- Sep 22, 2013
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This vigilance-tale was inspired by the vigilantism-daydream film The Dark Knight, a modernism expression of new age urbanization-related angst regarding the 'temptation of mischief' in a capitalism-gauged world.
The story is about a masked urban vigilante named Batman tackling a mischievous clown-costumed super-terrorist named Joker.
I've adapted Batman's city of Gotham to make it more applicable to the anxieties felt in the real world --- i.e., 'TrumpUSA.'
Is capitalism a system of mischief?
====
Jack Napier was a crime syndicate 'employee' working for a ruthless NYC 'shark' named Kingpin. Napier was stationed in Moscow, working with the Russian mafia when a shipment of black market chemical weapons led to an accident which scarred Napier and turned his skin white and his hair green. Napier went into hiding and gave himself a self-made scar (with his shiny new hand-knife) across his face and colored the scar with red paint to give it the look of a wide eerie grin. He started calling himself 'the Joker.
Joker returned to NYC and assassinated Kingpin and began his own brand of 'anti-American terrorism.' Joker recruited convicts and thugs to be in his new 'army' and named his 'ghoulish gang' the Purple Hearts Club. Joker fashioned himself a colorful purple-outfit to match his poisoned white skin and green hair (so he'd look like some kind of menacing jester of clown). Joker and the Purple Hearts Club engaged in a one-year crime spree which included the looting of the Gotham Library and the hijacking of the Gotham Subway. No one seemed able to catch him, and the GCPD (Gotham City Police Department) looked stunned and confused in the media.
A vigilant and idealistic young rookie-cop working for the GCPD named Bruce Smith decided to stalk Joker and the Purple Hearts club as a part-time masked vigilante named Batman (since his costume and cape and mask made him look like a lurking and rope-soaring bat or creature-of-the-night). Bruce/Batman staked out various abandoned warehouses on the wrong-side-of-town in Gotham and as well as a few seedy nightclubs, convinced Joker was hiding out and spending recreation time in those places. When Batman discovered that Joker had indeed built a 'lair' in one of those abandoned warehouses, he stormed in, dropped tear-gas grenades, and sedated Joker and the Purple Hearts Club ghouls into unconsciousness with his tranquilizer-darts.
Batman delivered Joker and his minions to the GCPD where they were held in incarceration by Gotham Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. Gordon thanked the mysterious Batman and wanted to know if he was willing to interview Joker for the press, and Batman agreed. The interview was mostly about the mischievousness and 'fun' of crime in a city 'governed' by capitalists, barons, profiteers, and pirates. Batman was hailed as a modern-day Eliot Ness.
BATMAN: Why did you engage in urban terrorism, Joker?
JOKER: I'm simply a messenger, Batman!
BATMAN: What's your message --- fear and pain?
JOKER: Don't you realize (you fool!) that Gotham is a microcosm of our corruptible world?
BATMAN: Are you anti-urbanization?
JOKER: I'm simply a messenger. Crime is fun, because capitalism breeds pirates.
BATMAN: Are you some kind of 'Marxism prophet'?
JOKER: I'm not a socialist. I'm a Devil's Advocate!
BATMAN: If capitalism breeds mischief, why then do people honor the services of merchants?
JOKER: Merchants are fallible just like cops, and goods and services are often 'left to negotiation.'
BATMAN: Capitalism is indeed a negotiation, Joker, and Gotham doesn't need a 'jester' to goad its pride!
JOKER: Are you saying you've never considered gambling/drinking in Vegas or poking fun at 'TrumpUSA'?
BATMAN: President Trump was a shrewd businessman, and now he's trying to manage a commercial world!
JOKER: We'll see if Trump deals with Sunni-Shia troubles in Syria/Iran, and if he can keep a straight face.
BATMAN: Social mischief is simply another brand of political cynicism, and you're just a criminal...
JOKER: I doubt all youngsters are 'idealistic' when they play Monopoly (Parker Brothers) on their iPhones!
BATMAN: The job of role models in society is to show youngsters that commerce is something to respect.
JOKER: Consumerism breeds its own dragon, Batman --- gluttony (i.e., Burger King).
BATMAN: People come to this country seeking the American Dream and shouldn't be corrupted by vice.
JOKER: If you're right (about the 'objectivity of capitalism'), then we should someday see Playboy banned!
BATMAN: There's a difference between free-speech and exploitation...
JOKER: The police owe me rehabilitation and asylum, since I'm clearly insane.
====
The story is about a masked urban vigilante named Batman tackling a mischievous clown-costumed super-terrorist named Joker.
I've adapted Batman's city of Gotham to make it more applicable to the anxieties felt in the real world --- i.e., 'TrumpUSA.'
Is capitalism a system of mischief?
====
Jack Napier was a crime syndicate 'employee' working for a ruthless NYC 'shark' named Kingpin. Napier was stationed in Moscow, working with the Russian mafia when a shipment of black market chemical weapons led to an accident which scarred Napier and turned his skin white and his hair green. Napier went into hiding and gave himself a self-made scar (with his shiny new hand-knife) across his face and colored the scar with red paint to give it the look of a wide eerie grin. He started calling himself 'the Joker.
Joker returned to NYC and assassinated Kingpin and began his own brand of 'anti-American terrorism.' Joker recruited convicts and thugs to be in his new 'army' and named his 'ghoulish gang' the Purple Hearts Club. Joker fashioned himself a colorful purple-outfit to match his poisoned white skin and green hair (so he'd look like some kind of menacing jester of clown). Joker and the Purple Hearts Club engaged in a one-year crime spree which included the looting of the Gotham Library and the hijacking of the Gotham Subway. No one seemed able to catch him, and the GCPD (Gotham City Police Department) looked stunned and confused in the media.
A vigilant and idealistic young rookie-cop working for the GCPD named Bruce Smith decided to stalk Joker and the Purple Hearts club as a part-time masked vigilante named Batman (since his costume and cape and mask made him look like a lurking and rope-soaring bat or creature-of-the-night). Bruce/Batman staked out various abandoned warehouses on the wrong-side-of-town in Gotham and as well as a few seedy nightclubs, convinced Joker was hiding out and spending recreation time in those places. When Batman discovered that Joker had indeed built a 'lair' in one of those abandoned warehouses, he stormed in, dropped tear-gas grenades, and sedated Joker and the Purple Hearts Club ghouls into unconsciousness with his tranquilizer-darts.
Batman delivered Joker and his minions to the GCPD where they were held in incarceration by Gotham Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. Gordon thanked the mysterious Batman and wanted to know if he was willing to interview Joker for the press, and Batman agreed. The interview was mostly about the mischievousness and 'fun' of crime in a city 'governed' by capitalists, barons, profiteers, and pirates. Batman was hailed as a modern-day Eliot Ness.
BATMAN: Why did you engage in urban terrorism, Joker?
JOKER: I'm simply a messenger, Batman!
BATMAN: What's your message --- fear and pain?
JOKER: Don't you realize (you fool!) that Gotham is a microcosm of our corruptible world?
BATMAN: Are you anti-urbanization?
JOKER: I'm simply a messenger. Crime is fun, because capitalism breeds pirates.
BATMAN: Are you some kind of 'Marxism prophet'?
JOKER: I'm not a socialist. I'm a Devil's Advocate!
BATMAN: If capitalism breeds mischief, why then do people honor the services of merchants?
JOKER: Merchants are fallible just like cops, and goods and services are often 'left to negotiation.'
BATMAN: Capitalism is indeed a negotiation, Joker, and Gotham doesn't need a 'jester' to goad its pride!
JOKER: Are you saying you've never considered gambling/drinking in Vegas or poking fun at 'TrumpUSA'?
BATMAN: President Trump was a shrewd businessman, and now he's trying to manage a commercial world!
JOKER: We'll see if Trump deals with Sunni-Shia troubles in Syria/Iran, and if he can keep a straight face.
BATMAN: Social mischief is simply another brand of political cynicism, and you're just a criminal...
JOKER: I doubt all youngsters are 'idealistic' when they play Monopoly (Parker Brothers) on their iPhones!
BATMAN: The job of role models in society is to show youngsters that commerce is something to respect.
JOKER: Consumerism breeds its own dragon, Batman --- gluttony (i.e., Burger King).
BATMAN: People come to this country seeking the American Dream and shouldn't be corrupted by vice.
JOKER: If you're right (about the 'objectivity of capitalism'), then we should someday see Playboy banned!
BATMAN: There's a difference between free-speech and exploitation...
JOKER: The police owe me rehabilitation and asylum, since I'm clearly insane.
====
