“The worst part about having a mental illness is that people expect you to behave as if you don’t”
Why ‘Joker’ is a film we need in today’s times.
Warning: Spoilers ahead!

“Is it just me or is it getting crazier out there?” are the first words uttered on screen by Arthur Fleck. The year is 1981, but for the audience, watching this man’s epic downward spiral on the big screen in 2019 , this is still a relatable sentiment. It is getting crazier out here. As the film progresses, one finds that although set in the past, and in a fictional city to boot, his world is scarily similar to our own.
As it was famously said, once a film has been made, it no longer belongs to its makers — it belongs to the audience. It becomes what each individual viewer thinks it means to them and no longer just what the filmmaker intended it to mean. There can be many take-aways from this story — here’s one.
Let’s break it down to the film’s central character, his big goal, his want and his need. Arthur Fleck is a struggling clown and his goal is to become a popular stand-up comic who makes people laugh. His want is simple — he wants to be happy and loved. This ties the audience very closely to this character because it is a resounding and universal want for almost every human being in the world — to be happy. What Arthur Fleck needs is to be understood. He needs a world that is more compassionate, empathetic and kind. He needs to be kind to himself as well.
Arthur’s work as a clown in an entertainment company isn’t going too well. He is poor. He has to take care of his sickly mother, whom he loves deeply. He is coping with his mental illness and a side effect of a head injury that causes him to laugh hysterically when overwhelmed. Eventually it is revealed that Arthur’s childhood was traumatic. He was found beaten up and tied to the radiator by his mother’s boyfriend at the time.
The CAMH (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) , Canada, defines Trauma as follows:
“Trauma is the lasting emotional response that often results from living through a distressing event. Experiencing a traumatic event can harm a person’s sense of safety, sense of self, and ability to regulate emotions and navigate relationships. Long after the traumatic event occurs, people with trauma can often feel shame, helplessness, powerlessness and intense fear.”
Arthur Fleck is a man struggling with years of suppressed trauma caused by the physical and emotional abuse he endured in his childhood. He feels powerless in his everyday life. No matter how hard he tries to feel happy and make others laugh, he is beaten up and shut down. Not having received any professional mental health assistance, he has no tools to equip himself with to deal with his pain. In his last therapy session with the Social Worker, he says in a fit of anger — “You don’t listen, do you? You just ask the same questions every week. How’s your job? Are you having any negative thoughts? All I have are negative thoughts.”
He has all this great sorrow, and building rage within him but no where to put it, except inside his head. Here’s where this character gets even more interesting. Every great character has a flaw. Arthur’s flaw is that he wants to be happy and in control of his life so badly that eventually he reaches a point where he does not care how he finds happiness. He is so desperate that moral judgement is thrown out the window. The lines between right and wrong are blurred — if killing a man brings him a feeling of control, then so be it.
The metaphors in cinematography are also outstanding. At the start of the film, Arthur tries his best to be happy and go on with life by doing the right thing — but it is a struggle. The visual of a tired, defeated Arthur Fleck climbing up a long, long flight of stairs perfectly encapsulates this. However, when Arthur fully becomes the Joker, and no longer cares about doing what is morally right anymore — he comes dancing down the flight of stairs, finally happy in his own downfall.
In the climactic moment, seconds before putting a bullet through the head of a man he once looked up to, Arthur Fleck says “I used to think that my life was a tragedy. But now I realise, it’s a comedy.” He is right. A tragedy is when the protagonist of the tale does not achieve his goal or want and his need is unmet. A comedy is the opposite of that. Arthur Fleck becomes the Joker. He achieves his goal of being seen (although not as a stand up comic). His need of being understood is fulfilled by the riots his acts inspire amongst people who feel the same way as him.
Arthur writes in his joke diary — the worst part about having a mental illness is that people expect you to behave as if you don’t. There was some controversy about the glorification/demonisation of mental illness in this film, but a case can be made that the Joker is, in fact, one of the best films we have on the topic in 2019. It is a cautionary tale of what can happen if we continue to live in a society that stigmatises mental health issues and where people are unkind to each other. Arthur Fleck needed compassion and help. He didn’t get it. He chooses to find happiness in his own pain and the pain of others. He chooses to put a smile on his face, even if it is drawn on with blood. Basically, the wrong choice. Which is why he is the Joker (the villain) and not Batman (the hero).
Joker is a film about the fall of a man who choses to do the wrong thing. Although one can empathise with him, and his need for love and happiness, one can also separate that from the fact that he chose the wrong path. It is after all, the story of one of the greatest villains of all time. What makes this story powerful is that even though it may be just a film, it is also so much more.
