The Dark Knight
This is one of the greatest movies of this century, and undoubtedly, the Joker is what makes it stand out from the sea of other comic book movies and makes me really like this film. Most movies have typical characters that share nothing profound making you forget about them the next second you close the movie, and that’s why the handful of outstanding characters become memorable and are always a pleasure to analyze.
In this post, I will focus my attention on The Joker because I feel that this character shares a lot of great lessons regardless of the fact that he has a deep dark side. I advise you to watch this movie beforehand if you haven’t done it already because I will drop some spoilers and this is that kind of movie that is worth watching without knowing anything about it.
Disclaimer: I have to note that these are my opinions, that I took from the movie, but I advise you to watch it yourself, maybe you will feel differently or pick up on something I missed.
Good and Evil
The goal that the Joker is trying to accomplish throughout the whole movie is to prove that under certain circumstances even the good guys can become evil and one thing we can notice from that is that there’s no defined good and evil, they are subjective. Because good and evil are dependent on the viewer, anybody can turn one way or another regardless of their current moral values.
But, the truth is that what I consider good, some people may view as evil and vice versa, because all humans have different values and their perception of the world is based on those values. To give you an example, look at Batman, he is portrayed as the good one in the movie, but he is at the same time beating down other people, which is considered an evil act. Yes, those villains may do a lot of harm, and the Batman is fighting them may make them stop, but physical aggression is still an evil trait making the Batman bad even a little bit.
The point I’m trying to make is that there’s no black and white, everything’s gray, a whiter or darker shade of gray, just combinations of the two. You need to have both, the good and the evil, the light and the dark so you can enjoy them. If all you have is the pleasure, it becomes “normal;” you stop appreciating it so you need the pain so that you can notice the good times. Try living both the good and the bad times to their fullest because regardless of how long they last, their opposite will come eventually.
Planning
You can notice The Joker’s planning abilities from the beginning of the movie; he is always able to develop elaborate and brilliant strategies that almost always work as expected. Even though he says that he’s not a guy with a plan, truth be told, his plans are rather different from the popular conception of a “plan.”
When most people are making plans they are expecting everything to work accordingly and are trying to control the outcome, but life always gets in their way, and things may take a different turn, and then those people are often lost. The Joker, he’s different, he’s making plans, but he does understand that there are certain things he cannot control, so he’s not taken by surprise when things don’t go as planned. You have to understand that there are things outside your control zone that you have no effect over and the best thing you can do is to let them go and focus on what you can control.
You need to have a good plan because without one you will be lost, you will just let the world decide what’s best for you instead of making your own decision, but you also have to understand that it’s not enough to have a plan. If the things don’t go as planned, you can’t give up; you will have to adapt to the new circumstances and act upon them accordingly. Life is not rigid but fluid so you have to stay fluid and always be ready for change because sooner or later, something will change.
Freedom
Maybe the trait that makes The Joker stand out most is his total carefreeness, he’s never worried about what will happen, and he has no fears, he is free. Such freedom is inspiring to anyone because we, as humans beings, always had the wish to be free to do anything we want and The Joker resonates with us at a deeper level. But, before acquiring that total freedom, you have to understand that it comes with plenty of responsibilities. If you’re free, you are the one in control and can’t blame anybody for the way your life is evolving. By taking up the responsibility that is your life, you will experience one of the most amazing feelings of aliveness and, in the end, freedom.
The reason why The Joker can be so free is thanks to the fact that he's fearless since he understands a few fundamental things about how our fears work. You see, most people are crippled down by their concerns and are unable to act the way they would desire, but that is only because they don’t know what their fears actually mean and how they are created.
The truth about fear is that the whole feeling is just a mind game and once you understand it, you can break it. You only experience anxiety when you’re thinking about a scary situation; you’re feeling afraid before the actual event, but never when it’s happening because the whole fear was just in your mind. If you can break that mental boundary and do that thing you’re afraid of, you will experience how true freedom feels like.
Also, as the philosopher Osho believed, if you look at every fear you have, you will realize that they are all different manifestations of the fear of death. It’s normal to fear death, the unknown since it’s something deep hardwired into our brains but in fact, if you understand death, it could be liberating.
We know nothing certain about death, but there are two options. You either die, and nothing survives to live on in another world, and in that case, you have nothing to fear because you won’t exist anymore. Or you survive even after death, and in that case, regardless of where you end up you don’t have to fear, you have already won because you’re still alive.
The Joker understood that he’s not afraid of death so Batman has nothing to take from him and that’s what makes the Joker so free. You have nothing to lose because, in fact, you do not own anything since you’re just a tourist in this world.
Lessons Learned
You might have mixed feelings about The Joker, and that is entirely understandable, but anybody could learn a lot from this character and try to improve their lives. A wise person is not the one that learns only from great people but the one that can learn something from anybody, the one that can see past the things they dislike about that human and still learn something from them. It’s not going to be easy to make a fundamental change in your life but if you make little improvements every day, baby steps, on a long enough scale you will be able to notice how much you have improved.
You don’t need a plan for everything but to know what you want out of life and to have a plan on how to achieve that, while also staying open to change, you will undoubtedly make a considerable improvement in your life. Understanding that there’s not good and evil and also becoming freer every day will help you both in your pursuit for success but also will help you have better, more authentic relationships with the ones around you.
Self-improvement is not a thing you’re doing just for yourself but a gift for the world because by becoming a better person you might impact the people around you to get better and grow too. And such a life-long journey is worth pursuing by any means, even learning and improving yourself with the help of movies.
Make sure to tell me in the comment section what movie you would like to see featured in this series because I will check out most comments.
Authored by @GuyFawkes4-20
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I totally agree that the Dark Knight is one of the best Batman movie there is; and also one of THE best movie there is. Also, it's the movie that makes me like the Joker as a character. Before, I only seen the Joker as a villain, a nuisance that Batman needs to beat and send to jail. But after watching the Dark Knight, I learned the Joker's complexity as a character and not just some evil villain. Yes, the Joker in the Dark Knight is actually likeable (does that sound weird to you?) and not just your typical comic book villain. His backstory, character, agenda and likes. Everything about him is so well written in this film (I'm a fan girl. Bite me!). The things I like about the Joker is that he's complex, very complex, and extremely complex! All in all, I 'm a huge Joker and Dark Knight fan, hence I quickly click on this article after seeing it. Yay!
Hey @GuyFawkes4-20 and @adsactly. Thank you for an interesting article. I agree with some of your viewpoints in this article, but disagree with a few as well. I totally agree with the value of the lesson concerning planning and adapting to unplanned circumstances. If we aren't flexible to switch gears when necessary, we will constantly be frustrated.
I disagree a bit about the 'good and evil' concept. I believe in absolute truth, so I don't think good and evil is entirely subjective. So I don't agree with the viewpoint that there is 'no defined good and evil' in the world. All human beings would for instance agree that hurting another being with malicious intent for no apparent reason, would be considered 'evil' in essence. Except for a few select individuals with psychopathic tendencies, who would view this as a 'twisted form of good'. So if in that sense, you argue that the psychopath's subjective view would be that all the other human beings' "evil" is actually "good" - then, yes, it is subjective. That however is a whole new philosophical argument in itself.
How I would interpret the lesson we can learn here, is that every person has the intrinsic ability to make a choice for good or for evil. I wouldn't say every person has to have both good and evil. I would rather say every person has a daily choice whether they will choose good or evil in every situation.
Thank you for sharing your insights. The idea of perceived freedom and ultimate freedom, and how fear can have a hold on your life, is also an interesting topic, maybe we will get an opportunity to chat about that some more in the future. Thank you for sharing thought provoking content. Cheers.
I really enjoyed this modern anarchist take on the joker although the mark hamill version that is more pyschotic and cavalier in his approach will always be my favourite
The reason he is Batmans greatest enemy is because he represents all that batman become batman for. His a culmination of evil, chaos, destruction, sensleless violence and mindless abuse.
While most of batmans villians have a methodical approach and having some sort of desire to fill the joker has none making him even more dangerous, since he can only be stopped through death the one rule batman won't break.
This dynamic was played out beautifully i the movie and will always stick with me as one of the stand out comic book movies.
I really enjoyed your deep dive into the mind of the joker and while well thought out I feel we only really scratch the surface of this character. Since he has no origion story and just came to be his thinking, reasoning and decision making is so fluid since its not tied to any central theme, making him a great character to explore
Thank you@gentlebot sir.
Good night...
My favorite movie of all time! To think of what the 3rd movie would have been like with Heath returning as the joker.. :(
@adsactly Great article. Really I appreciate your efforts to bring us all these lessons in one article. That's a great job. Sometimes you need more time to learn one lesson. But to spend 5 minutes reading and learned a lot. That's great. Thank you for sharei
Watching this movie caused me to ask myself "how far am i willing to go for my dreams in the face of oppositions". Achieving your dreams may not always be a smooth ride but if you persevere you will come out on top. But if not, then you can part yourself on the back and say "good job" and live without any regret. I wish your success thanks for share.
Excellent film and excellent post, it is really very interesting the idea that transmits the film, I love it when Tyler encourages the rest of the men, to fight with some stranger in the street, he invites them to challenge the whole system of pre-established behavior , and lead his followers to think outside the box.
yes that very true i love these post but i need some insist on the blog
Nice, The Joker is one of my favorit villains, I think he is the best villain in the movies history.
@adsactly This is one of my favorite movies of all time, A lot of people can relate to this, whenever I feel bad, I always watch this movie and fresh my mind and it keeps me going.. This is not just a story of success but determination to success to.. The lessons you will gain in this movie, and also will smith did a tremendous acting in this movie. It's really amazing movie review thanks .
Nice series. I gonna read more.
How about reviewing K-Pax?
Great article @adsactly I am more like " learn something from anybody type", I found a lot of myself on these lines.
"Do I look like a man with a plan?"
I'm happy that I've came across your blog. I would like to see Suicide Squad
Wonderful post and explained in detail about movie in good way
Wonderful post and
Explained in detail about
Movie in good way
- srisha
I'm a bot. I detect haiku.
These lines are the moral of the story for me;
"Self-improvement is not a thing you’re doing just for yourself but a gift for the world because by becoming a better person you might impact the people around you to get better and grow too."
Nice post. And That was an amazing movie by the way
My favorite evil character now is Thanos from Avengers: Infinity War. Because his evilness is logic.
Good job, I would like to see Suicide Squad, excellent, THANKS for sharing!
Nice analysis.
Superb movie
All Christopher nolan’s movies have a costant background music which is amazing