Joker: A Walk, Stroll, or Run in Mental Illness?
Here’s a joke. “What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash?”
If you already know the punchline to this joke then congratulations, you saw Warner Bros. and DC Films’ latest masterpiece Joker.
I’m going to be frank, this is not a movie review article and that’s because Joker is a masterpiece film, no question. It’s just a shame this is a stand-alone film and not apart of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Let’s be honest, the DC Extended Universe needs as many good movies as they can get. Still as its own movie, Joker is an exciting ride from beginning to end and Joaquin Phoenix delivers an Oscar winning performance that rivals Heath Ledgers’ legendary performance. From his laugh to his crazy movements, even his smoking is groundbreaking, Phoenix gives the Clown Prince of Crime an origin story deserving of Joker’s status as one of pop cultures most iconic villains.
Now many of you are probably asking what made Phoenix’s Joker different from the others?, Well you have to understand this one underlying thing about The Joker, he is not a one dimensional character. Everything about Joker from his actions, mannerisms and goals contrast with each other. One minute you want to hate him and the next minute you can’t help but cheer for him. Using ‘The Killing Joke’ comic as an example, we see the Joker with an actual backstory and how he goes from a struggling comedian to an unwilling crime grunt to an unhinged super villain. I won’t spoil The Killing Joke for anyone who hasn’t seen or read it, but I will say that if you do read the comic or watch the movie adaptation you will be split on deciding if you should hate the Joker or respect him. The beauty about Joker is that he is unpredictable, he can be happy in one scene, sad in the next , and full on hateful in the next and as we, the audience, are unable to tell how he feels at any moment, when he does, it’s always shown in full display. Therefore, you need to cast somebody that can embody those same traits. Phoenix is effortlessly able to switch his emotions from happy to sad and funny to scary in an instant. His portrayal of Joker keeps you guessing on what he is going to do next. That scene when he killed his ex coworker caught me off guard better than anything Pennywise did in IT that’s for sure. Furthermore, Phoenix’s performance doesn’t feel melodramatic, but instead feels subtle as he lets his words and not his actions define the psychological and emotional impact of Joker’s character in the movie. One of the reasons Joker is such a pop culture icon is because he is one of the few figures that can be brought to life. What’s more frightening about this is we have seen people similar to Joker throughout time: Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy to name a few.
With Joker, this movie is so grounded in real life with its uprisings that you believe the events that occur in the movie could happen and the crazy part is that these types of situations have happened, especially in the last several years. One example of the various uprisings are the Hong Kong protests. and another one would be the Black Lives Matter Movement. Respective in their own right, one of their common goals is to eliminate police brutality against minorities.
If there’s one thing we need to acknowledge is the message Joker said to Franklin Murray played by Robert De Niro and the live tv audience about how society is willing to sacrifice many for the few and how we value wealth and social status above everything else. Below is an excerpt of the speech Joker said to Murray and his audience before shooting him and causing mass chaos in Gotham.
“Comedy is subjective Murray isn’t that what they say. All of you, this system that knows so much you decide what’s right or wrong. The same way that you decide what’s funny and not. I killed those guys because they were awful. Everyone is awful these days. It’s enough to make anyone crazy. If it was me dying on the sidewalk you walk right over me. I pass you everyday and you don’t notice me, but these guys because Thomas Wayne would cry about them on tv.”
“Everyone just yells and screams at each other, no one is civil anymore. No one thinks about what it’s like to be the other guy. You think men like Thomas Wayne even thinks what it’s like to be someone like me. To be someone but themselves they don’t think we’ll just sit there and take it like good little boys that we won’t werewolf and go wild.”
This statement spoke volume to me and I’m sure it spoke volumes to so many other people as well. I believe I speak for all of us when we all have felt moments in our lives where we all have felt everyone was against us and no matter how hard we try, people always look down and laugh at us. Everyone at some point in their life has been bullied verbally, physically or emotionally by people. Furthermore, everyone at some point has been rejected and mocked by people to the point where violence felt like the only solution. However, unlike the movie, this isn’t 1981 and now in 2019 we have a real understanding of support systems like family, friends and other institutions that can stray us from committing acts of violence against people. And now, mental health is a primary concern in our country and more people are getting the help they need from feeling like society has abandoned them.
When you look at how mental health was handled in the 80’s compared to today there is a clear change for the better. In the 1980’s after Ronald Reagan took office, he repealed Jimmy Carter’s Presidential Commission on the Mental Health System Act and left the responsibility of treating mental health solely to the states through service block grants. But now over 30 years later medical and rehabilitative care have become more accessible. In addition, advocates for mental illness, sympathetic policy makers and effective legislators helped reshape important generic problems such as anxiety, depressions, etc.; thus contributing to the serious treatment of individuals rather than increasing the arrest and incarceration rate for them.
Note: Now for the record I’m not saying that I agree with what Joker did when he killed those three Wayne Enterprise employees (although some might not share this opinion) and no, I myself would never commit murder. All I’m saying is that Joker’s actions to some degree makes sense and society would rather condemn it and say that it’s wrong rather than find ways to help those who suffer mentally. However, regardless of how one might have felt about those three Wayne Enterprise employees and their actions, killing is plain wrong and it will always still, be wrong.
When this movie first came to the theaters there were concerns about mass shootings and other acts of violence taking place and it’s easy to understand why; riots and other crimes similar to those in the Joker are easy to copy and anyone that saw this movie can watch it and be inspired to repeat those same actions that Arthur Fleck did. I really hope people that see or saw Joker understands this underlying message: Mental Health is a serious issue. There are people like Arthur Fleck out there that can’t catch a break and feel society has abandon them. If Joker does start a movement let it be a movement that’s has positive outcomes, not negative ones. Joker should be a guideline to what could happen to people when we don’t take steps to help people going through depression, anxiety, stress and other forms of mental illness. Empathy and sympathy go a long way and simply extending a helping hand to those less fortunate goes a long way in preventing people from doing awful things. Not lashing out at people or finding amusement in others’ pain can contribute greatly in preventing mental anguish and violence, just ask Frank Murray.
As I wrap up this article up I want to start by finishing the joke mentioned in the beginning.
“What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash?”
“You get what you f#$% deserve”
