Seriously... Jason had a point. Why is Joker still drawing breath? It's not Harvey Dent, Arnold Wesker or Harley Quinn, who there's a honest to God chance to cure them of their insanity and become productive members of society. Even Ra's al Ghul, who's probably killed more people than the Joker isn't above redemption. But the Joker is beyond that. He ain't ever going to be good. He knows what he's doing and he knows it's wrong in society… And he doesn't care. (The only time in my memory that I’ve seen Joker be an actual upstanding member of society, it was an alternate universe, where Superman lobotomized him.) The only person who's probably worse than the Joker is Lex Luthor, and that's because Lex is smarter and richer. (Seriously, Lex cross a serious evil threshold with the Everyman Project in ‘52’.) And Lex has pointed out that Superman likes being a hero too much to do it. But Batman supposedly doesn't have that problem.
I understand the Joker has to be around to be Batman's arch-nemesis, and I get Batman doesn't have to be the one to kill him. I get that and I respect that. But there's been plenty of others who's tried to kill Joker and Batman's actively gone out of his way to save his life. Hell, if he put as much effort into saving his own teammates as he does with the Joker, Jean-Paul Valley would still be around. Also Cassandra would have never been corrupted by Deathstroke, and that's not even mentioning Barbara, Jason, and Gordon's wife Sarah. Even the most stereotypical bleeding heart 'everyone deserves a chance' type would say "It's okay to let the Joker die.” Even the Spectre would say it's okay... And he's part God. (Like THE God, too.)
Now I'm willing to accept all of this, if they're willing to just come up with a single good excuse why he's alive. Why Batman won't let anyone else kill him. (Be it Jason, other mob bosses like Black Mask or Rupert Thorne, or even the Punisher.) Nightwing killed him once, and it wasn't even intentional. (A heat of the moment thing.) Batman performed CPR on Joker to save him, so Dick wouldn't have blood on his hands. Somehow, I think Nightwing, the former Blüdhaven cop, would have gotten over it. Everyone would understand. Barbara would understand. Alfred would understand. Superman would understand. His FATHER would understand. (And before points out the Dark Knight Returns, there was some seriously unique situations going on at that time.)
But I can't accept that "I'll become as bad as him" excuse because that's bullshit and it's always been bullshit. Police and soldiers kill. Are they bad people?
"But that's self-defense!"
No, not always. There are plenty of times they got to kill someone, not for their own safety but the safety of others. And especially soldiers. (Especially snipers.) You think every al Queda terrorist was shooting at an trooper when a predator plane flew into them?
"That's different. That's war!"
And Batman doesn't always refer to his fight against crime as a "war"? In fact, does he not often refer to his Robins as his "soldiers"?
"But killing is the coward's way out!"
Oh yes, and arresting, locking him in an asylum, where he'll escape and kill again, and repeat this over and over again to the point it's a joke is the brave way? Sounds like the moronic way. Isn't the whole reason Batman exist is because he knows the system is corrupt? He knows that all that's going to happen is the Joker will be locked up at Arkham and escape all over again. There's an old phrase that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result each time.
So either the great Dark Knight Detective is the dumbest son of a bitch in the world, or he's just as crazy as the people he locks up.
I'm not saying ‘kill him.’ I’m just saying next time he falls off a building, DON’T throw the Bat grapple out to save him.
Sad thing is... The little bastard Damian Wayne gets it.
2 comments:
I'll grant the "it's too easy" can be a cop-out and that probably even Buddha would look at all the Joker has done, then look Bats in the face and say, "Dude...seriously?" And for the sake of the argument, let's completely remove the fact that killing Joker "for reals" would rob us of one of the most beloved-to-hate villains in fictional history. So I offer the following:
1. Batman could feel that giving into that kind of desire could result in a slippery-slope (I mean, he gave into Talia, then finds he's got a homicidal son to deal with). Sure, right now, there's context that other "less crazy" Arkham inmates can be fixed.
-Harvey was cured for over a year.
-Harley Quinn...well, she kind of changes with the tides (particularly with the recent issue of Gotham City Sirens).
-Nigma actually ASSISTED Batman for a while (which, frankly, I enjoyed).
After letting the Joker die, what's to keep him from letting Maxie Zeus fall off the edge of a building, clamoring for help until he goes splat on the pavement. What's to keep him from deciding NOT to give medical treatment to a critically wounded Penguin? Why pull his punches in yet another duel with Hush? That's to say nothing of less theatrical criminal scum he catches. Sex offenders, child abusers, etc.
Perhaps, being willing to save someone as horrible as the Joker, not giving in to the urge to let him die, is what helps Batman maintain his own sanity in the ocean of madness he frequently encounters.
2. Maybe that's what the madman wants. Nothing would please him more than to die as a result of Batman's actions or lack thereof. It would mean the unequivacol insanity with which he views the world is valid, even if only a little.
Sure, under certain circumstances Batman or his friends could lie to any inquiry and say there was nothing they could do to save him. But that wouldn't change anything, the truth would (realistically) come out eventually. It could be a victory in the war--perhaps a war all itself--that Batman is not willing to give to his archnemisis.
-SporkBot
See I'm past the 'Why hasn't Batman taken out Joker.' argument. What I wonder is why society hasn't taken out the Joker. He gets caught and is put in an insane asylum. You'd think by now he'd either be put in a federal prison where they would've sentenced him to death. Or, when brought into justice, they'd consider him a terrorist and an 'enemy combatant'. I could still see Batman holding out, but why are 480 million other people in the country so complacent?
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