The joker and I

The Oscars this year disappointed me. I have nothing against Slumdog Millionaire, and perhaps it was the best candidate for all the awards it got. But not best director and best screenplay. To me, if "The Dark Knight" did not get these awards, then yes the Oscars are an annual semi-farce. I have heard this 'allegation' from many people at many different times. But this is the first time in my life that I've seen some of the movies that were nominated for the Oscars, and actually had an opinion about the movies which I came up with entirely by myself. :) But I don't wish to speak about biased Oscars, nor about selling India's poverty in the Slumdog Millionaire. And neither do I want to go on at length about a review of the Dark Knight or how Heath Ledger got the Oscar only because he is dead. Instead, I wish to talk about the Joker.

I would rank the insights I've gained from the Joker's character as being close to the kind of pondering I had slipped into after reading Ayn Rand's work. Yes, it has been that powerful. In the perfect world, he says, everyone has a plan. A truckload of soldiers blowing up or a couple of gang members being killed - that is part of the plan. But as soon as someone threatens that a single politician (or in the movie, the Mayor) is about to be blown up, then suddenly everyone panics. Because its not part of the plan. The soldiers signed up to die, and the gangsters deserve to die. Think about it - we've already assigned the work of who needs to live in poverty, who gets the fat paycheck and who gets to toil out at the factory overnight. If you reach a house and there is quite a crowd there, you can immediately tell who to ask for a cup of tea. It is all part of the plan - someone is supposed to fetch you your tea, and you are supposed to lounge about, sip tea and discuss pseudo-secular politics.

For all the cultured discussions and proponents of peace we speak of, and in spite of all our liberal outlook we profess to have, all this falls apart at the slightest hint of danger. And more importantly, it falls apart when we get power over others. Whether you're the Brahmin who sneers at the Kayastha wedding, or if you are the "babu" at the steel plant displaying your power over the other worker, we are still hungry wolves. The Joker would probably have received a PhD in philosophy from some university, or led a revolution somewhere else. To me, the Joker is an immense talent wasted to petty psychiatric fallings of the mind. Yes it is scary to see what such a mind can do when put to the wrong use. But imagine the possibilities with a mind like that put to constructive purposes, or even just to the critique of the society. He'll probably be a philosopher or a best-selling author. Like most philosophies, the ones that come with a certain shock value are the ones that can move you into action and make you think. I think the Joker's philosophy had such potential. It is like the metal which has been purified by fire - while the immediate effect is scorching, it also removes all germs, dust and vice. The Joker test should be the true test of loyalty: like in the movie the boatloads of prisoners and ordinary citizens are given to choose who lives. Are those really the principles you believe in or is it some misguided sense of self-righteousness? When the time comes, will you choose what you believe in or will you choose your own immediate survival? Can you really keep your word, or are you among those squealers who'll abandon friends at the slightest hint of your own danger? Yes, I'm fascinated.