PAPER TITLE: PSY327 ABN PSY: CHARACTER ANALYSIS SANDRA J. LOWE STUDENT ID; 0563140 INSTRUCTOR: WILLIAM NAST, Ed. D. DISTANCE LEARNING ID: 2748512 turnitin# 111453644 DATE: OCT. 19 – DEC. 12, 2009 DUE WEEK 6 CHARACTER ANALYSIS OF BATMAN AND THE JOKER HISTORY Character 1 BATMAN Bruce Wayne better known as Batman is an orphaned multimillionaire playboy, who developed into sociopath. The PTSD from his parents’ death developed into dissocial personality disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder with a vigilante superhero complex. Bruce Wayne lived in Wayne’s Manor, an estate in Gotham City, D.C with his parents Dr. and Mrs. Wayne. His parents became multimillionaires after his father invested in real-estate and created both Wayne Enterprises and the Wayne Foundation. Wayne Foundation was an organization dedicated to helping the less fortunate and keeping the city streets safe, and the Wayne Enterprises was a company that engaged in high technology. When Bruce was around 9 years old he fell into a well while playing with a friend. Inside the well a swarm of bats flew around him and created great fear which developed into a phobia for fear of bats and caves. Like most large cities politics played a big role in associations, wealth and crime. This association between crime and politics lead to the death of Bruce Wayne’s mother and father. One night the whole family went to see a play called, Mefistofele, the actors came out dressed like a swarm of bats which frightened young Bruce. The family left the theatre early because of this and Bruce’s parents were robbed and killed by a thug. He felt responsible for their deaths because of his fear, therefore, the guilt lead him into depressed state as a teenager. He left Gotham City looking like a homeless person to live in China. While in China he was imprisoned for many years, however, he was fortunate to
1 Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2005155
meet one of the masters of martial arts named Henri Ducard who lead a double life as a vigilante called Ra’s al Ghul. Ghul a.k.a. Ducard was the leader of an elite group of vigilantes known as the League of Shadows. He knew all about Bruce and the death of his family, therefore, he taught him self discipline, resilience, and coping skills. Bruce left China after a fight with Ra’s al Ghul, because he almost killed him. Bruce’s dispute with Ghul was due to Ghul becoming like the criminals he hated and fought against and he did not want to be a part of that. Bruce leaving China was fate, because when Bruce went back to Gotham as an adult and decided to mask his identity and fight crime too. He went back to his father’s business and met Lucius Fox, the scientist and inventor of high tech military gear that saved lives. That suit got Bruce thinking about what to wear, therefore he discussed his ideas about fighting crime with his caregiver and foster father Alfred Pennyworth who helped him get over his fear of bats by going back into the bat cave and rid it of them. He got over his fear of bats and the cave along with the suit made him call himself Batman. He turned that cave into a high-tech secret hiding place, where he helps police fight villains and crime.
Character 2 THE JOKER The Joker had the personality of a rabid dog that needed to be put to sleep. He is the epitome of what we call a domestic terrorist. This sadistic homicidal maniac witnessed the mutilation of his wife by loan sharks. This event resulted in PTSD for him because he was helpless to save her from the perpetrator. The end result of this episode drove him to the point where he developed the mentality of a psychopath with self-injurious behavior.
2 Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2005155
The Joker was clearly traumatized by the victimization of his wife. He took a razor to his face and cut his mouth from left to right to show her that he loved her enough to disfigure himself. This act itself was evidence of a chemical imbalance; however, his appearance horrified her, so she supposedly left him. Her act of rejection damaged his psyche even more. His experience and distrust of authority, lead him not believe in goodness anymore. Thus, this act of unrequited love, rejection, and distrust drove him into becoming a monster. He developed nihilistic attitude toward everything and everyone. He sought to corrupt that which was good to prove a point; all things are corruptible. He evidently never read the bible, because we all know that everyone and everything is corruptible. However, breaking the rules and turning good into evil was not enough for him. He was a schizophrenic, egocentric, sadistic, self-mutilating, antisocial, psychopathic, histrionic, demented, massmurdering genius. Serious mental health issues were evident and this psychopathic villain broke all of the rules, with little regards for his own safety or the safety of others. He challenged and defied death often, he killed without conscious, and he regularly went throughout the city spreading death and anarchy. He got thrills out of being abused or tortured and killing or abusing others. He was a loner and there was no evidence of an immediate family, so he must have been a product of the state’s foster care system. His genius attitude lets you know that he had military training, because he was able to outsmart law enforcement. He didn’t allow anyone to challenge him without killing them. His frightful and gruesome appearance was of a man dressed to kill, which only proved how sadistic he had allowed himself to get. He was very unhappy with his life and this disfigured delusional persona of a man had only one goal in life and that was to make everyone experience his hell. (McAfee, 2009; Marjin et al, 2009; Siever, 2002)
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DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR PTSD
Character 1: BATMAN
Witnessed the death of both parents
Experienced intense fear, helplessness and horror
Interruption in social functioning for more than a year
Avoidance/Isolation: became withdrawn and depression
Left country to avoid intrusive distressing recollection of event
Lost interest in life
Antisocial Personality disorder
Violent Tendencies
MULTIAXIAL DESCRIPTION Axis I – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Axis II -Avoidant Personality Disorder Behaviors Axis III- Depression Axis IV-Acute Stress Disorder with Self-Injurious Behavior Axis V – GAF =60 Moderate to severe symptoms – blamed self for parents death, wears a mask, multi-personality, superhero complex, playboy, attachment problems, impulsively and self-injurious behavior. DSM-TR EVALUATION The apparent nervous breakdown of Batman during his childhood activated the underlying chemical imbalances in his brain and interrupted the normal process of brain development. The patho-physiological changes in his brain caused it to dysfunction and as a
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result the development of PTSD with acute stress disorder. He was able to overcome the acute distress with counseling from a mentor, however, he shows signs of dysthymic disorder with a vigilante hero complex, and explosive personality. He acts impulsively when someone is threatened and use violent often. He limits his intimate friends to a few, and has attachment problems. He shows narcissistic tendencies, interpersonal rejection and mild sociopathy. He would improve if he can reframe his mind by moving on and putting his past painful experience behind him, start a new family and realize that he alone doesn’t have to be on top of everything. (Psyweb, 2009)
DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR PTSD
Character 2: THE JOKER
Watched helplessly as his wife was disfigured
Experienced intense fear, helplessness and horror
Indulged in self-injurious behavior
Narcissistic
Bipolar disorder
Left country to avoid intrusive distressing recollection of event
Lost interest in life and people
Antisocial Personality disorder
Chronic Violent Tendencies
MULTIAXIAL DESCRIPTION Axis I – PTSD with Acute Stress Disorder, Antisocial Behaviors Axis II -Avoidant Personality Disorder
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Axis III- No Apparent Medical Condition Axis IV- Paranoid schizophrenic dissociative identify disorder, self-injurious behavior Axis V – GAF = 50 Moderate to severe symptoms The Jokers symptoms show signs of severe psychopathic behavior with self-injurious behavior. He allows only his dark-side to show as a defense mechanism to avoid the emotional pain from being rejected, thus shielding his emotions from all possible future rejections.
DSM-TR - EVALUATION Dissocial personality disorder shows abnormal behavior patterns: the incapacity to love or show empathy; constant disregard and total irresponsibility for rules and social norms; little or no tolerance for frustration, aggressive, violent, lack of conscious, sadistic, transference, and chronically irritable. The apparent nervous breakdown of The Joker from underlying chemical imbalances interrupted the normal process in his brain. This evolved into pathophysiological changes in his brain causing it to dysfunction. The result of PTSD lead to acute stress disorder and, Dysthymic Disorder, Explosive Personality, Dissocial Personality, Dependent Personality, Histrionic, Narcissism, MDD/Major Depressive Disorder, Interpersonal rejection and mild sociopathy. He is hot tempered, aggressive, extremely violent, shows little tolerance for frustration and challenges to his ideas, afraid of relationships, blames others for his situation and transfers guilt for his actions. Much encouragement and self-actualization training is needed to rediscover his true identity and bring that person back to the forefront of his personality. This behavior is considered non-treatable; however, I beg to differ. Some people
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are reachable, and the Jokers actions are an apparent cry for someone to love and understand him. I believe that he is reachable, if he can find someone to build a relationship with and love him just the way he is. (McAfee, 2009; Marjin et al, 2009; Siever, 2002; Hare, 2009)
CAUSES: Character 1 BATMAN Batman’s personality was developed from an environmental factor PTSD and biological factor of chemical imbalances in the brain. He was very close to both parents and felt responsible for what happened due to a childhood phobia of bats. The acute distress and trauma from the death of both parents lead to depression and PTSD with acute stress disorder. He had some counseling which allowed him to regain some of who he was; however, he developed a sociopathic personality towards criminals and impulsively feels the need to be a hero. He’s has developed a dependent personality on a childhood friend whom he seeks the love and attention of. His attachment problem causes him to keeps the many women in his life at a distance which is indicative of Narcissism. (Psyweb, 2009; Goodman, 2009) Character 2 THE JOKER The Joker’s personality was caused by Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. He developed psychotic behavior and schizophrenia due to the catastrophic experience of helplessly watching his wife become disfigured. He engaged in self-injurious behavior after his nervous breakdown by cutting his face from left to right to let her know that he loved her just the way she was. However, she not only rejected this gesture but left him due to the act itself. Her abandoning him caused more personality changes and more chemical imbalances in the
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brain. The brain dysfunction leads to the development of abnormal behavior, violent tendencies that lasted for a very long period of time. (Psyweb, 2009)
CONCLUSION Batman and The Joker were good people who became victims of a traumatic violent criminal act. They watched helplessly as perpetrators killed and mutilated someone they loved. This brought about attachment issues for both men; Batman’s obsession with a childhood friend blocked any opportunities of finding love elsewhere and starting a family. The Joker was afraid of rejection, therefore he avoided interpersonal relationships. Batman was able to get positive reinforcements to counteract his negative self-image, whereas, The Joker did not. Batman wore many faces to hide the pain left behind from his trauma; however, he took matters in his own hands by taking on a hero-complex. This put his life in constant danger and sometimes others. However, The Joker delved into self-loathing because he gave more of himself than he got back, therefore, he lost trust in women and mankind which made him angry and bitter. He was afraid to take a chance at love and love himself in spite of appearances. Batman developed an antisocial and dissociative personality as did The Joker. There is only one difference between the two and that is their ability to adapt to a new self-image apart from PTSD. They both lost their true identity; they both were good natured people, but lost trust in people. However, one received counseling and the other did not. Batman’s sociopath behaviors are not as severe as The Joker’s; I would not go as far as saying a psychopath because they both are able to feel. Batman hated himself for allowing insecurity and fear to put his family in harms way. The Joker hated himself for being so
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trusting in relationships both intimate and socially. Batman was able to recover some of true identity, however, The Joker’s true self died. Trust and rejection are lethal bullets that destroy self-esteem and self-worth and cause the victim to indulge in aggressive and violent behaviors with self-destructive tendencies as a defense mechanism. However, this defense mechanism may give rise to antisocial behaviors. PTSD is detriment to the mental heath of anyone who experienced a violent act or life changing event, therefore, therapy, medication, support groups and/or counseling is the only solution if the person is going to be able to recover their true self.
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