It is October. Your chosen guests and you are sitting in the living room preparing to watch a horror movie to bring the Halloween season to life. You choose between two new supervillain movies: the 2019 two time Academy Award-winning drama, “Joker,” and the 2016 Empire Award nominee, “Split.” As you decide between these two movies, that both incorporate villains with mental illnesses, it possibly dawns on you that Hollywood horror films have now developed a false reality. Looking at the plot, past ratings, and characters you notice a certain theme that gives into the stigma of people with certain mental illnesses. In reality, though, is Hollywood doing people with these mental illnesses justice or sabotage?
“Joker,” directed by Todd Philips, is a movie dedicated to the Batman villain Joker. Arthur Fleck (Joker) suffers from a neurological condition called Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA) that causes uncontrollable laughter or crying at inappropriate times. PBA Info tells us, “While there are almost 2 million people in the US with neurologic conditions or traumatic brain injury who have PBA, over 7 million people in the US have symptoms that may suggest PBA.” Though Arthur Fleck is a fictional character, he experiences symptoms similar to two-million other people in the U.S. The developer of the Joker definitely knew that a big chunk of the audience would be able to relate to him. Even for those who do not know of someone who has PBA, Arthur pulled at heartstrings while watching certain scenes where his mental illness was present.
Arthur was abused as a child by his mother’s boyfriend. This physical abuse potentially caused brain damage along with the neurological stress that he was diagnosed with. Arthur’s diagnosis required that he receive medical treatment and appointments with psychological services, but due to the funding cuts of social services, he is given nothing to help him with his mental illness. People with PBA do need care and deserve to be recognized for the struggles they face throughout their day to day lives. In the movie though, there is no remorse for Arthur, only backlash, neglect, and fear.
“Split,” directed by M. Night Shyamalan, is a movie about a man who has 24 different personalities. The main personality’s name is Kevin. Kevin is seen to be a very fragile character along with Hedwig, who is a nine-year-old boy. Though Kevin has these two personalities of gentleness, throughout the movie, the other characters are taught to feel threatened. Kevin suffers from a developmental disorder called Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) that causes a shift in his personality. Kevin, similar to other people who have DID, does not have control over his identity. The Recovery Village tells us, “Available research indicates that approximately two percent of people in the world experience dissociative disorder.” Though Kevin is a fictional character, as we watch his other 22 personalities come to light, the audience and the four other actors start to fear the other identities.
Kevin was verbally abused as a child by his mother. This verbal abuse undoubtedly increased the lack of control he had over his different personalities. Kevin’s diagnosis of DID required that he see a psychiatrist. Throughout the movie, we have multiple occasions where Kevin does see his psychiatrist but does not remember reaching out to her for the appointments. The viewer senses that the psychiatrist herself is scared, which makes the audience even more confused and wary due to the fact that she works with people who have mental illnesses daily. Though the psychiatrist is only an actor playing a role, she should have treated Kevin like a human being, not just a patient to be cautious around. Kevin definitely felt the discomfort when he was around her, but he did not have any intentions of hurting her.
In these two films, the viewer is taught to believe in the stigma surrounding mental illnesses. Authur is mocked for his uncontrollable laughter throughout the movie, showing to the viewer that it is okay to make fun of people who have a specific neurological difference. Kevin is cautious around his psychiatrist because he does not want to frighten her. It is unfortunate that Kevin does not feel he can be himself around a woman he pays to help him. This teaches the viewer that not only should we not seek help, if needed, but also that we should be uncertain of people with DID because we do not know their next move. These characters are by far not rainbows and sunshine all the time, but each character becomes hostile because the world teaches them that they can not suffer. People do not even see them as human.
Todd Philips and M. Night Shyamalan most likely did not intentionally shine a light on people with mental illness to scare the world, but that is what they did. They made the viewers of these amazing films terrified, intimidated, and panicked about the people who do have multiple personality disorders, those who laugh at inappropriate times, or those who have had difficult childhoods. These directors and many others have taught our society to think twice when talking to a person with a difference, specifically mental illness. It portrays these mental illnesses in the wrong way, not every person with a mental illness is violent, scary, or even as extreme as some movies portray the umbrella of people with mental illness’ to be.
Next time you watch a horror movie during your October season, remember that directors do not understand first hand what someone with specific mental illnesses goes through every day. Keep yourself educated!