THE BATMEN AND THE JOKERS

 What happened in Denver, on Friday night, can happen anywhere in the world.

The shoot-outs like that need no logic. The gun-men are young and they can enter any school, any mall, any cinema hall and any prayer place – and go on an insane killing- spree. And, it all will be over in just a few seconds or minutes!

It can happen anywhere, any day… any moment.

Aurora cinema of Denver is just a symbol. The 24-year-old suspect, James Holmes, is just a symbol. He being a neuroscience PhD-student is just a symbol. The reported claim of the suspect, that he thought he was ‘the Joker’, is just a symbol. That he chose to do it while screening the most-awaited Batman-movie – ‘The Dark Knight Rises' – is also a symbol. And, yes, that his senseless act took away or battered so many innocent lives, too, is a symbol.

The symbol is: ‘the Joker’, the famous villain of the Batman movie, inspires some of us. Makes us do what he does… like: rob millions from a bank, and then burn it!

Is there a logic to that?

To him, there is.

Was there a logic to what the gunman did in the cinema hall?

To him, there was.

‘The Jokers’ have always been there… and, they are still there around… and, they will be there, tomorrow.

They are born in families like ours, to parents like ours… They have been baptized by the same kind of priests who baptized us – and with the same Holy Water… raised in the same kind of schools, taught by the same kind of dedicated teachers… They have the same hunger and thirst as we have… They have the same love-hate-fear-courage emotions running through their hearts… The same red blood gushing through their veins. The same throbbing soul!

And, yet, they are not inspired by the ideals of our hero, ‘the Batman’… aka, ‘The Dark Knight’. Instead, by those of the villain, ‘The Joker’!

 

The Bible says, before God created humans, He had created angels. And, the Holy Book tells us, that among the angels, some turned bad. They became devils!

So, out of the two, born to the same parents, one had to be Abel, the good one… and, the other had to be Kane, the bad one. 

Why couldn’t God – all-merciful and all-powerful God – prevent such things from happening; yes, right at the start of the Creation?

And, if He couldn’t, how can we, just the ordinary mortals, prevent ‘the Jokers’ in our lives from popping – one here, and one there – in a cinema hall, in a busy mall, in a crowded school or in a prayer place? How can we stop him from shooting like he does?

All that I can say is this: 

The Batman is a good man; 

I like his ideals. 

The Joker is bad; 

I don’t like what he stands for…

I want my Batman to return… rise, again and again and again… and help me beat my fears of caves, dark nights and bats… 

Yes, help me rise like a Phoenix from the ashes of my very own fears!

The world will always have more Abel’s than Kane’s… More Batmen than Jokers.

What is inherently good for the mankind… only will triumph!

Oh yes! Any where, any time… any day!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pics.:  Vivek D'Cunha