Existential Returns

No longer were there individual destinies; only a collective destiny, made of plague and emotions shared by all.—Albert Camus1 Confronting COVID-19 is nothing short of an existential event, one that has required us simultaneously, en masse, to pose and answer questions that might otherwise arise only here and there, in sadnesses and moments of fragility experienced in isolation. Many colleagues and patients have shared with me that this event has sparked a sense of urgency—not only about what we should do or ought not—but how we might think, feel, and tolerate this global encounter with vulnerability and loss. To Coler, what makes this film funny, not “funny ha-ha” but “funny peculiar,” is that it is unique in seriously addressing the question: what might realistically constitute the background and mental world of one of the most iconic comic book villains?