What ‘JOJI’ teaches us about the origin of a psychopath?

JOJI is a recent Malayalam movie by Amazon prime that has won the hearts of both critics and fans alike. With Dileesh and Fafa at the helm- that was certainly not a surprise for me. But it is much more than just a great work of art with flawless writing, minimalistic but capturing directorial style, astounding performance from all the main characters and a BGM that is just the right amount of creepy and soothing. It tells the tale of a familiar family environment and how it influences the members. I am not particularly sure if the director intended it to be perceived the way I am interpreting it- but then that is the magic of movies; the rights to the movies would be the producers’ but in experience, it is owned by the viewers. And a fair warning to those who have ended up on the page wandering around the internet, there are gonna be spoilers in the texts ahead and I’d hate to ruin such an amazing cinematic experience for you.

Assuming the ones who are reading this have already watched the movie, the movie focuses on three brothers and how they were influenced by their father or the family environment in general. Three of these brothers showcase three different personality types- the elder one being closest to that of the father. The movie revolves around Joji- the character portrayed by Fahad Fasil- the youngest among the trio. If you are still reading this and haven’t watched the movie yet- this is the final warning; we are entering the spoiler zone.

It is hard to analyze any character in the movie in a page or so. Dileesh has done a phenomenal job in creating multiple layers to their personalities in such a short run time. However, with the information available, we have a pretty good picture of how the father figure has influenced the lives of these brothers. Jomon (the eldest one) looks at his father as an ideal man- what he aspires to be. Jomon, being the eldest must have been brought up in a conservative society (not that it is not conservative now, but the intensity has certainly gone down). This has imparted in him certain ideas of masculinity, family honour and work integrity. The age gap between him and his father, judging purely on the basis of appearance, seems to be small. This means that they must have spent quite a lot of time together in work settings (as their work seems to be inherited) and have a stronger bond. Jomon is also the one who was most affected by the demise of his father.

The middle child- Jaison is literally in the middle in terms of personality. He doesn’t have a strong bond with his authoritarian father, nor does he have the guts to stand up to him. He is sensitive and suggestible. If you have a background in psychology, Adler’s birth order theory is a pretty good way to analyze these characters (not without anomalies though). He is constantly seeking the approval of his father and ever anxious whether his efforts are going unseen.

Joji, on the other hand, is the most complicated of them all. The very first scene with Joji indicates that he adores power over others. His posture, facial expressions and body language when he confronted his nephew for possessing a gun talked volumes of his ambition for power. However, there was this other scene in which his father accused him of stealing rs 8000 from his account. The fear in his face, just after his father exited the room, instantaneously subsided into aggression and anger. This behaviour pattern of the character was shown at multiple places in the movie. Joji rarely expresses what he feels and thinks before others- but they come out when there are no eyes behind the curtain. One might think that Joji is concerned about others’ opinions of him. But that is not so. Even when all the other members of the family were too focused on what the rest of the world would say, Joji was only focused on how to save his skin. And at the climax, after confessing to brother Jaison, he admits that he doesn’t give a damn if his brother thinks that he is blackmailing him. Even though he hardly cares about what the rest of the people think, he never admits defeat. In the introductory phase, he says that he couldn’t make it big with his horse because of the pandemic. Well, this might in fact be true. But I bet he says the same for every venture he takes up. And later at the very last minute of the feature, when asked by the police officer if he admits to the killing of his father and brother, he still resists the temptation to give in.

There are only a few scenes with Joji and his father- but that was more than enough to explain the kind of relationship they have. Authoritarian parenting style and its effects can be seen throughout the first half of the movie until the father passes away. This has also led the sons to compete to take command. There was this beautifully captured scene in which the paralyzed father was brought back home and people carry him to his room upstairs. Joji tries to step in and be a helpful hand, but there was no more room for him. And later in the movie, he was momentarily perceived as a mature and rational person.

The title of this article reads ‘…the origin of a psychopath’. I was quite hesitant at first in using the term ‘psychopath’. But then I decided to go with the title as it is clear that the character of Joji displays almost all the characteristics of a psychopath. Among these many characteristics, the one that was portrayed the best was his lack of empathy. He killed both his father and his elder brother but never showed a speck of guilt or remorse. When I first heard about the movie it was introduced as an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. But I assure you, this isn’t Macbeth; at most, it was inspired by Macbeth. And the most distinguishing feature between Macbeth and Joji is the character’s lack of guilt. And this lack of guilt makes him an even more dangerous criminal- he can keep his head calm and concentrate on how to destroy the evidence and erase his footprints, which is exactly what the character did in the film.

Almost in the middle of the movie, another character (Bincy) asks Joji to wear a mask and come downstairs, and then Joji tries on a black mask in front of a blurred mirror. I suspect that he realizes at this moment that he doesn’t need a mask as he doesn’t feel any guilt for his wrongdoings. Another major difference Joji has from Macbeth is that in Joji the murders are driven by anger and hatred whereas in Macbeth it arises out of greed. Even though at times, the director, I feel has made attempts to push the concept of ‘greed’ to the limelight- Fafa’s performance guided the story back to his unhealthy relationship with his father.

There have been numerous research studies related to the relationship between parenting style and psychopathy. And almost all of them unanimously point fingers at authoritarian parenting (some of them also take neglecting parenting style into the stand). Explaining the details might take another couple of paragraphs and I am sure that it is easily accessible by a keyword search. So, instead, I’ll share a link to another article that focuses on this aspect.

https://nypost.com/2017/06/01/how-a-psychopath-is-made/

Unlike his brothers, Joji has a wider exposure owing to the advanced technologies that came up in recent years. However, his brothers, thanks to the lack of these technologies in their youth, are more connected to the real society. Joji at the final stage says that “this is my reality now”. This dialogue should be taken much more seriously than a punch line from an action movie. In fact, especially during the pandemic lockdown, we have all had our own versions of reality. And when we get stuck in these distorted realities that we create for ourselves, the darkest core of our personality might wake up to the light.

Joji in his ‘suicide note’ ascertains that it is this society that screwed him. But both his brothers, although had flaws of their own, never crossed the line like Joji. So even when talking about the role of parenting, genetics and other environmental factors in shaping our personality and behaviour, the final key to break all hell loose or staying calm is with the individual alone.

There is still a lot to be said about this finely crafted crime thriller. With the number of people watching the content around the globe, I’m sure several articles are gonna pop up soon enough.

For people who are convinced that there are no spoilers in the article; Joji doesn’t die in the end…