I had a tough last few years. I have been working my way through some psychological issues and my conclusions are that the mental health system has been difficult to navigate. I started with a diagnosis of General Anxiety Disorder and after fighting my way through several doctors, I have learned that psychological diagnoses are debatable in many cases. My most recent, and most experienced doctor, has come to the conclusion that I have traits from several disorders like OCPD, GAD, and Bi-Polar. None of these fully defines who I am as a person. I am not as rigid as an OCPD person, I am not anxious in many situations like GAD, and I donāt have the extreme highs and lows like a Bi-Polar person. Needless to say, I have traits of some but I donāt fit into a specific category. Iām interested if anyone has read anything about the psychology of Joker just because I am into reading about mental health as it relates to my life journey. I read some stuff about the philosophy of Batman, but the Joker as a character seems like an interesting psychological analysis as he seems to have traits from multiple disorders. FYI, I am not considering being a real life Joker, I am a nice person with real empathy for people and animals. Iād love to own a pet and maybe a people sanctuary one day. My path in life has changed what interests me and a simple Google search is no longer a simple search for a relevant answer. Itās more like a sales conduit now. I figured I would ask the experts (That means you, constant readers, lol) for a reading recommendation. FYI, I donāt get a chance to get on here every day, but I will revisit and look at your recommendations as soon as I get a chance. Thanks!
I would highly recommend an issue that just came out quite recently, Joker: Year of the Villain. It centers on one of Jokerās henchmen who suffers from his own neurological disorders, and contrasts them with the āSuper-Insanityā of comic book villains like The Joker. Itās a prime illustration on the difference between illness and evil.
If you want a deep dive thatās at least comic-adjacent, Dr Andrea Letamendi did a series of Fandom articles for the major Jokers in filmā¦ Ledger, Nicholson, Hamill, and Phoenix. Obvs, spoilers abound but theyāre deep dives. Hereās one, the others can be found link hunting a titch. The Psychology of the Joker from āThe Dark Knightā (2008) | FANDOM
Thanks! I will check it out. I was thinking more like papers, books, and essays; however, I will take a look at this. It will be interesting to see what one of the henchmen displays and if it correlates or crosses over with the symptoms the J-man exhibits. Obviously psychosis has to be a crossover but itās interesting to see how the artists and writers deal with these types of characters.
Thanks, that was the first one that came up on Google for me. There was also a nice Vanity Fair article that is adjacent to the movie on that first page Google search, the VF article is a new piece, pretty good read. Both are decent reads. Iām looking for journal papers, essays, etc. Stuff that doesnāt always jump out in a Google search. Iād like to read a psych student thesis, I think it would be an interesting read. Just looking for fresh perspectives on the topic, I have read most of the blog/entertainment/fan articles, just hoping someone came across new perspectives especially since he does not fall into 1 category. It would be interesting to know if the character has any unique disorders due to the mix of visible symptoms.
Above is from Kindle
You can download a sample which usually gives you
A table of Contents
Make sure you start at page one rather than default of Chapter 1
Also could do the same for Batman
And Super hero Sampler
For
Philosophy
And
Psychology
I think one sample dow3oad I did had
Why doesnāt Batman kill the Joker based on philosophical problem called
The Trolly problem
Which is could you deliberately kill one person
To save many
By turning a track switch
If so do nothing many will die
If you turn the switch one person will die based on your actions
I would recommend the film Necessary Evil, it is a look at villainy and the psychological behavior of villainy using various DC villains as prototypes for various types and psychologies of villains. It not only looks at this through the eyes of creators but also psychologists and sociologists. It is very good and quite fascinating.
You also might find the psychology of Batman (itās in the documentary section here on DCU). This might be useful since Batman and Joker are mirror images of each other, which is also discussed. Again a doco using psychiatric professionals in combination with creators.
Thereās a podcast where a psychologist watches every episode of Batman: The Animated Series and discusses the psychology of each villain featured in each episode. You could seek that out and just listen to the Joker episodes. I would link to it, but I forgot what itās called lol. āThe Arkham Files,ā maybe? Idk, shouldnāt be too tough to find with a search.
Thanks, Iāll put these in my wish list for Greed Day, December 25th. I always pick up a bunch of books on Greedy Friday, the day after Native American Genocide day, I know, blithe.
Thanks! I have read the Batman book, I may cruise through the DCU and see if the Doc has any illuminating differences.
I never thought about podcasts. I listen to at least one a day, I will put those in my library. Sounds like that is one I would listed to all the episodes.