Joker (2019), heavily acclaimed for its commentary on society’s views on mental health, is followed by Joker: Folie à Deux (2024), the recently released sequel that strays from the psychological thriller genre and into musical territory.
According to an article titled “Analysing Joker: an attempt to establish diagnosis for a film icon” by Department Chair Valentin Skryabin of the Moscow Department of Public Health, it is likely that the Joker portrayed in the films has a narcissistic personality disorder since he is “often preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty or ideal love” said Skryabin.
However, the phrase “folie à deux” translates to “madness of two” which sneakily foreshadows the movie, implying a shared psychotic disorder between Joker and the reinvented Harley Quinn – Lee Quinzel – as mentioned in Psychology Today.
Dr. Tena Brazen, one of the OH school psychologists, said “[psychotic disorders] are typically related to personalities and to rational thoughts [[…]] and so, quite often, psychoses are not built in reality.”
Joker: Folie à Deux incorporates several musical numbers that are often not happening in the story’s reality. The music and scenes depict Fleck’s and Quinzel’s shared romantic, and ideal fantasy with each other, but as implied in the title, their love does not appear to be built off reality.
“There’s different levels of mental health – obviously with the Joker as someone who has deeper challenges with his mental health – and so I think, while society is trying to come to a better understanding and a more positive outlook and a more helpful perspective toward mental health, […] we still have a long way to go with our perspectives on it and our understandings of how to help each other with mental health or mental illnesses,” said Brazen.
No matter the particular diagnosis of the Joker, the film Joker: Folie à Deux manages to develop a more in-depth story concerning his mental illness, but at what cost?
Brazen clarifies the story being fictional: “In my opinion, Hollywood sensationalizes a lot of things, and mental health being one, like the psychoses with the Joker is obviously based on a fantasy character so it is sensationalized.”
AP Psychology teacher Anne Sweeney said, “[The media of film] is not necessarily the best portrayal either. There’s obviously entertainment value there, when in reality true mental health concerns or disorders aren’t necessarily exciting or something people want to watch. It’s maybe a double-edged sword of we’re getting more attention to these mental health concerns, but also there’s more stigma around it or people misunderstand what truly certain things are.”
Joker: Folie à Deux released Oct. 4, 2024, is directed by Todd Phillips, and stars Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix as the characters Quinzel and Joker, respectively. Unfortunately, the film is considered a flop by many and is currently rated as low as 5.3/10 by IMDB.
“I would probably be more interested [in] going back and watching the first one [[Joker]] rather than the second one. It seems kind of ‘money-grabby’ to me,” said Sweeney.
OH senior Jack Bateman, who watched the Joker sequel, said: “I was a little disappointed because I felt like they presented it as an action movie and the Joker was going to start characterizing himself and [[…]] figuring out where to fit in society, but making it a musical, I felt wasn’t the right direction because they added so many songs that I felt like some of the songs took away from the movie.”
While the film Joker: Folie à Deux may spark concern about society’s perspective on mental health, its portrayal of mental health is ironically fictitious and made to entertain, not to inform. As the film does poorly touching on mental health, it also appears to fall short in entertaining the audience with its unexpected musical angle.
I am a senior and this is my first year as a student journalist for 42Fifty. I currently play the trumpet in the OHS Marching Band and I am a member of BIONIC as well. I am excited for learning and gaining experience in journalism this year. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
