-serving nature of the world around Arthur, and how willing people are to throw others under the bus.

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  • If he wouldn't say that, no one would believe that he gave a gun to Arthur anyway. There were two options - Arthur would say that it is from Randall or would lie that it is just a prop. Either way Randall could lie later in case if Arthur snitch. Your explanation makes a sense, but I am still not 100% satisfied :>
    – Noskol
    Commented Nov 7, 2019 at 9:50
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    The point is that Randall wasn't as good of a friend as we thought he was. The point is that he threw Arthur under the bus even when he didn't need to.
    – Dapianoman
    Commented Nov 7, 2019 at 9:54
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Randall gave the gun to Arthur for money (which he intended to demand from him later). Even then Randall takes advantage of the good nature of Arthur by talking him into taking the gun.

When things go awry, Randall quickly (and successfully) tries to push the blame on Arthur, which is when Arthur realizes the true colors of Randall.

Then later, when the walls are closing in on the gun, Randall makes contact with Arthur again, to ensure that "their stories will align". This shows us that it is not an imagination of Arthur or a misinterpretation but rather that Randall is fully aware of his role in handing the gun over to Arthur.

Most of these contacts are also contrasted by Gary. Who is never mean to Arthur and is treated rather mean by by everybody (even (maybe unintentionally) Arthur). Only in the last scene Arthur will spare him because he never was mean towards Arthur.

Based on that logic, the last encounter of the trio gave Gary and Randall what they deserve.

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