The year 2007 saw the release of a movie whose Academy Award winning character revolutionized the concept of cinematic villains. The movie in question is Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight; and the new bad-guy is the Late Heath Ledger’s Joker. This new Joker was unlike any of the earlier versions of the character. Crazier, more charismatic, more psychotic and in a strange way, he made sense. I was impressed with the basic ideologies which The Joker conveyed and after watching the movie more than 8 times, I began pondering on certain social aspects that The Joker touched upon.
The first question that popped up was, ‘What is this Society’? What does it do? Why does it conform to a system of Law and Order? First of all, I believe we must try and define this concept of order.
Order, as in, Law and Order, is a set of guidelines that are drawn after extensive consideration of all aspects of human and social behavior such that the greatest beneficiary is the majority that forms the society, and how deviations from this norm must be dealt with for the efficient functioning of the same.
Is such a thing required? Nobody knows. But since such a tradition has been around since time immemorial, no one questions its existence. Every self help book advertises one thing – constantly challenge yourself, for that’s what makes you stronger. But society as a whole, hates such challenges as it would mean constantly adapting and therefore developing towards a state where majority is overtaken by the individual responsibility. And while everything is perfectly in place and trudging along to the satisfaction of the ruling majority, The Joker arrives.
A nihilist believes that there is no real purpose to life and the world in general.
An anarchist believes in removal of existing orders for various reasons.
An agent of Chaos believes that the purpose of life lies in removing the order, not for want of lack of it, but just for the fun of it.
The Joker is “The Agent of Chaos”, for he believes that chaos is the only thing that is impartial in this world. Rules can be interpreted as required, giving an undue advantage to the more educated people. The Law can invariably be bought by money. Power mostly resides with money, while respect and dignity let you just be where you are.
Chaos gets things done. Anyone who is harmed by it was not harmed by any plan or specific targeting. They were harmed because of their own actions which lead them into a position where they are the most probable to get affected by the situation.
The Joker serves as a mirror for the society’s imbalances in its quest for order and rules. He shows how imperfect laws are and how easily the very majority who formed the laws are ready to break it for their individual survival. The joker likens himself to a dog chasing cars. “I wouldn’t know what to do if I actually caught one. I just DO things. I am a wrench in the gears.”
He explains how society values itself greater than the individual and the importance it gives to order and how it gets threatened when its authority is challenged. He says, “if I tell the press that tomorrow a truckload of soldiers will blow up, nobody panics, coz it’s all according to plan. But if I say that one little old mayor will die, everybody loses their minds!” Soldiers are expected to die. So, it seems that it’s ok to kill them, because that is what they are meant for. How different is the soldier’s life from the mayor’s? Both are human lives. How is society able to accept such contradictions!!?
In another instance, the joker shows how the people on the street are ready to kill an individual, in fear of their own lives. The commoners actually patrol the streets with guns to murder one man because the Joker says “if that man lives tonight, I will blow up a hospital”. Again, the concept of ‘The Greater Good’ raises its ugly head. It is intriguing though, to wonder, how those people would have reacted if they had been made the targets.
In a final dialogue with Batman, The Joker comments on how incorruptible batman is as he just will not kill. He refers to their meeting as “what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.”
What we need to look at in this character is, what was his primary objective? Was it to kill the batman? Obviously not as he himself laughs at the question and says “I won’t kill you, because you are just too much fun.” Joker is not such a simple person. The whole game with Batman was just his own “fun” way of showing humanity how decadent and manipulatable we have become. A rude awakening I suppose.
The Joker can only be understood if we look beyond social norms, taboos and the rigid fencing we have covered ourselves in. The philosophy of the joker is not in anarchy, but in chaos. Chaos is NOT a state where order cannot exist. It is a state where order is simply one of the possibilities. In that way, The Joker can truly be considered, not just as a simple psychopath, but a true Revolutionary.
