Tuesday, September 02, 2008
One bright sunny day, friends (whom I have not seen for a year or so) and I thronged into a busy little cinema with other happy movie-goers to watch The Dark Knight... and 152 minutes later, walked out disturbed, downcast, and downright depressed.Being one of the last to buy tickets, we sat 4th row from the front. This wouldn't normally be a problem, except that this time our proximity to the screen meant that for most parts of the movie, the Joker's face was thrust head. bang. smack. in. front. of. me.
And let me emphasise this. Heath Ledger's Joker is Freakin' Scary, and so are the things he (and some other characters) say(s):
Scary Thought Number 1 - JokerAs the last scenes of the movie fades away, with our long-suffering vigilante Batman hunted, condemned, and chased by dogs ('Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now'), so did all my faith in humanity. (I'm sorry, that faith wasn't all that strong in the first place, so it's quite easily destroyed).
'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. When they don't... They'll cast you out. Like a leper. See, their morals, their code... It's a bad joke. They're dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show ya. When the chips are down, these, uh.. these ... these civilized people, they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster; I'm just ahead of the curve.'
Scary Thought Number 2 - Joker
'Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. You know what I noticed? Nobody panics when things go according to plan. Even if the plan is horrifying. If tomorrow I tell the press that like a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it's all, part of the plan. But when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds!'
Scary Thought Number 3 - Two-Face
'You thought we could be decent men in an indecent time. But you were wrong. The world is cruel, and the only morality in a cruel world is chance... Unbiased. Unprejudiced. Fair.'
Scary Thought Number 4 - Alfred
'Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.' (!!!)
So I went back home in search of some kind of reassurance, any kind of cheery uplifting thing - and flipped out this quote from a library book:
Humans were born of risen apes, not fallen angels, and the apes were armed killers besides. And so what shall we wonder at? Our murders and massacres and missiles? Or our treaties whatever they may be worth; our symphonies however seldom they may be played; our peaceful acres however frequently they may be turned into battlefields. The miracle of man is not how far he has sunk, but how magnificently he has risen. We are known among the stars by our poems, not our corpses.
- Robert Ardrey
Somehow, it makes me feel better, although frankly, I'm not sure if it's enough.