The Dark Knight

Published on July 25, 2008

Now Vicki has got me thinking! Last night Hansel & I saw the new Batman movie: Dark Knight. Like a typical super hero movie there is the battle between good and evil: Batman vs the Joker. A few scenes in the movie Batman is presented the opportunity to kill the Joker. But he never does. Why? WHYYYYY!?!?!? (It’s terrible to think how desensitized to killing we’ve become when you find yourself frustrated in your seat because the “good guy” won’t just knock off the “bad guy”. )

The Batman lives. Sorry if I spoil this for anyone, but the Joker lives too. The conclusion narrator give a little speech at the end about hero’s fighting evil for so long that eventually they can turn into the villain (Law of Attraction possibly?!?!?!). But I just couldn’t get over why Batman didn’t kill the Joker. Get rid of him. He was the main culprit of all the evil deeds in Gotham. He didn’t even do it for the money like the other bad guys…the Joker was evil for the pure joy of being evil. Then, in reading Vicki’s post this morning, it hit me. Batman never kills the Joker, thus to keep the balance between good and evil in the universe of Gotham. You just can’t stifle, suppress, kill all the bad in the world. You have to learn the tools of handling it and keeping the delicate balance between the two. In Batman’s case, he gave the Joker over to the authorities–the police. It will be up to society’s set of rules and jurisdictions to take care of him, the person, now. But that “pure evil” that lives in the Joker, will still exist…if its on the streets, behind bars, or located in the nucleus of our own egos. Do we choose to ignore it, suppress it? Perpetuate it by attempting to kill it? Or do we accept that it is there and find ways to manage it, live with it, maybe even love it?

It all comes down to BALANCE. The Yin and Yang. Batman and Joker. Self and the Ego.