10 Life Lessons You Should Learn From The Joker

4. People Are Only As Good As Society Allows Them To Be

€œDon€™t talk like one of them, you€™re not! Even if you€™d like to be. To them, you€™re just a freak€“like me. They need you right now. When they don€™t€they€™ll cast you out. Like a leper. See, their morals, their code: it€™s a bad joke. They€™re dropped at the first sign of trouble. They€™re only as good as the world allows them to be. You€™ll see, when the chips are down these civilized people will eat each other.€

Toward the end of The Dark Knight, the Joker€™s elaborate scheme is devised to make the point that the kind of evil that thrives in him is present in everyone. The film then tries to salvage the nobility of man from the Joker€™s plot. In the movie, the citizens of Gotham ultimately refuse to play the Joker€™s game. Though, the real world is nothing like this: people aren't inherently good or bad, they're simply a product of their circumstances. If a kid comes from a rich family they are probably less likely to become a criminal when they grow up. If you give that same exact kid a poor childhood then they probably won't have that same luxury of living crime-free. While everybody wants to believe that they have free will and can do whatever they choose to do. In actuality, just as the Joker implied, you're decisions are merely a response to what society throws at you. For further reference, watch the Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd classic, Trading Places.