7 Thought-Provoking Mental Health Quotes from 2019's JOKER film
Serious Words from a Serious Film
In 2019, Joker was released, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the titular Batman villain — this time portrayed not as a cackling madman but as a somewhat sympathetic tragic figure suffering from mental illness and the apathy of society around him. It was the first R-rated “Batman” film ever made and featured an atypical story where good doesn’t necessarily triumph over evil. Everything from the brutal performances, to the brooding soundtrack, to the grim cinematography somehow reflects a world not unlike ours where violence and hate are seemingly ever present. This was a serious film. There was no man in a red cape that was going to fly in and save the day. Todd Phillips’ Joker was a deep and dark character study of a man with serious problems in a very serious world.
One particular reality that was presented with some seriousness in the film was the portrayal of mental illness. Although one could justly criticize that a mental disorder does not necessarily lead to violence toward others (realistically speaking, it is commonly violence towards self) one cannot deny the kind of thought provocation that arises — not only from Joker’s actions but also from his own words. The following are seven thought-provoking quotes and reflections from the 2019 movie that highlights different aspects of mental health.
#1 “Put On A Happy Face”
Though it was never actually spoken by any character in the film, in the very opening scene where we first meet the protagonist Arthur Fleck putting on clown make-up, we see him use his two index fingers to force a smile on his face despite his obviously terrible pain.
The idea of forcing yourself to look or be happy is problematic of our times where “Be positive!” and “Good vibes only!” are the thoughtless mantras constantly littered on our social media feeds (as if a meme could solve the world’s problems). I call it “The Positivity Sham.” There’s nothing wrong with positive thinking — especially when it comes to our mental health — but there is a difference when we try to convince our self of the reality of our situation with a false truth — a form of denial which doesn’t make us better. Not only do we avoid our situation or condition by mindlessly claiming something else but it also reeks of privilege when we preach it upon others. People suffering from mental illness simply do not have the privilege to “be positive” at a whim. If anything, it’s an illusion of control, something that we cannot really fully command. Hence, the often ongoing struggle of mental illness in an individual.
Instead, we should be accepting of the fact that sometimes it is okay not to be okay and that we don’t always have to “put on a happy face.” Whatever we are feeling we have every right to feel but at the same time it doesn’t have to define us either. At the very least, we’re living in truth.
#2 “Is it just me or is it getting crazier out there?”
Arthur shares this casual observation of the world with the disinterested state-funded social worker assigned to him. It may seem like one of those throwaway lines like “How is the weather?” or “How about that traffic?” but in a socially conscious film like this, it is quite telling.
Among the many causes of mental illness to develop in people are social and environmental factors such as living in poverty, belonging to a broken family, or trying to live up to social expectations (e.g. standards of success or beauty). World events such as a financial recession, natural calamity, or viral pandemic can also contribute to stress, anxiety and other mental health problems. All these conditions can affect the way a person handles stress or difficulty in his or her life. It doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to make some connection with the current state of the world and the rise in cases of mental illness.
Mobile technology and social media appear to only exacerbate the situation, amplifying the stressors in life, especially in young people. Youth depression and suicide rates have sharply increased in the last decade, coinciding with the advent of the smartphone and social media platforms like Facebook. According to pioneering child psychiatrist Dr. Cornelio Banaag: “There are more chances of having a high risk for depressive symptoms for those who spend more time on social media, TV and the internet, than for those who are engaged in what we call ‘real life’ activities.”
Is it getting crazier out there? Maybe. Maybe not. But with the constant flooding of images, sound bites and digital information today, it’s hard to escape the impression of a mad mad world we’re living in.
#3 “I just hope my death makes more cents than my life.”
The clever pun in this quote highlights if there is both sense and value to our lives. Is my life meaningless? Is there a purpose for my existence? This is THE existential question. For Arthur Fleck, he seems to believe that there is more value to his life ending rather than the life he is living now.
Thoughts of suicide are a desperate attempt to escape the suffering in one’s life that has become so unbearable. Arthur is blinded by feelings of loneliness and hopelessness that he can’t see any way of finding relief except perhaps through death. When a suicidal person can’t seem to find any meaning or value in his or her life or simply cannot see a reason to live, to them there is only one choice. Unfortunately, death doesn’t make any more sense either. According to existential thinkers like Soren Kierkegaard and Albert Camus, in the act of ending one’s existence, one’s existence only becomes more absurd.
#4 “The worst part of having a mental illness is people expect you to behave as if you don’t.”
Sadly with the reality of mental illness today there is still much stigma surrounding it, even in our so-called information age. Stigma is when people in society see you in a negative way because of your mental health issues and they define you as that, which oftentimes is accompanied by discrimination, ridicule, and general apathy for their condition and their standing as a human being. Someone might label you “psycho”, “loony” or even “dangerous”. In a more professional environment someone struggling with mental health may be discriminated against and deprived of job opportunities or other normal privileges of everyday life.
Naturally, the effect of social stigma and discrimination on the person with mental illness can only make their problems worse, making it harder for them to recover. That’s why a society ignorant of mental health issues will only want to hide the problem away. A person with a mental illness would then feel obliged to act as if everything is okay, just to satisfy society’s need for normalcy. Sadly, this very act of hiding one’s struggle with mental health only perpetuates the problem. For a depressed or suicidal person, silence only gives their negative thoughts and ideas more power. And hiding it under a facade of smiles and fake positivity only makes it worse.
#5 “All I have are negative thoughts.”
There are two types of people in this world: those who view the glass as half-full, and those who see the glass as half-empty. For many people suffering with mental illness, the world can only be seen as a half-empty glass. Indeed, depression is like seeing the world (and yourself) through shit-colored tinted glasses. Even if there is something good in front of us we cannot seem to recognize or acknowledge it and see only what is bad. It is a mental filter where our negative thoughts and unfounded beliefs can have a direct impact on the way we feel and the way we live. Our mind trolls us with distorted thinking patterns like “you’re worthless” or “nobody likes you” or “nothing you do matters”.
The way to get out of this negative mental framework is to re-frame our thinking. One of the best remedies for mood disorders like depression and anxiety is a thing called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT for short. Without the use of drugs or medication, this kind of therapy makes use of practical cognitive techniques to question or challenge our negative thoughts. When we actually scrutinize our negative thoughts and put them on trial, they lose their hold on us, and we beat the troll that is our mind.
#6 “I used to think that my life was a tragedy, but now I realize, it’s a f**king comedy.”
In the world of theater and literature, tragedy is a form of drama based on human suffering that ends in catharsis or a certain satisfaction in audiences. For example, in Greek tragedy the story is often about some high-ranking official or deity and their humbling fall from grace. Comedy, on the other hand, according to Aristotle, is a portrayal of laughable people in situations that involves some kind of blunder or ugliness which in most circumstances does not cause pain or disaster. The obvious example, Aristotle points out, is the comic mask which is ugly and distorted but not painful.
In this point of the film, after all the horrible personal revelations about his life, Arthur Fleck has chosen to accept and define himself, not as a tragedy in the sense of dramatic human suffering ending in catharsis or relief of some sort, but as a comedy, an almost joyful embrace of his ugliness and disfigurement that no longer causes him personal pain.
This is a twisted and corrupted version of what the World Health Organization defines mental health as… a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities (in Joker’s case, the ability to kill and sow chaos), can cope with the normal stresses of life (albeit, in a very violent manner), can work productively and fruitfully (plotting and completing terrible acts), and is able to make a contribution to his or her community (which in this movie is complete and utter anarchy).
#7 “What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash? You get what you f**kin’ deserve!”
This is the thesis statement the director is making on this film: that we invite violence and chaos if society ignores damaged people like Arthur Fleck. No doubt, Joker is a cautionary tale (not a call to incel violence, as some trigger-happy critics have wrongly commented) for the viewers and the world to wake up to our society’s lack of genuine empathy and compassion, especially for the poor, the disenfranchised, the marginalized, and the misunderstood Arthur Flecks out there.
Joker aims to shock and unsettle us, to shake us from the comfort of our own privilege and self-interest, to “provoke difficult conversations around complex issues,” as the production studio itself stated ahead of its general theatrical release, in defense of its controversy with gun violence. Mental health is a real issue that is only recently getting attention and awareness, although admittedly still not enough, in the bigger picture of things.
Joker isn’t a perfect film nor is it the ideal story to respectfully portray mental illness but any movie (or comic book, for that matter) that stirs discussion — and even debate — on mental health issues has got to have some value in a society that has become more and more individualistic and indifferent to the suffering of their own neighbor. Mental Health stigma exists only because of ignorance. With greater awareness and understanding, then perhaps society will no longer fear and shun those in the darkness of mental illness. What seems like a naive fantasy can hopefully one day be a reality.
