Joker Close Viewing

Todd Phillips’ Joker

The concept of the human psyche is one of great ambiguity. Lying just outside of focal awareness, our subconscious is a flowing stream of intangible power and idle knowledge, in a ceaseless entanglement with its own creation. Swedish philosopher and physician Paracelsus was the first ascribed with the scientific mentioning of a subconscious level of thinking, to which he accredited a great deal of his successful work in toxicology. It wasn’t until centuries later, when an Austrian neurologist by the name of Sigmund Freud developed an in depth psychoanalytic theory on the complexities of this layer of the human psyche. Our subconscious goes far beyond the act of learning and obtaining information. It is not a storage facility, but rather a serpentine network of instinctually pre-programmed data that dictates the majority of our interactions with the world around us. Directed by Todd Phillips, the 2019 psychological thriller Joker explores this concept, bringing a new level of profound depth to the superhero genre, and divulging the mysteries and psychological intricacies of a longstanding fan favourite - ‘The Joker’. Through deconstructing the life and mind of this infamous supervillain, Phillips unpacks the arcane nature of the human psyche, and with the help of three key film aspects places emphasis on the effects which societal pressure puts on the enigma that is the human subconscious.

Social constructs are a feeble attempt to grasp an understanding of the unknowability of ourselves and the

world around us. However the true problem with social constructs, is that society paints these assumptions

(often based on minimal prior knowledge) as objective truth: what many of us perceive as reality is reliant on

theseshared preconceptions. Because of this, we create boxes. We create categories for a collective, and in

doing so reduce other individuals - and ourselves - to a definitive label, a set criteria, a set manual on how we

ought to behave and how others deserve to be treated based on the box they’ve been placed in. In the case of

Arthur Fleck, who was no more than a boy when the abuse of his stepfather forced him down a winding path of

life-long trauma and debilitating mental health issues, these constructs have formed a suffocating reality.

After being attacked for a lack of control over his laughing condition on the subway, Arthur murders

two men in self defense, and another in a loss of self-restraint. He soon finds himself shaken and alone

in a public bathroom. Leading up to this point, Arthur had been consistently met with a lack of compassion

and an abundance of ignorance for his mental health conditions. From the verbal and mental abuse of his

coworkers, to being physically assaulted by strangers on two separate occasions, the consequences of falling

outside of society’s ideal benchmark had taken its toll. One foot after the other, Arthur steps into a delicate

accompaniment of the melody that resides in his heart. His body cuts through the air with an unprecedented

grace, balletic gestures mimicking an almost fluidic sequence of motions. He has music deep within his soul.

This display of unchained self-expression is not initially a representation of an abrupt or spiralling loss of

control, nor is it a failure to contain his ongoing list of mental health issues - this is his subconscious fighting

to break free from the conforming identity that Arthur has strenuously moulded himself to for so long.

However as the story continues, the motif of Arthur’s dancing develops into a more sinister foreshadowing

of destructive behaviour, the final scene showing Arthur dancing down the hallway at Arkham State Hospital

after evidently murdering his psychiatrist. Through the of this simplistically rich motif, Phillips dissects the

inner workings of a man thrown into a world designed to tear him down, and a society hellbent on trapping

him in the confines of a labelled box. For the audience, this is a telling portrayal of how the pressures of

societal normality can affect the psyche. We put limitations on our subconscious for the comfort of

others - and when our subconscious feels trapped, it grows desperate to break free.

Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis divides the human psyche into a tripartite model, each layer

pertaining to different levels of the conscious and unconscious mind. These three layers are the ego, the

superego, and the id. While the superego represents the database of learned knowledge which exists in our

conscious mind, the id represents our repressed instinctual urges and desires. The ego represents the perpetual

conflict between the two, or the contradiction between our knowledge of what is right and what we long for.

This concept of Freudian psychoanalysis is best understood when applied to one piece of literature in

particular: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. This tale depicts the life of Dr. Henry Jekyll, a man in

a constant struggle to maintain the dormancy of his alternate personality, Mr Edward Hyde. While Dr. Jekyll

was a prestigious and well-admired scientist, his alter ego Hyde was a manifestation of his worst impulses,

and a satisfier of his most rudimentarily innate desires - the id. Much like the superego and the id, whilst Hyde

and Jekyll are binary opposites, paradoxically, they are one in the same. This aspect of Freudian psychoanalysis

can also be applied to Arthur Fleck in Todd Phillips’ Joker, a purposeful combination of colour and lighting

in the scene following Arthur murdering the men in the subway working to characterise this idea of an

imbalance of power between the id and the superego. A flickering light illuminates the bathroom, a sickly pale

green washing over the decrepit stalls. An extensive degree of desaturation instils a sense of unease in the

audience, as the potency of this green hue overpowers all warmth. Immersed, Arthur continues to dance.

Embracing this imbalance, he welcomes chaos with open arms. The superego gives way to instability as

Joker moves into the flickering spotlight of this rundown Gotham bathroom, and Arthur reverts to his

default visceral state. Apathetic, impulsive, and perfectly devoid of morality, the id has silenced any surviving

slither of reason. Colour allows for visual representation of a transfer in power to be put forth to the audience

in this moment. An alike use of colour can be seen in David Fincher’s Fight Club. In this film, the director uses

desaturation and pale green hues to differentiate between the unnamed protagonist’s true self, and his neurotic

alter ego Tyler Durden. Through a similarly cunning use of green, Phillips and cinematographer Larry Sher

vividly illustrate Arthur’s acceptance of who he believes Gotham’s people have forced him to become in their

cruelty and limiting archetypes.

Paired with lighting, colour serves a second distinct purpose in the unveiling of Arthur’s descent into madness

throughout the film. Following a disheartening encounter with Thomas Wayne, we see Arthur alone in his

kitchen. The man he believed to be his father had rejected him without second thought, and the only woman

who had seemingly offered him love, nurture, and protection from his harsh reality was not the woman he had

dedicated his life to caring for. He stands over the counter in a trance-like state, looming shadows unfurling in

the deepest corners of the room as the malevolence that lurks in his subconscious once again fights to break

free from an exhausting face. The absence of light also draws attention to the sombre essence of the scene,

constructing a darker atmosphere and placing emphasis on Arthur’s declining mental state. Despite all he had

done, this atmosphere assists the audience in finding reason to sympathise with him for his ill-fated

circumstances. The dissonance between a warm orange glow emanating from the dreary Gotham streets and

the array of cool blue hues flooding the room around him reflects an inner struggle between Arthur and his

neurotic Joker persona; the conflict between the superego, encompassing Arthur’s remaining hope in society

and the knowledge of what is morally right, and the id; the embodiment of the most instinctual, primitive

strand of his subconscious, and his desire for violence and serving self-indulgent ‘justice’. With this use of

complementary colours and lighting, Phillips and Sher successfully establish a striking parallel between

Arthur and his environment, accentuating the symbiotic relationship between these two entities in the entirety

of its disharmonious nature.

Throughout Joker, director Todd Phillips uses the film aspects of colour, lighting and motifs skillfully to

delineate the deteriorating psyche of a man suffering from mental illness. Most importantly, however, Phillips

does well to separate Arthur from his conditions, and recognise him as an individual rather than defining him

by these pivotal traits. Elyn Saks is a professor of law, psychology and psychiatry at the University of Southern

California, and a woman living with chronic schizophrenia. In a powerful retelling of her story, Elyn delivered

this line in regards to the portrayal of those with mental illness in media - “Portray them sympathetically, and

portray them in all the richness and depth of their experience as people and not as diagnoses.” By creating

these alternative methods of understanding Arthur for the audience, most notable with a brilliant use of

complementary colours to reflect his subconscious battle, Phillips fabricates a story in which Arthur can bee

seen in a sympathetic light despite his flaws, as a man living with schizophrenia, rather than labelling him as

a schizophrenic. These details are not only crucial to understanding the entirety of Arthur’s narrative - they

also hold significance on a larger scale. The stigma which society has created around mental illness and

diverging from normative behaviour and ideals is exhausting for those who are unwillingly shoved into

these boxes. A study carried out by the World Health Organisation suggests that at minimum, 30% of those

with mental health issues will not seek help. This includes approximately 55% of those displaying signs of

a severe anxiety disorder, 56% of individuals with major depression, and around 50% of people who have

Bipolar Disorder. These shocking statistics outline exactly how these labels and the subliminal baggage

they encompass negatively impact our society. If anything is to be taken away from Arthur’s story, it’s this:

do not reduce yourself or others to a single word. It is a cheap and dwindling expression of your character.

Don’t be quick to define others with a label - the subconscious isn’t designed to be cornered.

Who are the Croods

Who are the Croods?

The 2013 family comedy, The Croods, follows a family of hominins and their journey of development as they navigate a new dangerous world. A number of cultural and biological aspects of the family indicate what species of hominin they are. Although they are capable of bipedal locomotion, they also knucklewalk. This suggests that they fall earlier on the hominin timeline. However, the Croods where partially developed clothing, jewelry, use shelter and begin using fire early on in the movie. These sings of cultural evolution indicate that despite being knucklewalkers, they are actually on the hominin timeline. They had straight, slender fingers which are suitable for precision grip rather than grasping branches, and their hallux is aligned with their other toes, allowing for greater balance when walking. When a new member of the group, Guy, suggests travelling to a distant mountain to escape danger, one of the children explains that the group had never travelled a large distance before - this indicates that the group may not have feet fully suitable for crossing long distances. In terms of their skulls, the Croods have prominent brow ridges, robust haws, and large incisors. Their teeth - canines included - are flat, and some of the family members have a diastema. They display a limited ability of in depth abstract thinking early in the film, however later on Grug begins drawing pictures of his family on the walls of a cave, which suggests the development of abstract thinking. Initially they don't use tools, aside from Guy who is seemingly more developed and uses controlled fire and hunting traps. With these cultural and biological factors in mind, it is likely that the Croods are a later Homo species - such as Homo Erectus or Homo Heidelbergensis, who lived 1.9 million to approximately 30,000 years ago. Although there are slight differences in biological features such as Homo Erectus having smaller teeth, a higher degree of prognathism and being fully bipedal, this species is the one which fits closest to the Croods due to their other biological features and the fact that these hominins were beginning to use fire. 

The History of Burials

The traditional custom of burying the deceased is a symbol of great love, respect and grief among modern human populations, and is a practice which dates back many hundreds of thousands of years (in some manner). Four burial sites in particular around the world are significant in regards to developing a timeline on hominins and the social behaviors of ritual and burial. The oldest of these four caves is the "Pit of Bones", located in Atapuerca, Spain. Dating back to 400,000 years ago, the Pit of Bones encompasses a 40ft drop followed by a long downwards slope. At the bottom of this slope, archaeologists found approximately 6,500 bone fragments, among which were the remains of 28 Denisovans. With these, they also found the remains of multiple carnivorous animals which could have accounted for the placement of the Denisovan bodies - however, these animal remains were on top of the Denisovan remains, indicating that the Denisovans had been there first. There were no signs of tools or artefacts being buried there, nor were the bodies placed in an intentional orderly fashion. Considering this and the fact that once they were in the cave there would be no possibility of climbing back out without advanced climbing equipment, it was concluded that this served more as a place to dispose of bodies, rather than a spiritual or symbolic burial place to grieve for the dead.

The second location is the "Rising Star Cave", located in South Africa and dating back to approximately 250,000 years ago. Looking at a diagram of the cave below it can be inferred that traveling to this burial site was no easy feat - the energy required to carry bodies to this location would have been substantial. No signs of flood damage which could have resulted in the bodies being carried to this location have been found, indicating that placing the bodies here was deliberate. This is further backed up by the fact that the 15 Homo Naledi remains found here had been placed over a period of time. The concept of using this continuous burial site despite the difficulty which was most certainly faced traveling to this location suggests the beginning of some form of deeper more abstract thinking in hominins. It suggests that hominins had developed the capacity to carry out tasks aside from those which provided a direct benefit to their physical health.

The third location is the Shanidar Cave - also known as the "Flower Burial Site". Located in Iraq, this burial site dated back to approximately 60,000-90,000 years ago. At this location, the remains of 10 Homo Neanderthals were found - a few of which consisted of skeletons which had been dusted with pollen. This was a significant discovery in terms of the development of rituals and burials among hominins, as it would appear that these Neanderthals had been buried with flowers, suggesting some from of symbolic sentiment and the development of a deeper level of thinking, and the capacity for abstract, original thoughts outside of immediate survival needs. However, the pollen found amongst these remains was disproven to be buried with the Neanderthals, as small tracks were later discovered in the ground within the burial site, proving that the pollen had been brought in by mice.

The final and most significant of the four burial sites is the Qafzeh Cave, located at the bottom of Mount Precipice south of Nazareth, in Iraq. The burial site at Qafzeh Cave dates back to approximately 92,000 years ago (during the mid-Paleolithic era), and the remains discovered here were of early Homo Sapiens. There are several points of interest which separate this burial site from the other three, and show evident signs of intentional burial of bodies. The first of these points is the fact that of the 15 individuals buried here, 6 of them had been laid down in a systematic and orderly fashion. This in itself suggested that the bodies had been placed intentionally and with care, indicating their burial was symbolic rather than purely for disposal. Secondly, artefacts were found alongside the bodies; tools, such as weapons, horns, and several other objects were excavated at this site. This serves as further evidence of intentional burial. The final and most interesting fact about the remains found at Qafzeh Cave is that the bones of the Homo Sapiens buried here has been painted with red ochre. Presumably, this is a ritual or tradition which held some form of symbolic meaning to the group of people these individuals belonged to, and suggested the existence of a hierarchy or status amongst their community. This once again provides evidence of the development of deeper abstract thinking in hominins.

Evolution of Stone Tools

The development of stone tools was a crucial aspect of cultural evolution which led to humans existing as they do today. The poster below shows how stone tools were improved by early hominin species over time (from Oldowan tools to upper paleolithic tools) through greater forethought and more complex methods, and how these developments in stone tool production benefited early hominin populations.

Mitochondrial DNA and Human Evolution

Upon testing the Mitochondrial DNA of 147 participants from around the world in 1987, scientific authors Rebecca Louise Cann, Mark Stoneking and Allan Charles Wilson came to the conclusion that all modern Homo Sapiens shared a common female ancestor - nicknamed 'Mitochondrial Eve'. They placed this early Homo Sapien ancestor as having lived in an African population between 100,000 to 200,000 years ago. Mitochondrial DNA is a form of DNA completely separate from nuclear DNA in chromosomes, and is found in eggs rather than sperm cells - this meaning it is passed down through matrilineage. This also means that Mitochondrial DNA is not involved in recombination, and remains predominantly unchanged as it is passed down from mother to daughter unless affected by mutation or undergoes change in a small but growing population. From the separation, purification and analysis of these DNA samples, and the studying of mutation patterns in participants dependent on their location in the world, these three authors inferred that not only was genetic variation more prominent within populations than between populations, but also that each non-African population has multiple Mitochondrial DNA lineages which diverge from one common Mitochondrial DNA gene pool originating in Africa (this supporting the 'Out of Africa' Model of hominin evolution).