Data Analysis

“Joker.” Rotten Tomatoes, https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/joker_2019. “Joker.”

Metacritic, 3 Oct. 2019, https://www.metacritic.com/movie/joker.

An interesting aspect of the public’s reception towards the movie, is that it is mixed as seen from the 2 pie charts above. Metacritic (top) gives it a metascore of 59% whereas Rotten Tomatoes (bottom) gives it a tomatometer score of 68%. There seems to be a percentage of the audience who dislike Joker and as stated in the survey done by Zach Goins, “Not sure I liked “Joker” as much as I expected to, but that may just be because of how unsettled I feel. The Phoenix hype is justified — a terrifyingly brilliant performance. More character study than comic book, it’s a provocative and disturbingly human examination of empathy.” (Goins) Most, if not everyone, agrees that Joaquin Phoenix did an amazing portrayal of a mentally unstable man. However, what people disliked was the unsettling feeling they got after they had watched a supposedly insane man on the big screen. Most of the American public are still uncomfortable with the idea of mental health problems and this is a huge part of the problem. Due to this discomfort, people do not want to see mentally ill people in public displaying their symptoms and actions. People are so used to normality that, they do not care enough to educate themselves about other people’s sufferings.

“Beyond my desire for a completely different story structure, I wish there was significantly less origin story nonsense – I don’t care about Arthur’s parents, nor do I care about his tenuous connection to the Wayne family. A slower build to psychopathy + fewer DC references = better movie. Also: tone down the musical score, guys.” (qtd. in Goins)

It is highlighted from this survey that the public would rather have a slower buildup to psychopathy than the actual psychopathy. People are are more interested in how it happens rather than what happens. This is another representation of the problem with the American public. People care more about the factors and progress, and they do not want to deal with the consequences of their actions. This happens in scenarios such as child abuse which is also portrayed in the Joker. Parents who do not care about what they are inflicting on their children most likely would not want to deal with the consequences later on. Much like how Arthur is obliged to take care of his sick mother while he himself is deranged, most mentally ill children in the real world also have to try hide theirs in order be accepted by their parents.

Freud's Theory of Personality

Another cause for his violence relates to the personality theory of Sigmund Freud.

He states that, “The unconscious id contains our most primitive drives or urges, and is present from birth.” (Spielman et al. 384) which are impulses for things like hunger, thirst and sex. As we know in psychology, these desires are satisfied through biological mechanisms to create a sense of pleasure.

He defines the superego as “our conscience; it is our moral compass that tells us how we should behave.” (Spielman et al. 385) And thus through the superego, we begin to feel feelings of pride and guilt.

Lastly, there is the ego. “Its job is to balance the demands of the id and superego in the context of reality; thus, it operates on what Freud called the “reality principle.” The ego helps the id satisfy its desires in a realistic way” (Spielman et al. 385)

Throughout the movie, Arthur Fleck’s id is filled with negative thoughts and urges. This is said by the character himself during a consultation with his psychiatrist. "All I have are negative thoughts. But you don't listen anyway.” (Phillips and Silver) We can see him satisfy these urges in multiple scenes throughout the movie; most notable, the scene where he kills Franklin Murray. He can be seen laughing and feeling a sense of pleasure as he realizes what he has just done.

Fleck’s superego, or moral compass, is twisted which is what causes his violent outbursts and actions. Due to his narcissistic and antisocial personality disorder, he deems everyone who belittles him and the things he cares about to be awful; and to Fleck, being an awful person means you deserve to be killed. Due to this though, he doesn’t kill everybody he dislikes. As long as they have not done anything wrong to him he would not have a problem with the person. This is exampled by the scene where he kills Randal and not Gary even though he kills Randal in front of Gary. Gary “did not have any problems with Arthur. He was a good person. So, Arthur let him go.” (Fitriani 126) Although his superego and moral compass is twisted, it is not entirely wrong.

Since the ego satisfies desires and urges in a realistic way, with a twisted moral compass, this means something completely different in regards to Arthur Fleck. His ‘realistic’ way of dealing with his negative emotions is through violence and taking the lives of others. The id, and superego are working in tandem rather than counteracting each other which leads to his ego losing its original purpose of being ‘realistic’ and lawful.

What makes this so real, is that in modern society and real life, people often fulfill their urge for violence through the same mentality. Their id creates negative urges, the superego encourages violence and the ego enacts it. Since most of these processes happen unconsciously, it represents modern society as people normally also do not show the effects of mental illness until one point where their mental state breaks. At this point, all their negative urges are realised as their mental state deteriorates. This can be seen in people who are mentally struggling and decide to commit suicide or even kill people. The recent increase in school shootings can also be related to this theory. By paying attention to the attitudes of the shooters, they often display a lack of empathy and feel no sense of guilt; the result of a twisted superego. Furthermore, their negative urges are supported by their ego because carrying a gun to school and killing innocent people seems like a realistic way to fulfill these desires from their point of view. The accessibility of these dangerous weapons contributes to this 'realism'.

Conclusion

The dark reality of mental health is brought to life through Joker and its main protagonist, Arthur Fleck. The hints of different psychological flaws spread throughout the movie makes this piece of filmography an amazing symbolism and representation of reality.

Stephen T. Asma says in “Why We Still Need Monsters”, “A lot of them agree that when a group feels under threat and their basic needs are not being met, a really charismatic, tyrannical person rises to the top.” (qtd. in Berger) With Arthur Fleck being seen as a monster towards the end of the movie, he does fit this trope. He is seen as a symbol of hope for the people going against the society and higher ups of Gotham; a really charismatic, and tyrannical person.

Although not everything about Joker is accurate in terms of psychological causes and effects, it serves its purpose as a reminder to the public that they need to be more educated and support these people in need. This analysis begs the question, “How many more monsters are going to be created as a result of our flawed system?”