08.28.08
Chasing Cars
Watching the Joker in his carnival semi-truck chasing the GPD truck through Gotham really brought back memories of my own harrowing car chase (I was in the lead; unfortunately). I finally saw The Dark Knight at its last showing. The always lovely and talented Eric Roberts (in photo) played one of the many villains.
But villain #1 was, of course, the Joker. He said something tonight that made me think of how easily I and probably you, too, take offense at things other people say. Batman criticized the Joker for his evil nature. The Joker reminded Batman that, “I’m just like a dog chasing cars. I don’t know what to do when I catch them. I just DO things.” Or something to that effect. It was dark in the theater and all I had to write on was my Goodwill store receipt.
We tend to do what Batman did: No, not barricade ourselves in a warehouse and hire a British man to help us create weaponry. And, no, I don’t mean allowing Michael Caine to go on through the entire film without enunciating.
I mean, we attach meanings to people’s words. And then we take offense–whether it was offered or not. Then, most importantly, we forget that we have a sense of humor. We shut off our ability to remember that it is O.K. to laugh at this person, these words. It is O.K. to not take them or their words seriously. Maybe they are just chasing cars.
