After watching 2008’s The Dark Knight, most of you considered the Joker a villain.
But what if I said that the Joker was less of a villain and more of a mirror of society, and in a way, the Joker wasn’t completely wrong, and I’ll prove it.
So let’s spill some hot tea and understand my logic behind partially defending the Joker.
Gotham Already Rotten
Gotham was already corrupt. The police were in cahoots with the mafia. The wealthy were abusing their power, and the common people were powerless.
The Joker didn’t create corruption; he just exposed it.
He says:
I am not a monster. I’m just ahead of the curve.
And it’s completely true.
The system was already broken.
No Lies, Just Truth
The Joker’s greatest virtue was that he never lied. Listen to his dialogue.
Nobody panics when things go according to plan. They’re only as good as the world allows them to be.
Every line from the Joker exposes society’s hypocrisy, and the film makes that unmistakably clear.
Civilization is Conditional
Society is good as long as it’s comfortable. The Joker famously argued that when things go wrong, these civilized people will turn on each other.
Was this Joker’s philosophy flawed? No. This is a documented fact in physiology. We humans, behave well as long as we’re not in danger. The Joker exposed this with brutal clarity
Batman Rules vs. Broken System
Batman had a golden rule: no killing. But the problem was that no one in Gotham was following it. The Joker’s point was correct. If the system is unfair, then the fair rules don’t work. The Joker exposed the weakness of Batman’s rules.
Society Made the Monster
The Joker wasn’t born evil; society made him cruel.
This is the hardest point no one can deny. Believe it or not, people like the Joker aren’t born; they are made: Trauma, abuse, neglect, and systemic failure are what make them so.
To put it briefly, the Joker’s thinking was right, but his approach was wrong.
Violence, chaos, and the killing of innocent people to expose the truth cannot be justified.
Therefore, the Joker was partially right, but not fully.
So the conclusion is, the Joker didn’t become a villain because he was evil. He became a villain because society was already broken.
Being on the sidelines, I’d like to say that the Joker wasn’t crazy. He saw the truth. The world laughed at him because he saw their true colors.
Tell me in the comments how right you believe the Joker is.
If this breakdown hit you harder than Gotham hit the Joker, buy me a coffee.
