"The Killing Joke"

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I was watching "Atop the fourth wall" on Youtube, and he did a review of "the Killing Joke", which is a Batman story. The main theme of the story is the Joker believes what separates him from regular people is just one bad day.

He's wrong, of course, and I can show proof by pointing to many of my friends who have had "one bad day" - in many cases it was much more than just one day - and who are kind, generous, and would never hurt anybody.

Now, if you're wondering why I don't use me as an example, the answer is simple.

Unlike my friends, I'm broken and dangerous.

Comments

Nope, Dot

Amethyst's picture

The two states are not mutually exclusive. I'm broken, dangerous, and self-destructive. I'm willing to bet that a lot of people are like that and trying not to show it, or at least to get past it. It's trying to rise above who we are and what's been done to us to make a difference in our own lives and the lives of others, especially those we care about, that makes us different than other people. We try not to let that one bad day (year, decade, or whatever) rule our lives and we look for and cling to those little bits of good to share. Granted, that can be a monumental task, one that somedays we just don't have the energy or emotional stability for. That's why we have to take things one day at a time and lean on those kind, generous friends of ours some days, and be there for them to lean on when they need the same.

*big hugs*

Amethyst

ChibiMaker1.jpg

Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

Nope, Dot. Not dangerous.

It makes you >safer<.

You know what pain is, and you don't want to inflict same on others. (Unless you are Arkham Asylum level crazy, and you definitely are not.)

Rather like an old-enough child taken for their first rifle lesson, and the targets are full cans of of tomato soup. The friend who told me this was in a (redacted) unit, and served in Vietnam.

Responsible people respect their power, and know that power can used both )ways. (This is a common message to new super hero/ines from their mentors.)

Besides, if you were really dangerous (and not at the anybody-can-be-pushed-too-far level) - you would not have told us.

Surely, the point of the joke is...

...that everyone is different. Person A can get over bad things whilst Person B takes them to heart and becomes a criminal for the rest of their lives. It's no justification to say that since Person A can do it, anyone can do it. Because we are all different.

Person C may have gender identity issues and ignore them, whilst Person D has the same issues and cannot ignore them. Do you condemn Person D because they cannot ignore their issues? We are all different.