Joker

When I was a kid my favorite Batman villain was the Joker. To me he was the epitome of a supervillian, someone who caused crime, evil, and somehow you rooted for him. Sure, he didn’t make Batman’s life easy. But Batman had money and a butler. He had the Bat Mobile. He had Alfred. Bruce Wayne could handle the Joker, after all with a sidekick named Robin you can do anything.

However, this past week James Homes destroyed all that. His idol was the Joker. This sicko, divorced from reality, went into a midnight showing of the recent Batman and unloaded his gun on innocent people. James Holmes thought this would bode well for him. There is one thing Jimmy Boy failed to realize, the Joker is fiction. The Joke is a cartoon. The only reason any of this ever works out for the Joker is because he isn’t real.

The comic book artist who draws him probably goes for a walk in the park after all is said and done. The screenwriter who writes his dialogue has fun in this pretend world but then goes to walk his dog. You get my drift. Bottom line, Jimmy couldn’t separate fact from fiction.

People are quick to blame the movies for making this mad man mad. No, the mental health issues were pre-existing. People are quick to cry for gun control, blame the NRA. I have news for everyone, guns don’t kill people. People kill people.

That being said something can be learned by this. Mental illness is no joke. When someone exhibits the warning signs say something, call a hotline. I am willing to bet much like Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold the warning signs were plentiful. James Holmes supposedly comes from a church going family. I do too. If his parents were as attentive as they say, why weren’t they speaking to their son every night. Then again, my church going mother makes me tell her where I am, who I am with, and speaks to me daily. She will not hesitate to say, “You don’t sound good.”

I believe as someone who supports the second amendment, that no matter what criminals will find ways to get guns. However, more must be done to make it less easy for mentally unstable individuals to possess them. I believe someone should go through a psych exam before being able to purchase a firearm. They must see a local psych, take a battery of tests, and then submit the application. Then there will be a follow up interview with a local law enforcement individual. Everything said will be on record.

The real issue here is the danger of mental illness. Unlike someone who has cancer or other physical ailments, the signs of a nervous breakdown are not visible to the naked eye. Cancer patients don’t refuse treatment because they are afraid of dying. People who suffer from mental illness can refuse treatment because they look fine and sometimes function like you and I do on a surface level. In reality when they don’t get treatment they are apt to kill themselves or someone else, usually themselves, although this is a rare exception.

Last summer a friend of mine took his own life. He was diabetic and was taking medication for bi-polar, both which jacked up his blood sugar. He was told he didn’t need the bi-polar meds because the diabetes was more important to treat, and therefore he relapsed on drugs, substances he used to self-medicate. Soon after my friend, depressed and alone, took his own life because a medical professional told him he didn’t need the medication that was keeping him alive.

Pittsburgh shooter Richard Baumhammers who was turned away from a psych hospital repeated times after claiming the government was probing him. After being denied care, Baumhammers went to a strip mall and perpetrated one of the worst hate crimes in Pennsylvania history. I bet there was a similar story with James Holmes. I bet there was a cry for help and the medical community denied him.

The real tragedy in this is that a pleasant experience like going to a movie was turned into a nightmare by so many. Also, that James Holmes will get a cult following as a result of the bloodbath that he created. In addition, there will be people jumping to defend this spree killer. Much like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, and other murderers we will know their names and their crimes but the names of their victims will be lost in the annuals of time just like their lives. Their families will be left with the scars of what happened. Sons, daughters, husbands, and wives lost forever.

All because as a society we are dismissive of mental illness.

Do I believe James Holmes should get death? Absolutely. He will never be released, and as a prisoner he has too many rights already. In addition, too many tax dollars will be spent protecting him from other inmates who want him dead. Sure, we could give him treatment but the time for that has passed. He is a self-obsessed sociopath who cannot be rehabilitated, and I will be Goddamned if my tax dollars go to keep him warm and let him finish his education.

He likes guns. Time for a firing squad.

One miracle is that Caleb Medley is pulling through and his wife gave birth to a healthy baby. Caleb is an aspiring standup comedian. The fictional Joker, who’s backstory is varied, was a standup comedian who’s wife had an newborn. In order to support the family he was pulled into a criminal scheme. Caleb is getting better and baby is healthy. Perhaps this is the cartoon drawing, the fictional character smiling upon this young family letting them know he only hurts people on the comic book page who can be erased at any time, and does not condone the behavior of sickos who don’t know that he is a work of fiction.

James Holmes may have ruined lives and may not be able to separate fact from fiction, but I will be damned if he ruins my favorite movie and favorite villain for me.

real life villians are never as cool as cartoon villians. you are evil and lame. you will never be the real joker. oops, the joker isnt real assweed