Gotham City is arguably the most popular fictional city in the world of comic books.
Gotham is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of Batman. The city was first identified as Batman’s place of residence in Batman #4 (December 1940) and has since been the primary setting for stories featuring the character.
Gotham City is traditionally depicted as being located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Over the years, Gotham’s look and atmosphere has been influenced by cities such as New York City and Chicago.
Locations used as inspiration or filming locations for Gotham City in the live-action Batman films and television series have included New York City, New Jersey, Chicago, Vancouver, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, London, and Hong Kong.
As it’s the home of Batman, it obviously is also the home of his arch-nemesis, the Joker. The Joker is a character often portrayed as a criminal mastermind, psychopath, with a sadistic and twisted sense of humour.
However, Joker, a movie produced in 2019 by Todd Philips explored a possible origin story on how the character became what he is known for today.
Arthur Fleck’s world is a filthy Gotham City reminiscent of the late 1970s/early 1980s New York, he works at a clown-for-hire agency and lives in a horrific apartment building with his touched, frail mother, Penny Fleck.
Though Arthur has aspirations of becoming a stand-up comedian, he is hampered by a number of mental issues, including an emotional disturbance that causes uncontrollable fits of laughter. He’s a misfit who tries hard but is regularly beaten down by the world around him, both metaphorically and literally.
At a public event, Arthur confronts Thomas Wayne, who his mum tells him is his father and Thomas tells him that Penny is delusional and not his biological mother.
In denial, Arthur visits Arkham State Hospital and steals Penny’s case file; the file says Penny adopted Arthur as a baby and allowed her abusive boyfriend to continuously abuse them both. It is through this abuse that Arthur becomes mentally ill as a scene in the movie talks about Penny’s boyfriend hitting a young Arthur’s head with a heavy object.
My question is, why would any society allow a mentally ill person to adopt a child?
Unfortunately, we face a similar issue in Ghana where we see mentally ill people get pregnant, give birth to perfectly sane children on the streets and society allows them to cater for the children. This situation is viewed by almost everyone but no one makes an attempt to secure these children from their mentally retarded parents, we continue to risk the future of these children and our society.
As seen in Joker, Arthur Fleck’s future was nothing to write home about and he became so traumatized by the abuse and hate society constantly threw at him that he finally snapped and sprang on a murdering spree.
The World Health Organisation estimates that globally one out of every four persons suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder during the course of their lifetime.
In Ghana, however, there is no comprehensive data on the incidence of mental disorders. Information about the prevalence of mental disorders in Ghana is often based on estimates from the WHO or through anecdotal information. Based on the estimate from the WHO, at least 13 percent of the adult population in Ghana are likely to suffer from a mental disorder, with about 3 percent suffering from a severe mental illness.
Mad people are a danger to society and they must not be ignored. The scenario where mad people have murdered many people and caused mayhem across the country is very rampant but painful.
The recent butchering of a number of people by their mentally deranged relatives as well as those who are attacked on the streets and farms by these persons should be a wakeup call to the authorities and all in the society.
A case in point was a five-year-old boy who was butchered by a mental patient at AsikumaGyamena in the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District of the Central Region and later died at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital where he was admitted. According to the community members this same mental patient often rapes women at knifepoint, yet he still walks around freely.
In another instance, a mad man who roamed around the Takoradi market circle area is alleged to have raped women frequently.
Also, there was a report in the Ashanti Region where a madman butchered four people including a schoolboy and a nursing mother at Abrepo Junction.
Do we have to wait for these children’s lives to be influenced by the violence and whatnots they are exposed to on the streets? Do we have to wait for these children to become prostitutes, armed robbers, thieves, drug peddlers or perpetuate inhumane acts against others etc before we finally realize we have failed them as a society? Do we have to wait for these children to also roam naked or die of diseases before we realize we have failed them?
Some of these children are future doctors, lawyers, engineers, economists and even presidents who will be able to steer our country to a better place than where it is now but we are leaving these bright futures to rot out in the open.
For a start, the government can gather all these children and place them in orphanages and reformational centres to equip them with occupational skills so that they can contribute to the development of the nation.
Scholarships can also be offered to the smart and intelligent ones among them to further their education and become the future leaders they are meant to be.
A popular saying that exists among the black population in the United States of America is that; “The Hate You Give Little Infants F**** Everyone” (THUG LIFE). This quote means a child’s future is shaped by whatever he/she is exposed to in society.
Let us expose these children to education and a bright future and when we are reaping the rewards of such an initiative, we will pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.
credit: wikipedia.com|cinemablend.com|ghanamusicimage.com|newsghana.com.gh|researchgate.net
By Oti Desmond, a Level 300 student of the Ghana Institute of Journalism.
The post Joker’s Gotham City: A mirror of the Ghanaian society appeared first on Citinewsroom - Comprehensive News in Ghana, Current Affairs, Business News , Headlines, Ghana Sports, Entertainment, Politics, Articles, Opinions, Viral Content.
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