10 Recent Movies That Tried Way Too Hard To Be Clever

If you were to look at the Joker movie in isolation, you might be forgiven for calling it an original piece of cinema. The story of a mentally ill man pushed over the edge, and kicks back against an oppressive society makes for an interesting story, but here in lies the problem.

Almost all praise for Joker has cited the use of mental health awareness as a positive, but if you can find the strength to watch the film again you'll notice that the film not only says nothing about the mental health debate in general, it doesn't even give Arthur Fleck a diagnosis.

Prior to the scene where Arthur shoots Wall Street yuppies, ask yourself what condition he is afflicted with. Anxiety? Bipolar Disorder? Schizophrenia?

Joker quietly lies to the audience by covering Arthur Fleck's actions with the "mentally ill blanket"; justifying bad character development by saying he is mentally unwell is not only insulting to those with afflictions, but gives the character himself zero agency for his decisions.

If Hollywood really wants to help the discussion about mental health, they should start by doing research into disorders and conditions, and not just say "This character is mentally ill, that explains everything"