the Joker and me ...

This post is not about characterization of the clown in the Dark Knight movie Or the acting of Heath Ledger for which he got an academy award. This is about the philosophy of the joker.

The first time I saw the movie, I was awestruck. I never imagined that some one could actually understand the joker and present him exactly the way he is. Comic books and previous Batman movies failed to create the real clown. They only make his looks scary. But hats off to Nolan brothers, they have shown that Joker is not scary because of his looks but for his thoughts. To me, Joker is the guy who understands the system in Gotham completely, sees its flaws and puts them across in the wrong way.

Nolan brothers created a Joker who understands 'the greedy' and 'me, myself and my family' part of others and pushes them to the limit of their beliefs. He tests there integrity. In the movie at various situations he uses and plays with people, with their desires, beliefs and fears, and dumps them once they are done with. Here are few examples-
1. Opening bank robbery sequence. He uses thug's greedy nature and hints them to kill their partners once the other's work is done.
2. Gives option to Gambol's assistants to join him for 'aggressive expansion' after he kills Gambol.
3. Uses Berg's and Ramirez's family fears to do unethical things of killing and betraying compatriots.
4. Uses 'The Chechen' wish of earning money, to get control over the mob (Remember Joker says "You and your kind, all you care about is money. This city deserves a better class of criminal. And I'm gonna give it to them!")
5. Gives Harvey Dent, his 'Ace in the hole', philosophy of chaos and fairness to convince him that society is not worth his loyalty and sacrifice. To do this, I realized the Joker indeed understood Harvey Dent completely, Harvey's belief of taking decisions in the name of chance.

The only place he fails to capitalize other's fears is with the people in the ferries. And of course with the Batman.

The director presents us with classic conversations between Joker-Batman, Joker-Harvey Dent. Here are few lines of them, to see how Joker tries to convince other's using their beliefs/fears.

Joker to Batman (in Gordan's cell) -
"Don't talk like one of them. You're not! Even if you'd like to be. To them, you're just a freak, like me! They need you right now, but when they don't, they'll cast you out, like a leper! You see, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these... these civilized people, they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve."

Here Joker tries to see if Batman really gives-in with the fear of being called an outlaw or condemned. Tries to demoralize him saying the efforts, risks he is taking are not worth the people of the city he lives in. But Batman has belief in people and the system.

What really caught me is Nolan brothers understanding of the present situation in the society and presenting it through the Joker. The lines "You see, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be." clearly say that. I have realized at many instances that people base their thinking on relative beliefs. I know the term relative-belief is abit confusing, here's an example to explain - I had a friend, during my under-grad, who at the beginning was very enthuastic and sincere in his preparation and efforts during examinations. There were many others who used to copy during the exams and get more marks than him. He first felt disappointed, then dejected and finally gave up. When I spoke to him during our final year of under-grad, he replied "What is the point of preparing? Just by copying people are getting marks. Why shouldn't I follow the same path?" and he continued to do it. The saddest part of this that I found he extended this philosophy to other parts of his life. Now he speaks vulgar language, gave into drinking (no offense to drinkers here), looks for every opportunity to utilize the flaws in the system. My point is, he was very simple, straight forward, truthful when he began his life at the college. Just sighting other's acts he evaluates his acts and changes them along with his principles and beliefs.

I find many people saying "Why should I do or follow this? Nobody does. They don't get penalized, on the other hand get benefits not following it." They don't see what is truth, ethical or right way. They change their beliefs in comparison and experiences with the surroundings. Now can you see why I call their beliefs relative? So, when the Joker says "They're only as good as the world allows them to be." we can see that he is referring the people who DO GOOD only in their comfort zone, but when pushed little harder, drop down to commit barbarous acts. Of course, at the end of the movie Nolan brothers give us hope that people are not as bad as Joker presents them to be, by showing that so called good citizens of Gotham and Harvey Dent's scum bag of criminals don't blow up each other on the ferries. There is a beautiful sequence wherein we are showed how GOOD people decide to kill others when their survival is at stake and how BAD people don't look at it as an option at all. Good and bad get really blurred here, and question us to look for something greater to take decisions.

Joker to Harvey Dent (in Gotham general hospital) -
"You know... You know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go "according to plan". Even if the plan is horrifying! If, tomorrow, I tell the press that, like, a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it's all "part of the plan." But when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds! Introduce a little anarchy, upset the established order. Then everything becomes chaos. And you that thing about chaos don't you? its fair."

Here, I realized a serious flaw in my understanding of the system and laws, thanks to the Joker for this. Previously, the above lines wouldn't make any sense to me. When ever I read news like "8 soldiers die in a encounter with terrorists/naxals" I felt sorry for them. When I read "2 people die in a road accident" I felt sorry for them. But after listening to these lines in the movie, I realized that the amount of feeling I associated with both the events of death was different. Then, I realized the reason behind it. It is because I took loss of a soldier in his line of duty as acceptable (part of the plan as Joker calls it) and not the death of civilians in an accident. This seriously disturbed me. Death of a person is equivalent to another, no matter what their professions are. This is the point Joker was trying to raise to Harvey Dent (at the least that's what I feel). But when I feel my thinking has a flaw I should agree to the Joker like Harvey Dent does. Here is the serious mistake Harvey Dent did. By realizing that our belief has a flaw we should not cross it and break it to our own convenience, but rather put efforts to understand it in a better way. Harvey Dent loses the sense of right and wrong, drops down his thinking to taking revenge of Rachel Dawe's death. As I said before, Joker was able to grasp Harvey Dent's love for Rachel and his sense of chance, and twist him.

Harvey Dent in the end says "You thought we could be decent men in an indecent time. But you were wrong. The world is cruel, and the only morality in a cruel world is chance. Unbiased. Unprejudiced. Fair."
How many of us would have respected the system and law when we experience great pain? The situation seriously questions our beliefs.

It is not that Harvey Dent developed these feelings about the society all of a sudden, here's a little conversation with Rachel during fund raiser given by Bruce Wayne -
Harvey Dent: You can *not* leave me alone with these people.
Rachel Dawes: The whole mob's after you, and you're worried about *these* guys?
Harvey Dent: Yea, well, compared to *these* guys, the mob doesn't scare me.

This is the basic difference between Batman and Harvey Dent. Though both were fighting for cleaning the society, when come across personal crisis, take different paths. Batman had faith in the system. He believes his role is only to give a helping had to Law and not to take Law into his own hands (That's why he never kills anyone). Harvey Dent failed to see this point even though he was a good citizen and a responsible public servant. Also, Batman is fortunate enough to have old wise Alfred on his side in those crucial times. Alfred gives him wisdom to look beyond himself and take right decisions which will bring greater good even at personal loss.

Running through these thoughts, I couldn't help myself but draw parallels and inspiration from stories I was told from my childhood. These stories, part of Hindu philosophy, are about warriors, saints, demons, demigods and gods, were written as guidelines for the people to get inspiration from. The point I realized with my experience with Joker philosophy is that, the present understanding of individuals in the society is guided mostly by their personal experiences and not on some higher principles of living. Relative nature is playing a bigger role than absolute and eternal. Many people no longer judge their acts based on principles and ethics but rather do by their greed and other's greedy acts. For example, a person can say "why shouldn't I abscond tax, when our ministers themselves are so corrupt?" As you can see this person takes actions on relative basis and not on what is right.

The story of inspiration I was referring to was Ramayana. Because I am fan of Rama, I tend to refer to him quite often. He was the single person who believed in following Dharma (the rightful act). He dint even look for his own comforts or profits and tried to establish Dharma in his kingdom. After the war with Ravana, he asked Sita to leave him though he knew that there was no fault of her and had confidence in her. His Dharma as a son of renowned king Dasaratha, and as a prince of Ayodhya prioritized his role of husband. He clearly expresses his respect towards Sita when he says "When eyes get a disease they cant see the source of light clearly, so is my thought about you right now." He means, Sita is the light source, without any fault, but he himself is faulty to question her. Now, how many of us put our personal beliefs and desires aside for a greater good? We don't even know what Dharma or rightful act is, now a days. And are in a position to ask if it carries any meaning now.

My point of referring to Ramayana is to just put forth the following -
Joker was able to play with people because of their improper understanding of the system. But if at all we had guidance like Alfred (in my sense scriptures), we can take much much better decisions and direct ourselves for greater good. Don't be Harvey Dents but be Batmans! The Joker too accepts that Batman is incorruptible in the end.

And, the Joker is now where else but in us. Driving us crazy by showing us path of relatives, and dragging us down to lose our integrity and ethics. The fight with Joker is always ON! whenever he gets a chance, he seduces us. Taking help of age old wisdom is important in any situation.