Do you understand ‘The Joker’?

Yes, I’m referring to ”The Joker” from the movie ‘Joker’, a masterpiece of work by Todd Phillips and amazingly enacted by Joaquin Phoenix. You’ve watched that movie? Yes, that movie, which is one of the most depressing movies of all time!

If not, go watch that movie, not for entertainment, but to observe and learn objectively.

When I first watched the movie, I was completely taken aback. First of all, I don’t like depressing movies. It may be true that most of those movies are far nearer to the truth than those that showcase all fairy-tale, win-win, positive ending stories, but I believe movies are not meant mainly for that. It’s good and ideal that movies are made with ”lessons to be learned” or the moral as the central objective. But it should not be at the cost of the viewer’s good mood. It should not be at the cost of the actor’s mental health. Most moviegoers go to a movie, not to learn but escape from their daily mundane lifestyles, in other words, their realities. They don’t want to be shown the same or even worse in movies for which they’ve come as an escape. And movies like Joker even have the power to aggravate the wild, rash, harming, dangerous part of a person undergoing extreme pain. So, I still stand on the opposite side of making such films.

However, today I’m not just here to talk about why I don’t like particular kinds of movies. I’m here to ask you whether you’ve understood ”The Joker’s” plight? Only with a similar experience can someone relate to such sad states. Only with experience can someone understand the need to wish to rain so that no one will notice when you cry.

Understanding ‘The Joker’

The essence of the joker’s story is not just that he’s broke and couldn’t handle his emotions. Even though that is just what it is on the surface level, I would like to dive deep and pick one of the insights and present the same line of thoughts to you.

Role of collective mindset to ‘fit in’

As I said, the problem the joker faced was not just the fact that he’s broke. The problem was that the people around him valued only that which he didn’t have. The collective mindset of the society has become such, and it is now considered normal that people value money over everything even though they’ll say family, love, health, or whatever, but truly they haven’t realized that yet. ‘The Joker’ was a wealthy man, in terms of his creativity, moral heart, even in his kindness & innocence. As the story unravels, when his true wealth is not recognized, combined with ignorance, he stops fighting the ‘good fight’. He stops being a moral, law-abiding good citizen by shooting a bullet at the interviewer on a live TV show.

Role of collective mindset towards growth

And that connects to how people see ‘growth’ as. When a person ‘A’ is trying to grow beyond what society can imagine, they inhibit that person, they even try to ‘mend him’ with their so-called good intended advice! In other words, they’re trying to ‘fit in’, this person into the box that they understand in this world as. The person ‘A’ is trying to be extraordinary but people want him to ‘fit in’. And ‘fit in’ is nothing but mediocrity, average and ordinary.

For extraordinary people. They may not have friends, and they may not have a regular degree, regular job, or regular high-paid salaries. And it may seem as though they won’t fit in. It’s far from the truth. It’s just that, their playfield is at a totally different level. They belong with people not just of regional people and their beliefs, they belong to humanity and humanity’s growth at large.

They don’t ‘fit in’ because they’re contributors to humanity, it may be in terms of creativity, innovation, whatever. They are the needle movers of humanity’s growth! And most of the people are not contributors. They’ve forgotten the need to serve humanity. They’ve forgotten to be extraordinary! And yet they try to advise the extraordinary of being ‘normal’ and be average.

So, what does all this imply?

Do not try to fit in. You are unique. That’s told innumerable times and it sounds cliche now. But remember, all you’ve got to do is seek the truth, believe in your self and serve humanity!

Summon all the courage there is to defend your true self when society tries to pull you down. Trust your ‘self’ and keep going!

Thank you,

Yours Loving,

Sanath Kumar Naibhi