Philip Karahassan

This week I wanted to really take a look at a character with a dark past. Not just the dark past but how they deal with that baggage and how it can affect them. The Joker is one of the most famous fictional villains. In 2019 they released Joker, with Joaquin Phoenix portraying his origin story, and I was shocked at how deep this movie delved into Arthur Fleck’s (The Joker) background and the descent on his mental health.

I have been blown away by the response from last week’s video. It’s a great feeling putting information out there that is so important for everyone to understand but seen as somewhat taboo. If you can find more understanding of your own mental health through movie reactions, then I’m all for it.

This is what the discussion on mental health has been about, simply wanting people to see and talk about it and not be ashamed or embarrassed.

*Spoilers ahead. This post mentions some details from the final season of Bojack Horseman.

I have been very grateful to find a new audience once I started to offer my response and reactions to popular TV shows, how they convey either mental health issues or how mental health is discussed in general.

It has come to my attention that anything that could possibly be said about the devastating news about Sarah Everand has already been said. What everyone wants right now is for that felt sense of control to be taken back from the person who took it.

As there isn’t much else to be expressed, I had just a few comments on the subject surrounding the public’s reaction.

There is a lot of anger at the moment. And that is understandable, but what I do want to shine a light on is the responses and reactions between everyone.

I’ve seen a constant rotation of hashtags, statements, and status updates, and with that, further alterations and corrections of each other.

Educate our Daughters or Educate our Sons?

Which is the right statement in your eyes? Because in mine, everyone is correct and everyone means well. They want the same thing as all of us, which is to prompt action and to stop this from happening again.

What we need to be wary of is the anger surrounding what had happened to Sarah and what it can cause for us as a society.

If you allow yourself to become caught up in a word or two, then you are missing the bigger picture, which is that we are all in this together. Anyone vocalising that change must be made – in any phrasing or wording – is on your side.

This is all coming from a familiar place. Control.

Women live in a society where they must constantly be aware of the time of day/night, where they are, who is around, and even what they are wearing.

All women know the basic precautions to take, and what this sad event tells us is that sometimes those precautions still aren’t enough.

This devastating realisation has hit home for everyone hearing of it, and they want to take back the control they once thought they had.

When anyone feels out of control it can spiral into anger, which is why you tend to focus that anger on technicalities or a simple word or phrase. These actions are things that you can control, but they are short-term. Just as quickly as you were able to correct someone on their status, you will just as promptly find something else to focus your anger on.

What you must understand is what your anger is telling you, with that you can understand what you truly want to do in these testing times and how you can take action in the long-term.

We are angry, confused, scared, paranoid, turbulent, and in need of control, but let’s all remain united in making sure that what happened doesn’t happen again.

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