“I’m going to become the Joker” is some of the internet’s most poignant shorthand. Referencing Todd Phillips’ dark 2019 film about the origins of the Batman villain, the phrase describes becoming so thoroughly disillusioned that one loses faith in everything.
Data about mental health suggests that even the most preternaturally chipper among us have tasted the Joker pill during the pandemic. But what if that Jokerfication is not fleeting? And what if it’s happening at a cultural, societal and institutional level?
