The Killing Joke

I recently started reading comics and though I've been a fan of the random superhero for the majority of my youth, I have sound something quite different in comics. For one, the idea that comics were written for children is a fallacy. The kid of stuff that goes on between those glossy magazine covers shouldn't be touched by children with a ten-foot pole. Comics are made for teens and up. Also the stories are just made of guys in tight suits fighting villains with superpowers. Some books contain great rhetoric and some rather deep themes.

For example, one rather popular Batman comic, The Killing Joke was written in 1988. In this comic, The Joker kidnaps Commissioner Gordon and attempts to drive him mad by showing him graphic pictures of his daughter, whom the The Joker had shot and stripped. This is inter-spaced by flashbacks of The Joker's origins, from a struggling comedian to a criminal psychopath. The Commissioner retains his sanity long enough for Batman to rescue him. While Batman is pursuing the Joker through a demented fun house, the Joker recites to him what has become known as "The Killing Joke":

"So I see you received the free ticket I sent you. I'm glad. I did so want you to be here. You see, it doesn't matter if you catch me and send me back to the asylum. Gordon's been driven mad. I've proved my point! I've demonstrated that there is no difference between me and everyone else. All it takes is just one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That's how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day. You had a bad day once, am I right? I know I am. Why else would you dress up like a flying rat!? You had a bad day, and it drove you as crazy as everybody else!! Only you won't admit it. You have to keep pretending that life makes sense, that's there's some point to all this struggling. God, you make me want to puke!! I mean, what is it with you? What made you what made you what you are? Girlfriend killed by the mob maybe? Brother carved up by some mugger? Something like that I bet. Something like that. Something like that, happened to me. I'm not exactly sure what it was. Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes I remember it another. If I'm going to have past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!! Hahaha!! My point is, I went crazy when I when I saw what a black awful joke the world was. I went crazy as a coot! I admit it. Why can't you? I mean, you're not unintelligent. You must see the reality of the situation. Do you know how many times we've come close to World War Three over a flock of geese on a computer screen? Do you know what triggered the last World War? An argument over how many telegraph poles Germany owed it's war debt creditors. Telegraph poles!!! It's all a joke!! Everything anybody ever valued or struggled for, it's all a monstrous demented gag. So why can't you see the funny side!? Why aren't you laughing?"

At the end Batman captures The Joker and offers him a chance of psychological help. The Joker responds with another joke before bursting out laughing. Batman stares at him for a second and then bursts out laughing as well, implying that Batman is in fact as insane as The Joker, but handles it differently.

And I read this, I couldn't help but wonder if The Joker was really crazy. We look at people and think, "I'll never become like that," or "How horrible! What did they do to get like that." And sometimes, all it really took was just one bad day. I have my family and my friends, people who love me and people I love. They are what keep me together, what keep me sane. What would I do if it were all taken away from me in an instant, would I be able to stay sane. Would I be able to survive just "one bad day"? I'd like to say that I would, that I'm strong enough to survive, but the truth is, I honestly don't know.

So please, never look down on others who may seem to not have lived up to any sort of expectation. Sometimes the only thing that stands between you and them, is one bad day.