WE are the Society
What’s the deal between nature vs. nurture?
Throughout the years, one of the most debatable theories even nowadays is Sir Francis Galton’s nature vs. nurture that also keeps the scientific field in question marks. It is for such that certain aspects are making the conclusions of the experts in cliffhangers, resulting in confusion.
But despite having struggles to understand it, it should not be a hindrance for us to seek and care for each other to find the real answer. Most insist to ignore exploring it and imply having their eardrums plugged off. However, a comical movie last year burst into critical acclaim, and yet, perfectly depicts that Galton’s theory should not be treated with an “eeny, meeny, miny, moe” attitude, especially in the terms of mental and emotional effects.
Just this October 2019, the cinema premieres Todd Phillip’s “Joker” starring the Oscar award-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix depicting the protagonist, Arthur Fleck who wishes to pursue his stand-up comedy career, yet his mental condition pathological laugh became an interruption to his everyday life. He soon transformed into Joker based on what he had experienced from being a child into adulthood and how the rest of the society treats him, which also turns out to be Batman’s most superior villain.
Just from this summary, it is aiming for its audiences to realize that despite Arthur Fleck having a pathological laugh from the start, his happenings in life pushed him to rebel against society and not some sort of natural causes. As support, philosopher John Watson came out with the point that what a person sees in their early childhood will surely mark their minds and affect their self-growth.
In the case of Fleck’s first years in the world, it was seen in the movie that he was a victim of domesticated abuse of his mother’s boyfriend, alongside his mother who also neglects to rescue him from his hits. Due to this, he was found out to have a pathological laugh (and later showed early signs of schizophrenia) for his trauma within the abuse.
Furthermore, the phrase “no man is an island” is well-known to most, just like how Charles Cooley describes the people within a society as a “continuously-growing” individual and that it will only be completed if each will interact properly. But in Arthur’s world of Gotham City, where it spins around in a capitalistic matter, Karl Marx’s meaning of it as a huge competition is emphasized. With his co-workers laughed at him with or without the clown costume, him finding out that his girlfriend is just all hallucination, and even his mother betraying him for saying that his condition is a “blessing” and for unclarified claims about his real father, it all built blocks of the new him, which also stands out to be the role model of the rioters in 1980’s fictional town.
At last, Fleck revealed his true self and also exposed how society lacks information regarding this issue. It is indeed the fact that without any natural cases, Arthur will still be the Joker no matter how it will be, EXCEPT for one. Just like how these things drive up all into chaos, it is for being selfish in many factors, similar to how Arthur’s medications were cut off because the candidate mayor of their town refused to give rations due to the ongoing chaos. It is with the fact that he killed the 3 guys in a subway ride towards home as they provoked him into, similar to how Arthur was provoked by society to be a rebel wolf.
These claims are not to justify Arthur’s crimes, but to rather seek justice regarding the mental and emotional aspects of one’s individual. The reality of nurturing something changes something should be executed, and not just some old gal mindsets to be followed as there will be no improvements. Society is changing, and so we should. Mental health education must be ignited more. Healthcare facilities must be well-established. It is not oy for the specific individuals, but for all of us, like Fleck, who demands proper interaction and attention. Because at the end of the day, we are the society. We will always be.
