Representation

Mental illnesses:

Joker portrays harmful stereotypes about mental illness. A study found that after watching Joker, people were more likely to show negative bias towards people with mental illnesses. Also, the idea that mental illness leads to violence is not true and adds to fear surrounding mental illness. 

 

Arthur was portrayed as disabled so that he could be a violent character. But this is not true, as disability does not lead to violence. Moreover, a disabled character was played by an able-bodied actor, which prevents disabled actors from getting jobs.

 

Arthur is against the system that cut the funding for his mental healthcare. This is very similar to modern day budget cuts.

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Abuse:

In Joker, Arthur follows Sophie doing her day-to-day tasks, she thinks this is flirty but it is actually just stalking. Their relationship is an example of gender violence.

 

Another example of abuse in Joker is when Penny, Joker’s mother, has a partner who is abusive towards both Penny and Arthur.

 

Joker also portrays a negative view on adoption, as Arthur is ‘justified’ in the movie on murdering Penny when he learns that she is not his biological mother.

 

Penny is painted as a bad mother, she is blamed for Arthur’s condition and therefore the movie says that she did not deserve to raise her child in the first place. 

 

Actually, Penny is simply mentally ill. But she is portrayed as a horrible person, who does not deserve any sympathy.

 

Masculinity:

The Joker validates white men who use their anger as a way to show their dislike towards politics. 

 

The movie industry suggests that to be ‘a man’ you need to use violence to get power. The Joker is a symbol to white men that violence is the way for the ‘underdog’ to claim their place at the top. Violence is harmful and hurts the lives of others. It is not a good way to get power at all.

 

Mass shootings:

When Batman was shown in cinemas in Colorado there was a mass shooting where 12 people died. Before Joker’s release people worried there would be copycats and more mass shootings. Survivors of the Batman mass shooting showed much concern about the Joker movie.

Director Todd Phillips responded to these concerns poorly saying that the character had been around for 80 years and so would not stop the film.

Joker suggests that people with mental illnesses are dangerous. But research shows that masculinity has more to do with mass shootings than mental health.

 

People of colour:

Through showing Arthur as a regular man whose poverty demands justice, the movie portrays black women as stereotypes. Joker imagines the world with a white man leading a social revolution. But actually, black women have been leading social movements for decades