Misconceptions of a Joker
Society has come a long way with its attitude towards mental illnesses. People with mental illnesses can access effective medical treatments and different forms of counseling more efficiently than before. Counseling for individuals with mental illness can help them maneuver through tasks that may seem easier for others, such as; having a consistent job, communicating with others, or simply purchasing groceries. This shows an opposite frame of mind than what was seen in the 1900s, where people linked mental illness with being an insane lunatic, calling them crazy and saying it can effectively be treated with different experimental therapies such as shock therapy. This led to individuals throwing their family members into mental wards for nearly their entire lives, where they have to endure psychological abuse and various other discouraged treatments. This resulted in patients falling deeper into a well of problems such as developing isolation and trust issues.
This progression of the view towards mental health made me question myself, asking if I was the only one that seemed to notice this progressive change within our society. I asked my close friends if they believed mental illness was accurately represented within the media that most of us watch today. Nearly all of them had responded with a stern ‘NO’. To me, I thought the complete opposite because I felt that I noticed many personal stories discussed by actors and actresses explaining what it was like to live with autism, bipolar disorder, and depression. Until it was then that they said that although times have changed they still faced challenges such as having their opinions being taken seriously while also having it be expressed through popular media.
As nearly all of us have grown up watching at least some cartoons and movies revolving around the battle between superheroes and villains, the name ‘Joker’ should ring some bells. The movies that featured the Joker were only centered around the crimes he committed in Gotham City until the make of the most recent Joker movie, which shows his origin story into the infamous Joker villain. It initially began with his life story where he worked as a dress-up clown in his city up until he got fired for giving off an eerie vibe to his coworkers and many others. This resulted in his life spiraling down into who we now know as the ‘Joker’ who participated in a series of crimes throughout Gotham City.
The ‘Joker’ movie that was released in late 2019 highlights the various struggles that mental illness could weigh on a person. Arthur Fleck, who transforms into the Joker in the movie was seen as an outcast in society because of the disability he had which caused him to burst out laughing at random moments which people around him found extremely weird. His disability resulted in him being given strange looks and also being assaulted by neighborhood kids which further led to him developing severe depression. In addition, his mental illness began affecting his appearance which caused him to lose a lot of weight and look very “undesirable”. All of these moments throughout the story expressed a very grim reality of how victims who fall into mental illnesses are treated by the rest of society. The overall tone of the movie was bleak and shallow because of the behavior of both ends of the story whether it was how the Joker absorbed all of the abuse and the energy that people gave off to him.
Although there may not be as much discrimination against people with mental illnesses today then there was in the past, Arthur Fleck was able to give us a lot of insight into the day to day realities of living with a mental illness. The movie effectively portrays how society views mental illness and how it’s stigmatized by others who do not have a disability, this makes the situation harder for the person living with the illness to complete minute tasks and even just living an ordinary life. I personally felt that this movie gave a brutal perception of multiple viewpoints because of the explicit language and unfiltered experiences giving off an extremely realistic look. This movie is personally highly recommended by me because although it may be a bit exaggerated since most people with mental illnesses don’t end up killing others, it does give a spot on and accurate representation of the abuse that pushed towards victims of mental illnesses.
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