The Joker, and Human Nature

The Joker, a striking evil character from the renowned DC comic Batman has a larger fan base than Batman. The admiration skyrocketed when Heath Ledger played the part in 2008 for The Dark Knight. I started thinking on a simple question of why Joker is more admired or more praised by the general public than the hero who saves the fictional city of Gotham from mayhem. Thinking more about it led me to the psychological states of the people living in this day and age.

“I just do things” says the Joker in a scene, this dialogue implies the free state of mind the Joker’s character is based on. This general “freeness” is what most of us are also trying to achieve in our day to day life. We tend to find ourselves in a deep dark pit with a lot of hopeless things that we need to solve. The Joker, on the other hand, comes around with his don’t care attitude and provides us with the sense of what being free really can be like. It’s our pursuit for being free that makes us more attracted towards The Joker.

Joker’s goal is to cause huge amounts of chaos. He makes room for it, he executes it. Ordinary motivations don’t seem appealing to him. Which brings us to the basic question most of us struggle with, What is my purpose in life? The Joker is a person who has a purpose, who is doing everything to execute it, and he is as motivated as one can be. What the plan is aside, he provides a sense of purpose. A purpose that keeps him going day and night. We struggle to find that purpose for ourselves. Everyone has come to the realization that life needs a purpose, but finding that purpose is daunting, and sadly not many can do it right, let alone do it.

The Joker doesn’t want to kill Batman, he creates suffering for him. It is the basic truth of human existence that we make enemies. There are some people that you would rather have not exist in your life. The Joker takes it to the next level by not ending his opponent, but making him suffer. A swift ending can be satisfying, but the real satisfaction is in seeing our enemy burn, that is what the Joker portrays. Our intentions to hurt do not boil as much, but I think deep down in our minds, they are still buried. The Joker amplifies that feeling to a great extent.

I have been thinking about human nature a lot lately and this article was a tool of self expression. Humans are a complex being, what motivates us, what brings us down, it is all tangled in such a beautiful way that untying it can lead to you knowing more about yourself. With that said, this article was purely opinion based and my understanding of human nature.

Thanks for reading this far, I appreciate it.