Joker (2019)

11 years ago, when I watched the Dark Knight, I didn’t imagine that Christian Bale would one day stop playing Batman, and Joaquin Phoenix would eventually play Joker. Watching Joker come alive in 2019 made me think of how well the story has been written – it turns out that the director of the movie (Todd Phillips) is one of the writers. He has the Hangover series and Due Date among his earlier writing credits.

There is much to be said about the violence shown in the movie, the method acting of Phoenix that has prompted him to dangerously drop weight, the joy of watching Robert de Niro, and the storyline connecting Joker and Bruce Wayne. However, there is something else that struck me way more.

I expect to see more articles cover how mental illness has been portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix - for good and bad reasons. For instance, I would have liked to see his descent into violence portrayed differently given how stigmatized mental illness is and how popular media readily associates the mentally ill as perpetrators of violence. The movie links his violent streak with the absence of medication, and I would love to see how this can be challenged in real-life as tapering of medication is reality for many recovering patients.

Three other things struck me as remarkable.

• His relationship with his original counsellor - he is candid and shares how he feels, how he takes his medication and enquires about dosages, and how she offers the right combination of challenging him and staying supportive as she works with him
• What he writes in his journal regarding mental illness - "The worst part of having a mental illness is people expect you to behave as if you don't"
• How the underprivileged don't have ready access to mental health care, and how it can suddenly be withdrawn due to lack of funding - so even if someone is willing to take help and stay the course, it isn't possible to do so

The movie is conflicting more than once, and that perhaps is the mark of a great movie as it prompts one to assess one’s own views on what it means to be underprivileged and ill. What it means to go through childhood trauma and lose one's livelihood as an adult. What it means to get attracted to the people one does, given everything.

Recommended watch.