The Dark Knight combats Pure Evil

It seems the new Batman movie by Christopher Nolan understands evil, something many people have lost. This concept that evil does what it does because it wants to, not because of circumstances or upbringing.

At one point, The Joker asks one of his victims whether he wants to hear the story of how he got his scars. He proceeds to explain that his father was a "drunken fiend," who fought with his mother, one night to the point of cutting her with a knife. Having done so, he turned on his stupefied son and, putting the knife to his mouth, asked, "Why so serious?" Then, in a subsequent scene, The Joker tells quite a different story about the source of his scars. The point is clear -- there is no "reason" for the Joker's love of chaos. As Nolan commented, The Joker has "no arc, no development"; he is an "absolute." As he sets fire to a huge pile of money, The Joker chastises the astounded criminals in his midst for their petty love of money. When Bruce Wayne tells Alfred that criminals are "not complicated" and that they just need to find out "what this one wants," Alfred responds, "some men just want to watch the world burn." There is no ultimate purpose to his mayhem; he delights in it for its own sake, as is evident in one particularly chilling scene in which Batman tries to beat him into revealing his plans. As The Joker cackles with glee at the pain, he taunts Batman, "you have nothing to frighten me with."

All of which makes for a fascinating morality movie.

Related Link: Christopher Nolan’s Achievement: The Dark Knight ~ Catholic Education Resource Centre