More Pontification Upon "The Dark Knight"

Michael Patton writes well below. I think I tend to agree with his assessment:

While I discounted the theory that says this movie is simply serving as a Heath Ledger memorial service, I do believe that the character he played is what is bringing people in—The Joker. The Dark Knight was an extremely well written movie from beginning to end. The Batman was tremendous and represented all the characteristics we like to see in a superhero. But the movie was not really about him. It was about the Batman and the Joker, and the focus to understand Batman was ployed by The Joker. In this, he became the central character of the movie. The focus of our attention.

The Joker was everything a villain is supposed to be. Evil, sadistic, ruthless, and cold. But there was something else. He had something that no other villain has. A characteristic which is an anti-characteristic. In fact, the point of the Joker was that who he was made no sense. Why did he kill? Why was he bent on destruction? Why did he hate? What did he hate? Did he even hate? What is his motivation? We know why Batman is who he is (the death of his parents at the hand of a thief), but we don’t have a history on file for The Joker. The movie leads you. It tricks you. It turns you into the Worlds Greatest Detective in that you are seeking, along with Batman, to know why The Joker does what he does. Once you think you have him figured out, once you have answered the “why?” question, you, along with Batman, find out that you took a wrong turn. The Joker was not in the game for money, power, women, fame, or any other hope, good or bad, that you could pin on him. He was not seeking to “win.” There was no “deep down inside . . .” to figure out with him. Each time death presented itself to him, he laughed as if it was simply a continuation of some adventure. In the end, the gruesome realization is that there is no reason why The Joker was who he was. And that was the point of the movie.

Fascinating. Dark. Frightening. A horror movie unlike any other. Some might even call this movie prophetic. Not prophetic in the sense that we are seeing what our future holds, but prophetic in the sense that this movie reveals with the most vivid illustration ever put on film what utter nothingness looks like.

In the character of The Joker, our culture looks into the mirror and sees what it is becoming. Nihilism is what it is sometimes called. Nihilism is the anti-philosophy of a world that has no hope, no motives, no standards, and no values. The Joker is the Nihilist who believes in nothing, cares for nothing, and pursues nothing. At one point The Jokers says, “I have no plans. I am like a dog chasing a car. I would not know what to do if I caught it.” There is no rationalism because there is no such thing as order, reason, or ends that create purpose. It is just the moment, and the moment is ruled by randomness.

Our postmodern culture may see itself in the character of The Joker. Like a person who has not seen his face in many years, we are going to the mirror to take a look.

Is our culture nihilistic like The Joker? This is a good question that I cannot answer. What I can say is that we have been heading in that direction for quite some time. John Hannah calls this age the “age of despair.” The Joker is the next step. It is when the despair turns to apathy and we are what we are and we don’t care what we become. With the deconstruction of morals, truth, knowledge, revelation, and the like, is it any surprise that so many people are going to look in the mirror?

That is my two cents.

Why do you think Batman is making so much money?

Here is another good reflection upon the movie as well, "Heath Ledger’s Joker is the Sanest Man in Gotham"

(HT: Erik)