With the release of The Dark Knight on DVD this week, thousands are flocking--myself included--to the nearest Best Buy or Wal-Mart to purchase a copy of the record-breaking film. Comic-based movies have done very well for themselves in recent years and something is to be said for that alone. That is not our most pressing concern however. Instead, we want to raise the question, "What makes The Dark Knight surpass the rest in terms of critical review, box-office intake, and general popularity?" I'll give you one hint: it begins with a "Joke" and ends with an "Err."While its quality in many areas plays a supplemental role in the huge success of the first sequel in the latest Batman series, the Caped Crusader himself is not the character whom audiences are left talking about. Rather than the hero, it's the villain who has captured the minds and hearts of viewers. This isn't just any villain though; it's The Joker, the antithesis of not only all things heroic but all things meaningful. He has no tangible incentive for his actions and in his mind has nothing to lose. The Joker is a man who, as Michael Caine's character Alfred Pennyworth puts it, "just wants to watch the world burn."
The Joker character stands as a symbol for full-blown nihilism. Most commonly associated with the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche, nihilism is the philosophy that the world is devoid of any meaning, standards, values, and purpose. Existence is pointless, in other words. In an August blog post titled "Why is Batman Making So Much Money?," theologian C. Michael Patton described The Joker as "the Nihilist who believes in nothing, cares for nothing, and pursues nothing." Precisely. Patton continues:
At one point The Joker says, “I have no plans. I am like a dog chasing a car. I would not know what to do if I caught it.” There is no rationalism because there is no such thing as order, reason, or ends that create purpose. It is just the moment, and the moment is ruled by randomness.
In other words, "I just do things," The Joker explains in the same scene. Why would such a blatant display of anarchy and utter recklessness prove appealing in today's culture? Patton speculates that the impulse to find nihilistic behavior entertaining stems from postmodern thinking. He writes, "Our postmodern culture may see itself in the character of The Joker. Like a person who has not seen his face in many years, we are going to the mirror to take a look."
With its rampant embrace of moral relativism and existential thought, our postmodern culture sees what it is becoming in The Joker. Once people realize that if every individual determines the truth for himself, the inevitable conclusion is that there is no all-encompassing unity to reality. Thus, existence is unintelligible and pointless. All is nothingness since there is no absolute standard or transcendent meaning. If everyone sets the truth, there is no actual truth since no person's perception or interpretation of reality takes precedence over another's.
This type of thinking will undoubtedly lead to despair and from despair to apathy, as Patton notes.
It is when the despair turns to apathy and we are what we are and we don’t care what we become. With the deconstruction of morals, truth, knowledge, revelation, and the like, is it any surprise that so many people are going to look in the mirror?
Moreover, we must admit most pre-teen, adolescent, and 20-something males are not infatuated by Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker because they are conscious of the implications of postmodernism. Our attraction to the character is more basic than that. The Joker was not the first to ask, "Why so serious?" Such a question was not first posed in Gotham, but rather in the Garden. It came with the Serpent asking Eve, "Hath God said?" (Gen 3:1). The temptation to create our own rules and define reality for ourselves was appealing to us then and proves to be more so now this side of the Fall.
Aware that mankind's tendency is to rebel against its Creator, Christians are to call persons to repentance, reminding them that we as creatures made in God's image are not our own. As Francis Schaeffer stated, "We must never forget that the first part of the gospel is not 'Accept Christ as Savior,' but 'God is there.'" Only the infinite, personal creator Yahweh can assign meaning to the universe, thus making it possible for human beings to reason and interpret things. Furthermore, God's existence not only necessitates that he is the One to Whom we look for meaning and purpose as revealed in his Word, but that he is the One to Whom we are accountable.
Patton is right. Our culture does see itself in The Joker--and we all should if we're honest about the condition of our hearts (Jer 17:9). Nevertheless, this is not something we should embrace or celebrate. This represents humanity gone wrong. In knowing that "God is there," we are to be ready to engage a culture of emptiness and rebelliousness.
Why so serious? Because this is no laughing matter.
