I have seen this kind of posts on Facebook maybe like a thousand times. Some years ago I used to even agree with this. Yes, Joker is better than Batman. He makes more sense, I used to think. But now I have realized that Joker's argument never really added up to anything. Only I was immature.
It’s nothing new that we are selfish. We are violent and evil. And yet, the point of our civilization is to go on, to be better than yesterday, to be kind, not succumb to evil, anarchy and chaos. It's to show inspiring examples, like Batman. Like he said that a hero could be anyone, even someone doing something as simple as putting a coat on a boy's shoulder, to let him know the world had not ended.
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. - Joker
What Joker knew about the true face of Gotham's citizens, Batman knew that all too. This monologue was nothing new to him. And yet, Batman chose to do his service selflessly. He tried to be better and make the city safer. Not give up to hopelessness and sadness, even in his dark times.
What Joker told and believed all throughout the movie only makes sense if we have to let chaos spread. Introducing a little anarchy. What Joker wanted and was a symbol of. But obviously, though we may find it appealing, at the end of the day we audience do not want that.
I now look at Joker and not see him as a smart psychopath with a realistic view of the people, you know “ahead of the curve”, but as an idiot, a short sighted maniac who only complained and complained and did no work himself to improve the system and was actually an obstacle for goodness.
And then there is another super villain from another universe that also lectured the hero about the true nature of people. Green Goblin
I chose my path, you chose the way of the hero. And they found you amusing for a while, the people of this city. But the one thing they love more than a hero is to see a hero fail, fall, die trying. In spite of everything you've done for them, eventually they will hate you. Why bother? - Green Goblin
And he was the same as well. An ambassador of complaints, who did himself nothing to improve the society and made the matter even worse. The point is Spider-man knew that too. And yet, he chose to believe in the human spirit and hope. He knew people would only find him amusing for a while and would love to see him fail, but he did help people anyway. Because he believed people are better than that and they could be better.
Later in The Dark Knight it was shown in this little social experiment scene that people are rather cute. And in Spider-man 2, the aftermath of the train scene also showed that people did care about the hero who saved them.
This contradicted Joker's and Green Goblin's argument. One more reason why they were wrong. Or do you think it was a lucky coincidence?
Characters like this may appear right and smart, but only when we don't give any reasonable thought to their arguments and accept them as they are presented. When we are tired with everything that’s happening around the world. We want to believe that the world is only capable of evil. But eventually we reflect again. We bother to think clearly and remember who we actually are, what's our duty here. But sometimes it’s nice to see that there is a symbol, there is a man who stood up and talked smartly about true human nature. And that is the point of entertainment and art, to let the audience surrender their thoughts and reasons. Make them seen. Make them escape for a while.
