Too Late the (Super) Hero, Todd Phillips’ <i>Joker</i>

Dario Squilloni

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17

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Too Late the (Super) Hero, Todd Phillips’ Joker

Dario Squilloni

Published in International Journal of Philosophy (Volume 10, Issue 1)

Received: 31 January 2022 Accepted: 14 March 2022 Published: 23 March 2022

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Abstract

The article reads the film Joker by Todd Phillips as a denunciation of the pathologies of contemporary society and its self-destructive drift. Caused by a process of homogenization of the individual personality to collective models, it not only generates those conformism and massification phenomena underlined by postmodern reflection, but gives rise to processes of disintegration of the subject which lead to the uncontrolled explosion of violence. Prisoner of a growing and systematic dynamic of mimetic identification with the dominant models of mass society  through pervasive containment and control methods, such as "repressive desublimation" (Herbert Marcuse) and "redundancy" (Umberto Eco)  the individual, denied his own difference and uniqueness, is inexorably pushed towards Thanatos. This, now the dominant force, is capable of destroying humankind’s best resources and putting the latter on course to a dead end. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Western society has been pervaded by a restlessness caused by humankind’s tendency to destroy itself and the planet. This restlessness grew further in the following years in a directly proportionate manner to technological development and the exponential increase in its destructive potential, as made unmistakably clear by two world wars and the atom bomb. By way of a Freudian strategy, this unsustainable awareness was immediately repressed from the collective consciousness and projected onto another not scientific but “science fiction” dimension, characterized by “alien” enemy figures whose omnipotence could be contrasted by equally as fantastic creatures, namely superheroes. Quite simply, Phillips’ film destroys the illusion and brings us back to reality: we are the enemy.

Published in	International Journal of Philosophy (Volume 10, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17
Page(s)	33-40
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Redundancy, Desublimation, Individual Difference/Collective Homogenization, Super (Hero)

References

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[2]	Anders, G. (1980). Die Antiquiertheit des Menschen, II: Über die Zerstörung des Lebens im Zeitalter der dritten industriellen Revolution, Munich: C. H. Beck.
[3]	Anders, G. (2016). Brevi scritti sulla fine dell’uomo, Trieste: Asterios, collection of essays in Italian and German.
[4]	Bauman, Z. (2012). Liquid Modernity, Cambridge and Malden, MA: Polity Press.
[5]	Debord, G. (1990). Comments on the Society of the Spectacle, trans. M. Imrie, London: Verso.
[6]	Debord, G. (2009). Society of the Spectacle, trans. D. Nicholson-Smith, Eastbourne: Soul Bay Press.
[7]	Deleuze, G. (1986). Cinema 1: The Movement-Image, trans. H. Tomlinson and B. Habberjam, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
[8]	Deleuze, G. (1989). Cinema 2: The Time-Image, trans. H. Tomlinson and R. Galeta, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
[9]	Eco, U. (1965). Il caso Bond, ed. O. Del Buono and U. Eco, Milan: Bompiani.
[10]	Eco, U., ed. (1969). L'industria della cultura, Milan: Bompiani.
[11]	Eco, U. (1976). Il superuomo di massa. Studi sul romanzo popolare, Rome: Cooperativa Scrittori (1978, Milan: Bompiani).
[12]	Eco, U. (1979). “The Myth of Superman” in The Role of the Reader: Explorations in the Semiotics of Texts, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
[13]	Eco U. (1994). “Apocalyptic and Integrated Intellectuals. Mass communications and theories of mass culture” in Apocalypse Postponed, ed. R. Lumley, Bloomington: Indiana University Press; London: British Film Institute, part translation of Apocalittici e integrati.
[14]	Eco, U. (2018). Sulla televisione. Scritti 1956-2015, ed. G. Marrone, Milan: La Nave di Teseo.
[15]	Freud, S. (1940). Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego, trans. J. Strachey, London: Hogarth Press.
[16]	Freud, S. (1975). Civilization and its Discontents, ed. J. Strachey, trans. J. Riviere, London: The Hogarth Press.
[17]	Marcuse, H. (1969). “Repressive Tolerance” in R. P. Wolff, B. Moore, Jr., and H. Marcuse, A Critique of Pure Tolerance, Boston: Beacon Press, pp. 95-137.
[18]	Marcuse, H. (1970). “Obsolescence of the Freudian Concept of Man” in Five Lectures. Psychoanalysis, Politics, and Utopia, trans. J. J. Shapiro and S. M. Weber, London: Allen Lane, London.
[19]	Marcuse, H. (1998). Eros and Civilization. A Philosophical Enquiry into Freud, London: Routledge.
[20]	Marcuse, H. (2002). One-Dimensional Man. Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Society, intro. D. Kellner, London and New York: Routledge.

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APA Style

Dario Squilloni. (2022). Too Late the (Super) Hero, Todd Phillips’ Joker. International Journal of Philosophy, 10(1), 33-40. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17

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Dario Squilloni. Too Late the (Super) Hero, Todd Phillips’ Joker. Int. J. Philos. 2022, 10(1), 33-40. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17

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AMA Style

Dario Squilloni. Too Late the (Super) Hero, Todd Phillips’ Joker. Int J Philos. 2022;10(1):33-40. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17

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@article{10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17,
  author = {Dario Squilloni},
  title = {Too Late the (Super) Hero, Todd Phillips’ Joker},
  journal = {International Journal of Philosophy},
  volume = {10},
  number = {1},
  pages = {33-40},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijp.20221001.17},
  abstract = {The article reads the film Joker by Todd Phillips as a denunciation of the pathologies of contemporary society and its self-destructive drift. Caused by a process of homogenization of the individual personality to collective models, it not only generates those conformism and massification phenomena underlined by postmodern reflection, but gives rise to processes of disintegration of the subject which lead to the uncontrolled explosion of violence. Prisoner of a growing and systematic dynamic of mimetic identification with the dominant models of mass society  through pervasive containment and control methods, such as "repressive desublimation" (Herbert Marcuse) and "redundancy" (Umberto Eco)  the individual, denied his own difference and uniqueness, is inexorably pushed towards Thanatos. This, now the dominant force, is capable of destroying humankind’s best resources and putting the latter on course to a dead end. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Western society has been pervaded by a restlessness caused by humankind’s tendency to destroy itself and the planet. This restlessness grew further in the following years in a directly proportionate manner to technological development and the exponential increase in its destructive potential, as made unmistakably clear by two world wars and the atom bomb. By way of a Freudian strategy, this unsustainable awareness was immediately repressed from the collective consciousness and projected onto another not scientific but “science fiction” dimension, characterized by “alien” enemy figures whose omnipotence could be contrasted by equally as fantastic creatures, namely superheroes. Quite simply, Phillips’ film destroys the illusion and brings us back to reality: we are the enemy.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Too Late the (Super) Hero, Todd Phillips’ Joker
AU  - Dario Squilloni
Y1  - 2022/03/23
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17
T2  - International Journal of Philosophy
JF  - International Journal of Philosophy
JO  - International Journal of Philosophy
SP  - 33
EP  - 40
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-7455
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17
AB  - The article reads the film Joker by Todd Phillips as a denunciation of the pathologies of contemporary society and its self-destructive drift. Caused by a process of homogenization of the individual personality to collective models, it not only generates those conformism and massification phenomena underlined by postmodern reflection, but gives rise to processes of disintegration of the subject which lead to the uncontrolled explosion of violence. Prisoner of a growing and systematic dynamic of mimetic identification with the dominant models of mass society  through pervasive containment and control methods, such as "repressive desublimation" (Herbert Marcuse) and "redundancy" (Umberto Eco)  the individual, denied his own difference and uniqueness, is inexorably pushed towards Thanatos. This, now the dominant force, is capable of destroying humankind’s best resources and putting the latter on course to a dead end. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Western society has been pervaded by a restlessness caused by humankind’s tendency to destroy itself and the planet. This restlessness grew further in the following years in a directly proportionate manner to technological development and the exponential increase in its destructive potential, as made unmistakably clear by two world wars and the atom bomb. By way of a Freudian strategy, this unsustainable awareness was immediately repressed from the collective consciousness and projected onto another not scientific but “science fiction” dimension, characterized by “alien” enemy figures whose omnipotence could be contrasted by equally as fantastic creatures, namely superheroes. Quite simply, Phillips’ film destroys the illusion and brings us back to reality: we are the enemy.
VL  - 10
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Dario Squilloni

Independent Jungian Psychologist, Florence, Italy

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Dario Squilloni. (2022). Too Late the (Super) Hero, Todd Phillips’ Joker. International Journal of Philosophy, 10(1), 33-40. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17

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ACS Style

Dario Squilloni. Too Late the (Super) Hero, Todd Phillips’ Joker. Int. J. Philos. 2022, 10(1), 33-40. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17

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AMA Style

Dario Squilloni. Too Late the (Super) Hero, Todd Phillips’ Joker. Int J Philos. 2022;10(1):33-40. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17,
  author = {Dario Squilloni},
  title = {Too Late the (Super) Hero, Todd Phillips’ Joker},
  journal = {International Journal of Philosophy},
  volume = {10},
  number = {1},
  pages = {33-40},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijp.20221001.17},
  abstract = {The article reads the film Joker by Todd Phillips as a denunciation of the pathologies of contemporary society and its self-destructive drift. Caused by a process of homogenization of the individual personality to collective models, it not only generates those conformism and massification phenomena underlined by postmodern reflection, but gives rise to processes of disintegration of the subject which lead to the uncontrolled explosion of violence. Prisoner of a growing and systematic dynamic of mimetic identification with the dominant models of mass society  through pervasive containment and control methods, such as "repressive desublimation" (Herbert Marcuse) and "redundancy" (Umberto Eco)  the individual, denied his own difference and uniqueness, is inexorably pushed towards Thanatos. This, now the dominant force, is capable of destroying humankind’s best resources and putting the latter on course to a dead end. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Western society has been pervaded by a restlessness caused by humankind’s tendency to destroy itself and the planet. This restlessness grew further in the following years in a directly proportionate manner to technological development and the exponential increase in its destructive potential, as made unmistakably clear by two world wars and the atom bomb. By way of a Freudian strategy, this unsustainable awareness was immediately repressed from the collective consciousness and projected onto another not scientific but “science fiction” dimension, characterized by “alien” enemy figures whose omnipotence could be contrasted by equally as fantastic creatures, namely superheroes. Quite simply, Phillips’ film destroys the illusion and brings us back to reality: we are the enemy.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Too Late the (Super) Hero, Todd Phillips’ Joker
AU  - Dario Squilloni
Y1  - 2022/03/23
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17
T2  - International Journal of Philosophy
JF  - International Journal of Philosophy
JO  - International Journal of Philosophy
SP  - 33
EP  - 40
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-7455
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20221001.17
AB  - The article reads the film Joker by Todd Phillips as a denunciation of the pathologies of contemporary society and its self-destructive drift. Caused by a process of homogenization of the individual personality to collective models, it not only generates those conformism and massification phenomena underlined by postmodern reflection, but gives rise to processes of disintegration of the subject which lead to the uncontrolled explosion of violence. Prisoner of a growing and systematic dynamic of mimetic identification with the dominant models of mass society  through pervasive containment and control methods, such as "repressive desublimation" (Herbert Marcuse) and "redundancy" (Umberto Eco)  the individual, denied his own difference and uniqueness, is inexorably pushed towards Thanatos. This, now the dominant force, is capable of destroying humankind’s best resources and putting the latter on course to a dead end. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Western society has been pervaded by a restlessness caused by humankind’s tendency to destroy itself and the planet. This restlessness grew further in the following years in a directly proportionate manner to technological development and the exponential increase in its destructive potential, as made unmistakably clear by two world wars and the atom bomb. By way of a Freudian strategy, this unsustainable awareness was immediately repressed from the collective consciousness and projected onto another not scientific but “science fiction” dimension, characterized by “alien” enemy figures whose omnipotence could be contrasted by equally as fantastic creatures, namely superheroes. Quite simply, Phillips’ film destroys the illusion and brings us back to reality: we are the enemy.
VL  - 10
IS  - 1
ER  -

Copy | Download