THE JOKER

I am going to give the most basic of plot overviews to start off my post so that I don’t spoil anything. The Joker can be described as a movie about a mentally ill , incredibly poor, and rejected member of society who is driven towards a life of violence due to how he’s treated on a daily basis. That is all I will say about the movie. I am mainly making this post because I feel like the movie and it’s message relates really well to some of the podcasts we’ve listened to recently. Many people in society often grow up in poor communities with little parental guidance in life and are driven towards crime as an outlet. These members of our society slip through the cracks and their struggles are neglected and not cared for or treated. These criminals have been offered no hope for a better future, nor  any promises of help, yet we wonder why they lash out. I think this movie was a perfect example of how rehabilitation methods that this country depends on are not effective, and lower income communities who have a strong reputation of violence are not being met with the type of attention that they need. Anyone who feels like they have no purpose in life is bound to take action until they are recognized by other members of society; unfortunately, far too often are these actions violent and attract the attention of the law. Waiting until someone ends up in prison to attempt to “rehabilitate” them should not be the case, and letting people get away with being overlooked or ignored while they’re struggling on a daily basis is bound to lead to destruction. Understanding why people do what they do, and showing sympathy for their situation will be far more effective than a long prison sentence.