“A-villain-is-a-good-guy-who-is-traumatized-by-the-society” Is Overrated
Not every person with trauma or mental illness turns into a vicious one. Meanwhile, not every villain acted as they acted because of their trauma or because they wanted to get revenge. Ledger’s Joker in “The Dark Knight”, for example, was a nihilist, anarchist at heart, and did what he did just because he wanted to prove that “the best way to live is without rules and without morals” and “every man can break his moral code”. Like what Glaucon’s thought experiment implies, people care much about their reputation, and so they are “only virtuous because they fear the consequences of getting caught” [1]. So, if no one see them, it will easier for a man to break his moral code.
And this Ledger’s Joker’s motivation was emphasized by Alfred (as told to Batman in “The Dark Knight”),
“Because some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”
But, wait, that is not the case with Phoenix’s Joker here. Arthur Fleck was an unprivileged guy (if compared with Bruce Wayne, for example). As a child he was adopted by a mentally ill mother and abused by her mother’s boyfriend, resulting in his head trauma which induced his suffering of “pseudobulbar affect“ or emotional incontinence. It is a neurological condition which, as portrayed by the character, causes him to laugh uncontrollably and intensely in inappropriate moments. We saw that when watching stand-up comedy, Arthur didn’t laugh when the others laughed, however he laughed heavily while no one else was laughing. I haven’t known yet the correlation between this neurological condition with Arthur’s psychiatric illness, but it is clear that the unaware individuals (like the woman in the bus and the three men in the train) would see Arthur’s laughing as a presumption of “craziness” because that is one of the stereotypes associated with the mentally ills.
We saw how a neurologically and mentally ill guy raised by a delusional mother who abused him mentally by engraining a kind of toxic positivity. Whatever he felt, his mother encouraged him to always “put on a happy face”. This kind of denial repressed [2] his negative emotions into his unconscious, maybe similar to “the shadow” concept proposed by Carl Jung. If you’re not feeling happy, please feel free to not always put on a happy face.
These negative emotions were not vented healthily, some developed into delusions, like what he did related to his neighbor, Sophie. Actually he had been venting it by writing a journal but actually it didn’t really help, neither did the medication he took. His condition deteriorated even more when Gotham City reduced the funding for social services including his psychiatric consultation and medication.
Just like a balloon that is blown excessively, sooner or later it will explode. It was on the train, when Arthur was abused violently by the three men because of his uncontrollable laughs, that finally the bomb exploded. He impulsively shot them dead to vent his anger, and this led to other outbreaks of violence towards the ones who wronged him. It seems that the movie used childhood trauma, mental illness, and bullying as a justification for Arthur’s acts of violence. It seems to be focused to attract the viewers’ sympathy, instead of challenging their moral value by, for instance, making Arthur killed the character who didn’t hurt him (or let’s just assume that he did kill Sophie, and what would he become in your eyes?).
Moreover, some viewers might get the impression of confirmation of the link between mental illness and violence. This movie could exacerbate the stigma of the mentally ills, for example, the stigma that sees them as “crazy individuals” and that they have the potential to be criminals, making them being prone to be criminalized. It is like what dr. Jiemi Ardian once discussed via a thread on Twitter.
Not too long ago, a video went viral online, in which a woman brings her dog and wearing her shoes into Al Munowaroh Mosque, Bogor? It caused the local community get furious because she was considered insulting Islam. And then, she was reported to Bogor Police under Article 156a of the Criminal Code as a suspect for blasphemy. Although the police were well aware that she was schizophrenic, and according to Article 44(1) of the Criminal Code, she should have been freed because “a person who conducts a criminal act cannot be held responsible and punished for their behavior if they have mental health issues”, the case was continued to be processed. Well, thanks to the local community that pestered Bogor Police to criminalize the mentally ill. This was the current situation in a part of our society which has not been aware yet of mental illness and still holds the stigma toward mentally ills.
Despite that, some experts said that this movie depicted the real daily struggle of mentally ill. As Arthur wrote,
“The worst part of having a mental illness is people expect you to behave as if you don’t.”
Ironically, when they behave like the others who don’t have a mental illness, once they open up about their issues, people may be hard to believe it. Not impossible though, people may be even judge them as merely seeking attention. For instance, in the trial of the drug case that involved Nunung, the former Srimulat comedian, the expert witness, dr. Herny Taruli Tambunan, elaborated that Nunung has been struggling with depression for the last 3 years, and because of it she needs to consume drugs. Hearing this, the judge, Djoko Indiarto, expressed his disbelief that Nunung couldn’t be suffering depression since as a comedian she always seems cheerful and full of laughter.
Another thing that this movie intended to depict is classism and how real the privilege is. It’s not that I blame the privileged ones for having their privileges (in a way I also have privileges), but I highly appreciate if they’re aware of the privileges they own. Manoressy Tobias, the person with whom I’ve had a discussion about this Joker movie, a fan of The Dark Knight trilogy, said to me that he felt like being slapped in the face after watching Joker, because it made him realized that Bruce Wayne was a truly privileged kid. He mentioned that in The Dark Knight, there’s a scene when Bruce Wayne said to Alfred,
“Criminals aren’t complicated, Alfred. Just have to figure out what he’s after.
And then Alfred replied,
“With respect Master Wayne, perhaps this is a man that you don’t fully understand, either.”
In Bruce’s eyes, Joker was just another criminal. But why was Joker doing what he was doing? It’s hard for Bruce to understand it because there was a class gap between them. (Yeah, maybe this couldn’t be that relatable since the two movies have their own version of Joker.)
In the context of this Joker movie, there are some privilege-blinded characters, such as Murray. For him, Joker was just a fucked-up stand-up comedian whom he could make fun of for the sake of his show. So it makes sense when Joker said to him, “Have you seen what it’s like out there, Murray? Do you ever actually leave the studio?” (and see how crazy it is out there).
After all, we don’t (really) know what someone has been through. Better not be judgmental. And never make fun of someone, how “freak” he/she is. Bullying is real, and without being aware, something we say or do may lead to a catastrophe. Please, stop hiding behind the insensitive justification, such as, “It’s just a joke, you are the one who is too sensitive.” Instead of saying that, why don’t we say sorry and introspect? And, what is a freak anyway? Maybe we all are freak or clown in a way.
This movie deserves appreciation as it is brutally honest about mental illness, which is still being a taboo topic in some parts of our society. From there, it sparks discussion and I hope it can raise awareness about mental health. Joker and all the mentally ills around us need supports. Please, if you have some symptoms of a certain mental illness, don’t diagnose yourself based on the information you find on Google. Instead, please seek help from professionals. You can try consulting online via Android app “Kalm”, contacting Ibunda.id on Instagram, visiting Pijar Psikologi’s website. You can also have a psychological consultation at Puskesmas near you with a very low fee, even free if you use your BPJS card, but not all Puskesmas have that facility though, sadly.
[1] Haidt, Jonathan. 2013. The Righteous Mind. New York: Vintage. p. 85.
[2] I haven’t figured out, whether the Arthur’s symptoms here implied emotional repression or emotional suppression. The former involves unconsciously denying impulses, while the latter involves consciously suppressing impulses. Or, it is like this: in the beginning, when his mother started to tell him to always put on a happy face, the little Arthur would do this consciously. Years went by, he had been getting used to this emotional suppression in the form of facial expression (smiling), until then he did that unconsciously and didn’t aware anymore of his own feelings. But, it’s only my speculation.
