Is the Joker really that Crazy???

"The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules."

"When the chips are down, these civilized people, they'll eat each other."

"I hate plans. Yours, theirs, everyones....[Everyone is] Schemers trying to control the worlds. I am not a schemer. I show schemers just how pathetic their attempts to control things really are...It's a schemer who put you where you are. You were a schemer. You had plans. Look where it got you. I just did what I do best-I took your plan and turned it on itself...Nobody panics when the things go according to plan, even if the plans are horrifying...Introduce a little anarchy, you upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I am an agent of chaos. And you know the thing about chaos? It's fair."
--The Joker--

I saw The Dark Knight for the second time the other night and it is truly a great movie. I was even more engaged into what was happening the second time around. Seeing this movie the second time gave me great admiration for Heath Ledger's Joker and how great his acting in this movie really was. Seeing this movie the second time also allowed me to focus more on the underlying themes of the movie and meaning of those themes, many of which were brought to life through the Joker. Everyone I have talked to has said the Joker is the craziest, scariest villain they have seen in a movie. His ruthless ways, his way of thinking and his demeanor are all crazy. However, I looked closer and wondered is he really that crazy?

What drives the Joker to be such a great villain is his realism and his understanding of how society and people are. Some of these ideals seem twisted, but they are really rooted in how society behaves on an everyday basis. Everyone does things that are messed up and to benefit themselves. Everyone looks for ways to get to the top and belittle those around them. Everyone has their own plan and attempts to manipulate situations to fall in line with that plan. Simply that is how the world turn unfortunately. It may be sick to uncover these imperfections in society the way the Joker did, but as far as being crazy, I do not think he was. Maybe he was just someone tired of how things were and acting out of anger. I don't know. I really appreciated how this movie made me think and how the Joker brought many things to life that effect our society today. Everyone has a plan and does messed up things to execute that plan. The only way you will survive is to be in that plan and play your part accordingly. Plain and simple. You can live without rules, but you will be taken out quickly because people usually only look out for one person; themselves.