Could Batman Have Been the Joker?
Has this ever crossed your mind? "Batman"; one of the most recognizable figures in the country, maybe even the world. Symbol of good, of restraint against savage crimes, of chosing a path of utilitarianism and sacrifice in order to help those who need it. Called a monster, called a hero, called a criminal, no matter how much good he may do. Batman could have just as easily become his ultimate nemesis; The Joker.
We know the story. A young boy with his parents is forced to see them cut down before him in a robbery-gone-wrong. That boy, young Bruce Wayne, looses everything in that dark alley that night. He goes home with his family friend/butler, Alfred, never to be the same again. For years, the city of Gotham produces countless crimes and tragedies which takes a toll on Bruce. "Eighteen years since all sense left my life". He decides his path; "...Yes. Father. I shall become a bat."
The flip side to that coin? Well, it's never really been entirely definitive. We know that at one point, a madman, un-humanly white face, bright green hair, big, sadistic, red smile, strolls into Gotham and unleashes utter chaos for years. But why? What happened to morph a man -perfectly normal to begin with, for all we know- into a murderous, maniacal clown? Was The Joker a struggling rookie criminal who had an fateful encounter with a vat of chemicals? Was he a disgraced and disgruntled stand-up comedian? Maybe a tormented war veteran, as theorized by many viewers of Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight".
Whatever origin none other than The Joker himself knows, the basic foundation of his insanity is that he was very likely turned into this person. Be it a trauma, a tragic up-bringing or something as simple as a single desicion, our anti-Bat was driven insane.
But the biggest difference between Batman and The Joker; one mastered the act of fighting crime and the other, the art of enjoying it. Why? Surely the two have more in common than either may care to admit. Did Bruce Wayne lose all hope of a happy ending in that alley? If so, what if losing all hope meant losing all faith? What if losing all faith meant embracing the very same underworld that snatched his life away? What if Bruce Wayne's road less traveled lead to villainy?
As a fan of Batman, I feel comfortable being honest about the guy; he is really not the most mentally stable among us. There's the vigilantism, albeit in the name of crime-fighting. But at the end of the day, he is still wanted and targeted by the cops. Then there's the method: a rich playboy facade masking, (cowling?) a genius detective with a tech-based cave filled with weapons and armor. There's the fact that, in comics, tv and films, Batman literally goes out looking for trouble on occasion. Some could see all of this as an elaborate way to release massive aggression and violence against anyone he feels deserves it. Who's to say that Bruce's shattered childhood couldn't have been a mirror image of whatever happened to create The Joker? Are a villain's actions to make his own little world better by kidnapping, torturing, terrorizing and killing really all that different from a hero's actions to protect his beloved city by hunting down, restraining, and savagely beating made all that different because one chooses not to cross the line of taking a life?
I believe the connections are there. I believe that, given the right push off of the right path, Batman's tragedy and torment could have very well led to, in quite a different context, The Joker's biggest competiton.