“My life is nothing but a comedy”: madness and revenge tragedy in Todd Phillips’ Joker (2019)
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Date
2022
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Abstract
This dissertation analyses the employment of madness and the revenge tragedy in the
contemporary Hollywood film, Joker (dir. Phillips, 2019). By focussing on the causation that
leads to the protagonist’s tragic fate, I argue that the protagonist’s use of blood revenge is due
to the city’s indifferent nature towards its marginalised and mentally ill citizens. Though the
protagonist’s crimes cannot warrant any justification, an empathetic understanding can be
bridged to the audience due to the intimate portrayal of his suffering. Madness is most certainly
loaded with diverse histories and persists as an anomaly to humans. The current interpretation
of madness, within the context of mental illness, greatly differs from its early understanding
incorporating societal rejection of those who failed to uphold the standards of societal
convention. In Joker, it is further attributed to individuality and liberation from the constraints
of societal convention. My research maintains that the film deploys madness as a defensive and
coping mechanism against the tyranny of societal structures, through which the protagonist
emancipates his dangerous and powerful Joker persona. In addition, I analyse the portrayal of
mental illness in Joker. I impartially explore the film’s rally for mental illness awareness and
compare it to its damaging depiction of a violent and murderous mentally ill protagonist. The
film essentially embodies both redeeming and harmful portrayals of mental illness.
I henceforth assess the presence of the revenge tragedy in Joker by examining the formula of the genre’s leading precedent,
The Spanish Tragedy (Kyd, [1592] 1898). The Kydian formula establishes
the structure of a revenge tragedy narrative employing blood revenge as its primary method of
retribution, and it is through this formula that I am able to locate and justify the presence of the
revenge tragedy in Joker (dir. Phillips, 2019). Due to the cold-blooded vengeance the
protagonist undertakes, I evaluate the cautionary tale around the mistreatment of the mentally
ill which gave rise to the events in the film. As a result of this, my research asserts that the
protagonist ultimately occupies the seat of the anti-hero despite the brutal nature of his crimes.
The societal system reigns as the true villain of the film, because if it were not for the systematic
marginalisation of Gotham’s disadvantaged and mentally ill citizens, as well as the callous
nature of society, then the protagonist may have not walked down the dark path that he did.
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.
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Citation
https://doi.org/10.29086/10413/22671