Mental Illness in Joker

“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---in’ deserve,” then Arthur shoots his idol and talk show host, Murray Franklin, in the head, killing him (Joker 2019). In the 2019 movie, Joker, the mental illness shown is a win for more representation, but there were things right and wrong about it. The movie follows the origin story of the comic book villain, the Joker. Arthur Fleck is a man trying to deal with his mental illness, start his comedy career, and take care of his mother. His mental health worsens as he stops taking his medication, and the state cuts funding for his mental health services. Arthur cracks and kills three wall street guys after they made fun of him, turning the city into a poor vs. rich battleground, with Arthur transforming into the Joker in the center of it. The movie was a major box office hit, and the media and people talked about it a lot. Joker is significant because many people saw its portrayal of mental illness and could have been influenced by it. Arthur Fleck has a diagnosed condition and several other possible disorders. The portrayal of mental illness gets some things wrong, like perpetuating the concept that mentally ill people are violent. It also gets things right, like the personal struggle and society’s treatment of mentally ill people. Mental illness isn’t represented that much in the media because it’s not always a pretty thing, and the media don’t want to focus on that. This film was very popular because it was about a beloved villain, which made many people see it and its take on mental illness.

Arthur Fleck has Pseudobulbar Affect, and possibly more conditions and the movie shows his struggle throughout the plot. Pseudobulbar Affect is when people can’t regulate their emotions, and brain disease or injury causes it. People that have this condition suffer from sudden and uncontrollable crying, laughing, or both; in Arthur’s case, it’s laughing. The laughing/ crying episodes don’t correlate to what the person is actually feeling (Skryabin 2021). Arthur’s laughing attacks are throughout the film. For example, during a therapy session, which isn’t a happy place for Arthur, he can’t stop laughing. Arthur laughs to the point where it is painful to him, almost choking himself with laughter. He is also most likely suffering from personality disorders like narcissism and psychopathy. Arthur potentially has narcissism because of his need for more admiration and attention once he realizes people liked him for murdering three wealthy men. Psychopathy is also possible because Arthur has no empathy towards the people he killed. During the movie, Arthur has many hallucinations, which could mean he has schizophrenia. One of these hallucinations was his relationship with his neighbor, Sophie. He created a whole relationship with Sophie after meeting her one time. There is also another time where he thinks he is in the Murray Show’s audience and talks to Murray directly, being praised by him. However, there isn’t enough evidence to say he has schizophrenia, even with these hallucinations. So we know for sure that Arthur has the condition Pseudobulbar Affect, possibly narcissism, and psychopathy. We also know that Arthur most likely doesn’t have schizophrenia. Knowing what conditions Arthur has allows us to better understand Joker and what was wrong and right about the way they portrayed these illnesses.

Joker got many things right about this mental illness portal, like the personal struggle of having a mental illness and how society treats you. The film was relatable because it shows how lonely and isolating it can be to have a mental illness. It also shows how society can be harsh to people that aren’t the same as everyone else. Many times in the film, we see Arthur being treated horribly by the public, like his idol, Murray Franklin, showing a video of Arthur and laughing at him on his show, the Murray Franklin show. Arthur struggles to fit in and keep his self-esteem because of his conditions. “The loneliness, isolation, and “constant negative thoughts” Arthur describes are problems my patients face every day. An entry in his notebook, “the worst part of having a mental illness is that people expect you to behave as if you don’t,” is poignant and those with a mental health issue of any description will relate” (Ahmed 2019). As that article talks about, people want mentally ill people to act like they don’t have an illness or that it doesn’t affect them. They want this not for the benefit of the person but to make themselves more comfortable around a mentally ill person. Along with struggling with his condition, people ridiculed and mistreated Arthur. He faced issues his entire life, especially when the state pulled funding to his therapy sessions and other access to mental health resources. The government taking away Arthur’s mental health resources relates to our society because our government overlooks mental health in many ways. People see mental health resources like therapy are not necessary. However, those places are where people can openly talk about their issues with someone who won’t judge. Joker helps those who don’t care about mental health realize that having or not having mental health resources can be their breaking point. The movie got right the struggle of having a condition and how lonely it can be and facing horrible treatment from other people and the government from taking helpful resources away.

With the rights, there were also the wrongs of Joker like it perpetuates the stereotype that mental illness is linked to violence. This association of violence and severe mental illness causes people to be afraid and therefore outcast those people from society. Many psychiatrists and media members have an issue with the film because the movie’s whole point is that Arthur Fleck is “crazy,” stops taking his medications, and then starts killing people. Arthur’s turn towards violence began with the scene when he was riding home on the subway after losing his job because he had brought a gun. While on the subway, three Wall Street guys are harassing a woman. Arthur’s condition kicks in, and he starts laughing, turning the guys’ attention to him, letting the woman escape. They start harassing and beating Arthur until he snaps and shoots two of the guys and chases down the last one, shooting him repeatedly. Then Arthur uses those murders to empower him and turn to more even violence later on. That scene strengthens the idea that a mentally ill person will crack and become violent at some point. While depression and anxiety have become normalized and don’t have much stigma around them anymore, that is not the case for other conditions like Pseudobulbar Affect, Schizophrenia, and others. There is less stigma surrounding depression and anxiety in movies, shows, and social media because they have often shown those conditions. People don’t see disorders like Pseudobulbar Affect and Schizophrenia very much in the media and have more stigma towards them. Connecting these conditions with violence isn’t ethical because most people won’t know what isn’t true. It also doesn’t help that the movie clumps together many different illnesses that aren’t entirely there. “We wouldn’t want to get bogged down in labels, but the psychopathology Arthur inhabits is foggy at best: his apparent lack of disordered thinking means the attempt to illustrate psychosis is half-formed. He also displays traits of narcissism and depression” (Driscoll & Husain 2019). Putting bits and pieces together of all these illnesses hinders how people receive what the conditions are actually like. Overall, a movie like Joker certainly doesn’t help the misconception that mental illness equals violence.

Todd Phillip’s Joker shows mental illness through Arthur Fleck’s development into the Joker; some details about mental illness were correct while others were wrong. The movie shows Arthur Fleck’s struggle with Pseudobulbar Affect and society’s treatment of him and his spiral into insanity, becoming a murderer. The portrayal got right: Arthur’s struggle with his disorders, loneliness, and harsh treatment from society, which gave people something relatable. It also got right that mental health programs and resources are underfunded and seen as less important. However, the movie got a significant fact wrong by connecting mental illness with violence. Arthur’s turn to violence supports the misconception that mentally ill people are more likely to become violent than other people. This misconception is harmful to people with severe conditions and causes people to fear others different from themselves. Also, Arthur Fleck has bits and pieces of various illnesses, which isn’t accurate and muddles how a person with these conditions acts. Although having a popular media representation of mental illness is meaningful because more people can be exposed to different disorders and become more understanding, misrepresenting part of mental illness can damage the community. Movies are supposed to be entertaining, but when facts are wrong about a marginalized community, it takes away some of the fun. Therefore, directors and other production people need to research and make sure what they are creating is accurate to be best for all audiences.

Arthur Fleck, Joker 2019

Skryabin, Valentin Yurievich. “Analysing Joker: An Attempt to Establish Diagnosis for a Film Icon: Bjpsych Bulletin.” Cambridge Core, Cambridge University Press, 7 Jan. 2021, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-bulletin/article/analysing-joker-an-attempt-to-establish-diagnosis-for-a-film-icon/73EAAA5833A820B3B8EC1096FF55710F.