THE JOKER’S EULOGY

“there is nothing that you can threaten me with”

-THE JOKER, Dark Knight

The Joker, Dark Knight (Photo Credits:http://www.theocentric.com/assets/joker.jpg)

What is like on The Joker’s Eulogy? He has no friends and has no family. But on the bright side, when he leaves, no one gets hurt

After a coffee date with Aika, I went home, took a bath, opened my laptop, and turned on the television. Fortunately, my favorite movie is currently airing: The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan.

In the movie, Joker, Batman’s archenemy is a criminal who has no fear and can barely feel any pain whether physical or emotional. He kills people without hesitation, he blows up hospitals, robs banks and does all of the things he wants to do without feeling guilty.

There is one scene in the movie where Batman tortures Joker so that the Joker will spill out the address of Bruce Waynes’ (Batman’s outer ego) friends Rachel and Harvey (kidnapped by the Joker and placed in two separate places, tied with oil drums around them and a timed bomb).

In the scene, Batman was hitting the Joker hard, but the Joker just laughs and said “there is nothing that you can threaten me with”. The Joker, doesn’t have any friends, doesn’t have any family, he has men but are paid to keep him company, but he’s happy, he has no worries and don’t conform to any of the social norms.

In short, The Joker doesn’t value anything or anyone, not even himself (he even got a grenade on his coat for self-destruction). That’s why he has no fear, because he’s not afraid to loose anything or anyone. He doesn’t invest in any kind of emotion.

November 6, 2010, my uncle Eddie (mom’s big brother) died because of lung cancer. Normally, all of his children and his wife wept for his absence. The last night of his wake was dramatic. His family organized a Eulogy, a sort of a give-testimonial-to-the-dead ceremony.

On that night, I was tasked to take pictures. While the friends and family of my deceased uncle are commemorating their good memories with him, instead of crying, I began to ask. Why I’m not crying? Wherein almost of the people here in the wake were crying a river? What’s my difference to them?

The answer is very simple. Because I and my uncle were not close, we didn’t have the chance to bond or to exchange conversation, that’s why it is not that bad for me that he left.

Then I imagine what if this Eulogy is intended for my dad? or, my closest friend? Oh gees, I got teary eyed.

Perhaps I’ll cry more than this people cried when one of my immediate family members dies or even my closest friend leaves.

This time now, I’ve been busy hanging out with my friends and my family (we are going to Baguio next week, yehey!), building strong relationships and investing so many emotions. In my own little ways, I always try to make them feel that they are important to me, while most of them reciprocate the feeling of importance that I am giving them.

But what will I feel when they will leave me in an instance? In the case of my uncle, the doctor warned them that my uncle will only going to last for 3 months. His family did their best to keep him company, investing too much emotion. Then, he left, leaving his family weeping because of his absence.

Is there really a sense in getting close to a person? When sooner or later they’ll just leave us out of the blue, maybe you’ll loose your closeness with them or they'll die (remember: death is permanent) . Everyone leaves, some leaves early on, while some leaves when the story is all about to end. So basically, no one really stays. That's the bitter pill we need to swallow.

I don’t even know what to feel right now, should I stop building relationships so that when I leave or when they leave, there is no pain to be felt by any of the parties. Or continue to value every family and friends that I have, and end up hurting each other.

People in our lives come and go, no one really stays, I think the best way to compromise with this reality is to make their "temporary stop-over" worth remembering.

In giving importance to others, I can make a difference (whether big or small) in their lives. If pain in the end is the price to pay for touching other’s lives, then I am willing to pay for that price. In that case, I think I’ll definitely have a better Eulogy than the Joker’s, having my  friends and family cry, making my deeds remembered in a good way.

My dad while he was rendering his testimonials on Uncle Eddie

Uncle Eddie's Immediate Family (Left to right): Ate Tey, Kuya Jan, Chinney, Auntie Beth and Kuya Erwin