Is humanity worth saving? Are we truly good people or are those smiles we wear every day a denial mechanism we use to cope with a universe that remains apathetic regardless of our needs? If given the opportunity, would we remove our hypocritical cheery war paint and tell the universe to stick it were it belongs? Needless to say, this is a superb Hollywood popcorn circus irresistible to most. Tour-de-force dramatic performances by all, and specially by one. A director delivering visuals as one does at the top of their career. A marriage of cinematography and visual effects so perfect that is sure to outlast any tinsel town relationship. But all of these things have been said already by better wordsmiths than myself. What has remained in my thoughts long past its multiple viewings was the philosophical exploration of good versus evil. The hypocrisy of human existence. We are raised by our parents and society to be good. Religion certainly tells us so, even if it involves killing others, the goal is ultimately to be "good." Hell, on TV, the bad eventually gets it, and the good guy walks away with the blond. We all have to be good... Or do we? Enter the Joker. The catalyst for an experiment in truth... If given the opportunity, if there was no lock with a key, If you could pull the pin on all those people you smile at every day but wish they were three feet under water, would you? No one needs to know. No one needs to care. You know you only do it because someone else is keeping scores on you. That is the beauty of the Joker. He points out perfectly that Evil is not so much the guy with the guns. True Evil is the guy that allows you to reveal yourself exactly as you are with no one keeping tabs. Then, we'll see what we are made of. Let's keep things in perspective. This is, as I said earlier, the ultimate Hollywood cupcake. Delicious no matter how you bite it. And, as such, it has to leave a good after taste. The Joker is in fact proven wrong. And the beauty of this, if you pay close attention, is that Batman has very little, if anything, to do with this. His main goal is to stop the Joker from carrying on his mad experiments on the human mind, and so he does as the hero that he is. But the Joker's tests are answered face forward by the people themselves. It turns out when you open the doors to the asylum the crazy folks are simply normal... At least in Hollywood. I still wonder, though. If this wasn't Hollywood, and the Joker was around to give us that switch on that boat, what would you really do? Who are you without that fake smile you put on every day?