The Colorado shooting is a deliberate wake-up call for all of us--that the depictions of modern-day capitalism in this latest Batman movie is more real than surreal.
Yes, the man is probably deranged, for who in his right mind would do such a thing--barrage into a theater full of people armed with assault rifle and emptying rounds upon rounds of ammunition against hapless and shocked citizens.
The man probably thought that with what he did, he paid homage to Joker, that misunderstood character in Batman movies.
Joker was no anarchist, the way Modern society thinks of an anarchist. Joker is Anarchy personified, the kind of man who deliberately uses and organizes violence to aid him in his political agenda. Joker is the Anarchist, the kind that the true Anarchists wanted people to understand.
The real Anarchist pursues the philosophy of organized chaos, like what Joker did in the last Batman movie where Keith Ledger played magnificently and where he got posthumous praise.
Joker is a creation of capitalism. He sprang forth from the dirty, oil and greasy soil of Gotham, much the same way as Frankenstein did a century ago, as the monster of Victorian society. Joker is the epitome of Capitalism's bastard son, the personification of the Cause and Effect of wealth creation and sludge of super production.
Joker personifies the highest specie of the lumpen proletariat, a class that sprang from the loins of moribund capitalism, a reminder of the huge disparity between those who have and those who have not.
Joker is Batman in the extreme. Batman is Joker sitting on his head. A member of the privileged class, Batman was made aware of the dehumanizing nature of the very system which he and his class so benefitted from.
He tries to advocate for the eradication of the scourge of chaos by sending people in jail or in their graves. In doing so, however, Batman unknowingly created multiple copies of the very Joker he so wanted to eradicate.
Joker died, but lived on as Bane in this latest installment of the Batman franchise.
Bane was a son of a revolutionary. When Bane's father escaped prison, the government seized him and decided that the young child serve the remainder of his father's sentence. Inside prison, Bane developed extraordinary physical strength and mental agility.
He eventually escaped prison and unleashed terror against citizens of Gotham.
In real life, Bane personified a terrorist par excellence. A terrorist is someone who uses terror in pursuit of a political agenda. Unlike other terrorists however, Bane is a creation of the penal system, and he creates terror because he thinks that doing so, would spur other Banes who would eventually cause the very downfall of the system.
Bane is the Frankenstein of the penal system, the very hell which the State created to discourage people from revolting and eventually uniting to cause its downfall.
IN all these Batman movies, what is the common thread or theme is the moribund character of the capitalist system that creates numerous monsters in different classes and in different forms.
From the loins of those who revolt and those of the lumpen, came both Bane and Joker. From the loins of the privileged class victimized and dehumanized by the system sprang a Batman.
In the middle of this realistic class strata lies a surreal world peopled by individuals like us. We have a choice--become Batmen and Batwomen or thread the path taken by Joker and Bane.
That gunman from Colorado tried to be a Joker--with disastrous consequences. That gunman deserves none of Joker's praise and more of Joker's derision. By killing innocents, he tried to copy Joker and eventually made a fool out of himself. The gunman was deranged: Joker and Bane were not. That gunman was stupid, a trait which neither Joker nor Bane posssessed.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you very much for reading my blog. You inspired me. But if you intend to put your name "anonymous", better not comment at all. Thanks!