How He Got His Scars: Exploring Madness and Mental Health in Filmic Representations of the Joker

Jeff Preston () and Lindsay Rath-Paillé
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Jeff Preston: King’s University College at Western University, London, ON N6A 2M3, Canada
Lindsay Rath-Paillé: King’s University College at Western University, London, ON N6A 2M3, Canada

Societies, 2023, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-17

Abstract: In May of 1939, DC Comics introduced their popular Batman series, but it was a year later when the iconic villain, the Joker, entered the story. What began as a lighthearted pulp comic has since evolved, with Batman’s enemies growing darker and more sinister. In the film, the Joker is now less “clown prince” than violent madman, determined to wreak havoc and spread his warped view of society. Through a thematic discourse analysis, this article explores how Batman films featuring the Joker routinely naturalize and reinforce sanist beliefs about mental illness and are deployed as narrative prostheses to rationalize his heinous crimes. Blending work from both disability studies and mad studies, we explore the cultural construction of madness as animated by filmic representations of the Joker and consider how these narratives inform perceptions of mental illness and subsequently rationalize the disciplining of mad people.

Keywords: mad studies; abjection; stigmatization; trauma; schizoanalysis; contagion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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