Joker from DC Comics psycho analysis essay PDF

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Joker from DC Comics psychoanalysis essay...

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COMPARISON OF THEORIST

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Comparison of Theorists Robbie K Wicklund Grand Canyon University: Personality Psychology September 17, 2020

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COMPARISON OF THEORIST Joker from DC Comics movie 'Joker in 2019' is a villain from the DC Comics known for terrifying the citizens of Gotham City. In this essay, we will psychoanalyze Joker, the 2019

movie that gives a different take on the Joker and examine his minds' underlying issues and what formed his personality. In the film 'Joker', we meet Arthur Fleck, a broken-down, scraggly, aging man whose day job is to work as a party clown. Arthur, although he is not grossly, he is not attractive and awkward in appearance. Arthur is offsetting and withdrawn and antisocial, but not introverted. He suffers from social anxiety caused by his inherited Disease Involuntary Emotional Expression Disorder (IEED); Arthur is almost innocent and well-intended. A simple man trying to do the best he can with what he has. Arthur works hard to be a nice guy but feels frustrated because he can't fit in with society. He lives with his mother, Penny, in a small apartment; he loves dearly and enjoys taking care of her but has no other outside friendships. His communication skills are much lacking; he suffers from social anxiety, which causes him to act socially inappropriate. He may stare at someone too long, has an unusual body posture, and has strange facial expressions; he lacks critical interpersonal skills.; his differences cause others to stigmatize, harass, or avoid him, leading him to isolation, causing him to grow weirder and left without interaction with others, leaving him no way to improve his social skills. Demographics In the film ‘Joker’ we meet Arthur Fleck a broken-down, scraggly, aging man whose day job is to work as a party clown. Arthur, although he is not grossly, he is not attractive and awkward in appearance. Arthur is offsetting and withdrawn and antisocial, but not introverted, suffers from social anxiety caused by his inherited Disease Involuntary Emotional Expression Disorder (IEED); Arthur is almost innocent and well-intended. A simple man trying to do the best he can with what he has. Arthur works hard to be a nice guy but feels frustrated because he

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can’t fit in with society. He lives with his mother Penny in a small apartment who he loves dearly and enjoys taking care of her, but has no other outside friendships. His communication skills are greatly lacking; he suffers from social anxiety which causes him to act socially inappropriate. He may stare at someone too long, has an unusual body posture along with strange facial expressions, he is missing critical interpersonal skills.; his differences cause others to stigmatize, harass, or avoid him, leading him to isolation, causing him to grow weirder and left without interaction with others leaves him no way to improve his social skills. History Notable childhood experiences would include child abuse by his mother, who was put in a mental hospital for abusing Arthur; it was during this time he received much abuse that caused his head trauma IEED is caused by damage to the neuronal pathways that cause an emotional expression. Eventuality causes Arthur to have an uncontrollable animated laugh that happens when he gets nervous, causing him to be humiliated and alienated from society. The movie implies that the abuse from his mother caused the injuries he suffered. Later, Arthur finds out by the state hospital that he was adopted and goes on to struggle to come to terms with this fact. Next, Arthur goes through a rapid onset of disappointments, including finding out that in the past, his mother was admitted into a mental hospital for mental health issues, including child neglect and abuse. Thomas Wayne is not his father and that it was made up by his mother, The uncovering of his actual past leaves him feeling disappointed, hopeless, empty, and suicidal. Maladaptive thoughts and behavior that indicated that Arthur needs to be in therapy, etc. therapies are depicted throughout the film. Presenting Problem The movie starts,' it shows Arthur attending therapy. Although the movie does not name His exact psychiatric diagnosis, it does show him taking his medication for his psychotherapy and has a history of severe mental illness. The film mentions that in the past (he had been committed to a mental hospital at least once). He relies on his no-cost mental health care provided by the City's Department of Health as a state-funded service. We begin to see red flags indicating that Arthur needs to be in therapy while attending his therapy sessions. Next, Arthur pulls out his journal during this visit, saying he's using it as a "joke diary" to save his stand-up notes. The journal contains scribbled notes of his jokes with disturbing messages, demented

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drawings, and torn out pornographic pictures with the heads ripped off. These could be seen as recordings of Arthur's destabilizing fantasies. Depersonalizing women in his journal, while sitting in the office, Arthur writes, "I hope my death will make more cents than my life." he states that "the hardest part of mental illness is that people expect you to behave as if you don't." (fando). This event Demonstrates that Arthur acknowledges his mental disorder and shows that he is getting tired of fighting his illness and trying to get help next; Arthur's disposition changes once he loses his protective life measures. While at work, Arthur gets beaten up by a group of thugs and explains to his boss what happened. His boss orders Arthur to take back the sign that the thugs nearly beat him to death with. Arthur tries to reason with his boss while still declining, but his efforts are dismissed, and he is told to go back to work. Being unable to express his frustration causes resentment to grow. Next, we see a concerned coworker give Arthur a gun for protection. Next, we see Arthur smiling and confused by his unsympathetic boss, and later, he releases his frustration by kicking the bags of trash down the alley. Next, we see Author becoming fixated on his new weapon. He starts to view his gun as a further extension of his emerging new self. Next, we see him as overwhelmed with disappointment. When we see Arthur taking all the food out of the refrigerator and climbing inside and closes the door, like earlier when he placed the gun under his chin and imagined pulling the trigger, it is a demonstration of Arthur's death wish to self-destruct. Other signs that Arthur needs Psychotherapy are his Delusions of dating Sophie Dumond, a young single female who lives in his apartment building. His obsession is so intense that he believes that he is in a romantic relationship with Sophie. He is supporting his dream of being lovable, funny, and charming. During a second visit with his therapist," Arthur replies to his counselor, "all I have are negative thoughts. In this crucial session, he is ignored as he begins to leak his homicidal ideation.

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5 Analysis of Problem

According to Freud, childhood experiences form our adult defenses Burger, J.M. (2019). This makes sense because in Joker we see that Arthur has been relying on his defense mechanisms Repression, Denial, and Projection throughout his life. Freud explains that defense works to prevent unpleasure and to block the cachectic potential, and that the pleasure principle drives defense and not to avoid anxiety is the motive for defense (Shill, M. A., 2004). This is fits Arthurs’ behavior throughout the movie. We witness Arthur has used Repression when he makes an unwanted discovery about the mother he loves and cares for every day when he finally meets his millionaire father that his mother has told him stories about. Arthur life takes a downward spiral when he learns that the man he believed to be his father was not his father and but his mother's previous employer and that he was adopted by Penny whom he also believed was his biological mother, before she was admitted into a mental hospital for neglecting and abusing Arthur as a child. At one point, Arthur encountered a blow to the head that probably caused his (IEED)In the movie this all appears as new news to Arthur proof that he repressed the memories of his abuse. Freud explains that we use denial to refuse to accept the truth (Burger, J.M. 2019). Arthur uses denial to have the feeling of being adored and respected and viewed by the world as an essential person despite the reality he lives in. At the end of the movie, we see Arthur use his final defense mechanism of Projection. At the end of the film, Arthur gives in to his frustration, becoming extraordinarily aggressive and usages Projection. He projects his anger on to Gotham City, where we see him standing on the hood of a car in full clown makeup, holding a loaded gun, and being adored by an angry crowd during a massive riot. Through violence his dreams are realized.

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Alternative Analysis of the Problem Alternatively, the Adlers' method of individualism that the single most driving force in our personality is motivated to gain superiority. We can see this in Arthur as he strives to be the person he desires to be a comedian. He visions making people laugh and happy he also has delusions of his relationship as other facets of being superior to the person he currently is. In the movie, Arthur is fully aware of his shortcomings. He desperately works to change his situation. He goes to work as a clown, takes care of his mother, and does open mic where he is a comedian and fantasizes about being on the Murray Franklin show, but nothing goes right, and it appears the more he tries, the worse it gets until he finally snaps. Alder also states that poorly adjusted people express striving for superiority with selfishness and concern for personal glory; Arthur demonstrates these traits in his fantasies of becoming famous, having the perfect girl, and being adored by everyone could be signs of Arthur desires to be at least superior to the person he is in reality (Burger, J.M. 2019). Adler also states that suicide will arise when an individual feels that all the paths to success as the individual sees success come to believe that success is impossible, and loses hope (Overholser, J. C. 2010). He explains that melancholia is also a sign of hopelessness and depression (Overholser, J. C. 2010). Arthur showed this in the film when he climbs into the refrigerator and closes the door, symbolizes cutting off the world, and another seen when Arthur takes the loaded gun and places it under his chin and imagines pulling the trigger as he throws his head back. In another seen Arthur demonstrates that he has developed melancholia with his statements to the therapist when he says, "I hope my death will make more cents than my life." "All I have are negative thoughts" (Joker, n.d.).

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References Burger, J.M. (2019). Personality (10th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth-Thomson Learning. ISBN-13:9781337559010 Joker (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.fandom.com/articles/psychology-joker-2019-joaquinphoenix

Overholser, J. C. (2010). Psychotherapy that strives to encourage social interest: A simulated interview with Alfred Adler. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 20(4), 347–363. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022033

Shill, M. A. (2004). Signal Anxiety, Defense, and the Pleasure Principle. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 21(1), 116–133. https://doi.org/10.1037/0736-9735.21.1.116...