Effects Of Mental Health Struggles As Portrayed In The Joker
The effects of mental deterioration is brutal, and this can be analysed in the gruelling depictions shown in the movie, Joker. Aside from being continuously degraded mentally, Arthur Fleck also depicts the impact of this drastic downward spiral into madness.
The big picture shows violence as the primary effect of mental illnesses. However, as Annabel Driscoll and Mina Husain states, “One of the more toxic idea that Joker subscribes to is the hackneyed association between serious mental illness and extreme violence.” (Driscoll and Husain) In society, especially modern America, violence is rarely the indicator of mental illnesses. People with psychological abnormalities exist everywhere without anyone noticing where they are. Very rarely is violence caused by an actual mental breakdown or lashing and it is most often caused by a mistaken ideology that exists within their mentality. Therefore, in a sense, Joker’s portrayal of the correlation between violence and psychological struggles can be dangerous if people interpret it the wrong way; dangerous to both the mentally ill and the general public.
Without looking at the big picture though, Arthur Fleck’s visible symptoms can be further analysed and narrowed down. These indicators serve the purpose of showing the audience where his violent tendencies actually come from so they do not generally assume the previous correlation.
“Arthur appears to have a complex mix of features of certain personality traits, namely narcissism.” (Skyrabin) According to Valentin Yurievich Skyrabin, Arthur Fleck seems to have Narcissistic Personality Disorder. We can see evidence of this when Fleck goes onto the Murray show and justifies himself killing people. He seems to gain a reason to kill someone just because they have insulted him or something precious to him; deeming the people he killed as ‘awful’ people. In modern society, Narcissistic Personality Disorder is quite common, although in different degrees. Most people have narcissistic traits and the actions of Fleck depicts what can happen when that narcissism gets too far.
Skyrabin also diagnoses Arthur Fleck with Antisocial Personality Disorder. Fleck repeatedly performs “acts that are grounds for arrest” (Skyrabin) and “he demonstrates irritability, aggressiveness and disregard for the safety of others, as well as lack of remorse.” (Skyrabin) Another reason for his violence is perhaps due to the movie’s portrayal of this disorder. Since he doesn’t know how to act and what to do in society, he does actions like carrying a gun to a children’s hospital, murdering people without remorse and randomly being an aggressor in violent situations. Fleck doesn’t appeal to societal norms but instead, disregards them. His violence is a byproduct of reform. A reform of societal norms and overall societal structure that is wanted by his now-twisted mind.
