The Bad Joke of Civility

Hmmm..

It's been a while since I've returned to rekindle that fascination which developed in me for the astute observations or hysterical rants (your call :) of my favorite character, the Joker - which I have to admit has been reduced to just a guilty pleasure these days.

The Joker in the interrogation scene states with conviction that the morals and the codes of these 'civilized' people are a bad joke that would be dropped at the first sign of trouble. Now, the highly optimistic end proved him wrong in the movie when a boat full of hysterical civilians refused to kill criminals in cold blood to save themselves (unlikely) and in surreal Hollywood reciprocity a boat full of hardened criminals refused to kill the civilians (whilst the unicorns danced in delight as the tooth fairy gave the boogeyman a lap dance to Bieber's heavy metal tunes).

Now, in the name of all that's rational and desperately trying to keeping in mind the amount of money my parents spent on my half hearted attempts at 'achievement' in a flawed education system, I will try not to question the absence of fundamental psychological principles at play in a movie about a guy in a tight bat costume who fights crime by spreading fear of himself among violent criminals without killing them.. (wh..wh..why? howw.. sigh, never mind).
Please.. don't bother with a rational explanation Bat fans or Batmen or whatever..

Joker's magnificent psychopathy aside, the idea of nurture vs. nature, especially in human conduct always intrigued me. Do I believe that all people can be violent and animalistic of their own volition if the right situation presented itself? No. That would be over simplifying a complicated situation. A proportional response maybe, but not all out break down of socially imbibed morality.

But one has to accept the fact that morality is a social construct. This is especially visible in its ever changing peripheral agendas and rules. Civility too falls square within the boundaries of this axiom.

People have been taught through simple and complex interactions with the rest of humanity as to what is 'good' and 'bad'. The kid who was brought up by animals comes to mind right now and so does Edgar Rice Burroughs' idea of a 'good' Tarzan because of his genetically inherent 'white moral superiority' (read the incident with cannibalism in one of his novels). Polar opposites in terms of fact and fiction, yeah?

While I'm not sure about the genetics involved in moral behavior, I can recall events throughout history when the rules of civil conduct changed suddenly. Even, the psychology behind 'mob mentality' when the most violent and deviant acts can occur at the hands of otherwise (more or less) civil people due to a diffusion or lack of responsibility is worth looking into.

Post apocalyptic scenarios in sci-fi movies are of course another good reference for this debate (wink, wink). Either way, I believe (for now) that human beings are deeply moved and motivated by their nature  and it is society and the collective framework of minds and actions of our race itself that forces and  controls that which is primitive in us from an early age. And since in a case of complete anarchy, I would die in a matter of seconds (minutes if Batman shows up) - Long live civilization with all its inconsiderate stupidity and considerate grandeur!