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Comparison of archival boxing practices in Canada/U.S. vs. U.K.

It’s been a while since we posted one of our articles pulling back the curtains on archival work. To make up for that, here’s a special edit

#archives #special collections #libraries #hollinger boxes

Stealing records from a mental hospital?: Archives in the "Joker" [Part 1]

Unnamed records clerk first shown. Look at those Hollinger boxes in the background! The records are being stored correctly in this scene. Did they consult any archivists when making this film? I sure hope so.

In the October 2019 film, Joker, Arthur Fleck, who later becomes the Joker, played by Jacquin Phoenix, tries to get records about his mother. A Psychology Today article noted that the "Joker goes to the Arkham State Hospital to retrieve his mother’s records" and that the hospital "is a neglected brick building that warehouses the disturbed, with long yellow corridors, caged doors, and an overworked staff." But this is only telling part of the story. The screenplay calls it the "document & records office" in the state hospital, with a clerk, said to be in his 40s, lugging in a "heavy storage box," beginning by saying "Sorry for the wait. All our records that are 10 years or older are stored in the basement. You're talking over 30 years ago, --I had to do some serious digging." Arthur nods and she asks him if he has a release from his mother and he nods no.

Reprinted from my Wading Through the Cultural Stacks WordPress blog. Originally published on Dec. 5, 2020.

As he continued to go through the files, he thinks he is making a connection, who talks about layoffs and cutbacks but then ends up insulting the clerk. Even so, the clerk, who defends themselves by saying they just file paperwork, then begins reading the file. He laments that he cannot give the file to Fleck without the right forms, saying that he needs his mom to sign a "patient disclosure form." Fleck won't take this, so he reaches under the metal cage and begins a tug of war over the file. He then bangs his head against the grate, surprising the clerk, allowing him to grab the file and run away.

He then goes to the stairwell and begins reading the file, leading to a flashback about his mother, and he reads the whole file, even more depressed about what he reads. The file does not seem to be mentioned again in the screenplay. I then went through screenshots of the film on Super Hero Screencaps to see if the film aligned with the screenplay or if there had been changes.

Fleck, who is disregarded by society, goes to the records center to find answers about his past, which could be considered a temporary repository for the hospital's records. It would be added to the city's Hall of Records, which doesn't show up in the film, but in other parts of the franchise, including in the 1992 Batman Returns film.