In Death I Have Seen The Error Of My Ways

So, I am not one to frequent the movie theater, or watch TV in general. I saw Joker on opening night, and went back and saw it a second time the following night. It was one of the most profound and powerful films about mental illness I can recall seeing. The way it depicted childhood trauma leading to mental illness, psychosis and psychopathy in adulthood was disturbing and visceral. More disturbing though, were the statements it made about how we treat and view mental illness as a culture. I think generally, most of society would like to believe that monsters are born- their pathology predetermined. It makes it easier to look away, to avoid feeling responsible, to act like the mess is someone else’s problem to address. At least until that monster shoots up a school or a concert, and then we feel entitled to be outraged? The truth is, many monsters are made, shaped by years of trauma, neglect, and lack of access to both mental health care and empathy. And still, despite years of suffering failed attempts, they still long for human connection, until one day they finally snap. The system, and society, didn’t just fail Arthur; it failed his mom. ’Joker’ was 40 years in the making, and what we witness in this film is the result of prolonged, unresolved generational trauma.

But who are those who resist? Where do they come from? What historical, social and cultural forces created them? They too are familiar. They are Denmark Vesey, Nat Turner, John Brown, Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. They are Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Chief Joseph. They are Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and Emma Goldman. They are “Big Bill” Haywood, Joe Hill and Eugene V. Debs. They are Woody Guthrie, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Ella Baker and Fannie Lou Hamer. They are Andrea Dworkin and Caesar Chavez. They are those who from the beginning fought back, often to be defeated by this radical evil but knowing they were called to defy it, even at the cost of their own reputations, financial security, social standing and sometimes their lives.

“Is it polite yet to admit that you’re actually quite terrified of birthing soldiers for the coming water wars when someone asks you when you’re going to get serious about starting a family?”