Take 6
Ayushi Y -
Hello Everyone!
This week I will discuss how the films, The Dark Knight and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer contribute to mental health stigma. As I looked for articles regarding the Joker’s connection to mental health in The Dark Kight, I found a similar trend to the American Psychopath articles; There were many different opinions regarding his diagnosis. The variety of diagnoses I found included Dissociative Identity Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Schizophrenia, and one article even said that he doesn’t have a mental illness at all. The Joker is a violent and unstable character, and associating his name with a variety of illnesses leads viewers to unwittingly associate these conditions with aggressive habits.
You can read more about mental illness in The Dark Knight on these websites:
- https://www.fandom.com/articles/psychology-joker-dark-knight-2008-batman
- https://screenrant.com/joker-heath-ledger-arkham-asylum-no-psychiatrist-explained/
Perfume: A Story of a Murderer is more difficult to understand in terms of diagnoses since the movie is a fantasy movie about a serial killer. In this case, the movie creates distance between society and those with mental illness. Jean Baptiste Grenouille, the main character/ the killer, is described as a tick (since ticks use scents to find blood) and as a toad. These descriptions label him as inhumane and highlight his predatory nature. Connecting such connotations to mental health causes society to increasingly perceive those with mental illness as violent and further separates such individuals from society.
You can read more about this in these articles:
- https://us.ukessays.com/essays/literature/perfume-the-story-of-a-murderer-analysis.php
- https://eprints.ums.ac.id/31497/11/02._JURNAL.pdf
Thank you for reading this week’s blog post!
Ayushi Yadav
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