TILL DEATH I SHALL LAUGH: JOKER’S MEDICAL CONDITION
There’s a story behind Joker’s iconic laugh. And it’s no laughing matter I do say.
Joker’s medical condition, the Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA), causes the person to uncontrollably laugh in dire situations. The episodes could last for a minute or longer. It could cause embarrassment, social isolation, distress and depression for the sufferer. It usually manifest on people who have ALS, MS, neurological conditions, or traumatic brain injuries.
In the movie’s case, Arthur Fleck, the Joker, had this medical condition that rooted from his childhood. When Arthur was a child, his adoptive mother Penny Fleck allowed his boyfriend to sexually, and physically abuse Arthur. When his adoptive mother’s boyfriend gets drunk, he became his punching bag, causing emotional trauma that lead to him having multiple medical conditions.
In the film, Joker’s sudden outbursts were triggered when he becomes angry, embarrassed, shocked, or nervous in public places.
The idea of Joker having PBA came from Todd Phillips, the film’s director. Joaquin Phoenix liked the idea, and thought that it was perhaps Joker’s real nature to emerge to the people like that who suppresses him. According to Phoenix, to create the character’s iconic laugh he read books about political assassinations so that he could truly understand a killer’s motive to kill. That’s one deadly laugh I say.
“I used to think that life was a tragedy. But now I realize…it’s a comedy.” –Joker
Can you melt my frozen heart? I bet you can’t.
#EnigmaReaders
