I’d like to look at this issue not as a matter of strictly the Batman and the Joker, but as the overall issue in general.
So why write this now?
I read an article today that pushed me over the edge so I have to weigh in on the issue. But first? An image:
There, now that that’s out of the way...
I read an article where an ethics expert argues in favor of Batman killing the Joker. It was one of the worst written arguments I have seen followed up by an even worse argument against the article. Should you wish to see an overview yourself, it can be found here:
I could go into why there really can’t be “Ethics Experts” in a world of greys or I could pontificate about how the author of this article, Brandon Johnston, is obviously not a comic book reader, but I won’t. I’m a logical person and I would like to take this argument apart piece by piece. You see it’s not an argument of whether heroes should or should not kill villains, it’s more than that.
Let me shine the light of logic and add my two cents:
Argument; A hero who kills is no better than a villain. Heroes shouldn’t kill.
Hmmm, is that so Batman? YOU have an issue with killing a man? Let’s take a look at your own past. How about when you hung a mental patient from the Batplane?
Or how about the time you killed KGBeast by locking him a room and letting him starve to death?
Or how about the time you left a bunch of crooks inside a burning room to get some nookie?
As an aside, my favorite part is her quote (sorry it’s so blurry), “He doesn’t stop. He doesn’t spare a one of them. Not a one. Before I can even catch my breath they’re a bunch of bleeding burning heaps they are. And God help me I am thunderstruck in love with the man. The goddamn Batman.” What great writing!
My Argument: Heroes are mostly human and they do kill for reasons they feel are justified. This is NOT a Joker vs. Batman issue, so stop pretending it is. Here are some more heroes doing what they feel needs to be done. You remember all of these moments, don’t you?
Next argument; No one has the right to take a life.
Sure, people will get all high and mighty and say that the villain has no right to take a life, but neither does the hero. It makes them no better than the villain. Then let me ask you a question. Did you weep for the Anti-Monitor? Did you ask why there wasn’t a funeral procession for Doomsday? If there aren’t jails strong enough to hold the villain is that cause enough? You might respond that they always come up with a jail or dimension that can hold a villain. Not so.
Let’s look at Arkham, shall we? Talk about a prison that can’t seem to hold a criminal.
If Killer Croc gets out once a week and kills 5 people is that enough to put him to death? How about 10 a week? 20 a week? What if it’s only once a week but it’s always one of your family members?
If that doesn’t convince you can we come up with a term (that may already be a term) Killing by Proxy? Here’s the logic:
The Joker Kills People When He Escapes The Jail He Is Put In
Batman Jails the Joker When He Catches Him For Killing People
The Joker Always Escapes The Jails He Is Put In
Batman Knows the Joker Always Escapes The Jails He Is Put In
Therefore, Every Person the Joker Kills Is Also Killed By Batman By Proxy
My Argument: If you know the killer is going to get out regardless of what you do are you not, in fact, partly responsible for those deaths? Aren’t you already taking a life whether you have the right to or not? Let’s try this another way. Let’s call a jail cell a house and a cell door a front door. Let’s also call locking the cell door locking the front door. If I lock you in the house knowing full well that you will eventually unlock it and get out aren’t I partly responsible for you being out? I knew the house wouldn’t hold you but I expected you not to get out. One could argue that the person being locked in should be responsible for their actions, but if they were responsible I wouldn’t have to lock them in. In this case Batman is taking a life...by proxy. What gives him the right?
As for the argument of one death to save a million it seems relatively simple. Phoenix gave her life to save a universe. What’s the difference between giving her life to save millions versus taking her life to save millions? The argument is that no one has a right to take a life. If you didn’t take one to save millions, didn’t you kill millions by not doing it? If there is something called a lie by ommission shouldn’t there be a death by absentia?
The next argument is one I can NEVER understand. Putting a criminal to death is not a deterrent.
Here is what I found in the way of a definition for deterrent:
Deterrent
- a thing that discourages or is intended to discourage someone from doing something.
Putting a criminal to death would, in fact, deter them from ever doing it again. The argument that someone won’t kill another person because of a fear of being put to death is an unstable one at best and not an argument for this blog. But killing a criminal is certainly a deterrent from them ever doing it again.
My Argument: This is a no-brainer. If you know the Joker is guilty and will kill again, then killing him would be a deterrent.
THE STUNNING CONCLUSION! GASP!
It’s the age old argument...without good there is no bad. Kill off all the bad and there is no need for the good guys. I have even heard the reason some believe in the devil is that because there is a God there has to be a devil. A bad to balance the good. The heroes NEED the villains, it’s the reason they are heroes. It’s said best in Injustice: Gods Among Us.
Translated: You’re angry at me taking away the reason for you to be Batman.
There is even the argument, and I buy into this whole-heartedly, that although a moral compass guides the hero it can’t be the reason that villains do the crimes. The occasional villain death is what makes all of these stories so human. Good people fear the bad and the bad need to sometimes fear the good.
In the end, comics allow us to live out fantasies, be heroes ourselves, and allow us to challenge the views of the populace.
Should the Batman kill the Joker? He can’t, it’s as simple as that. Batman can’t be a hero without a villain to catch, the Joker isn’t the Joker without a Batman to challenge. Let’s face it, if every villain was killed off the writers would run out of ideas for new ones.
Keep debating it, everyone, it’s not only fun but it’s healthy. Our opinions are what make us who we are.
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