Is Gotham Safer Than the United States?
Gotham’s new mayor has inspired the city with progressive policy, why can’t America do the same?
In the latest episode of HBO Max’s Harley Quinn series, “Joker: The Killing Vote,” the crown prince of crime runs for Mayor of Gotham. While season three has mainly been focused on the relationship between Harley Quinn (Kaley Cuoco) and Poison Ivy (Lake Bell), this episode centers the Joker, and for the first time without Harley around.
[Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen the episode]
Through a series of events in earlier seasons, the Joker (Alan Tudyk) has become a reformed man after regaining his sanity. Living out his life as a step father in a suburban home, he finds himself a new nemesis in Debbie (Amy Sedaris) — a pesky mom at his kids’ school who continuously gets the best of him. He asks Debby to pull some strings, the same way she did for her kids, to help get his into a dual language program. When Debby says no, it leaves the Joker who only one choice: to run for mayor.
While some have taken issue with the show’s deviation from the Harley Quinn storyline, as the show is about her life after her breakup with Joker, and consider it to be a problem for the series — I saw the flaws in our American society. Harley Quinn often offers biting commentary on political and societal issues, and this episode was no different. The Joker becomes a champion of progressive politics — education reform, universal healthcare, redistribution of wealth, and police abolition. These progressive policies turned this villain into a heroic figure that inspired the people of Gotham, while still holding tight to his Joker ways: robbing a bank to hand the money out to Gotham citizens.
At the end of the episode Joker is elected as mayor as Harley and Ivy return from their New Orleans trip. And with the Joker’s election I started to ask myself: Is Gotham a safer/better place to live than the United States? A question I never once thought I’d ask myself.
While there’s no evidence that Joker’s reign of progressiveness over Gotham will last, or that he’ll continue to govern as mayor graciously, I have to admit that I might be jealous of the people of Gotham. While riddled with villainy, Gotham is now a place that offers its citizens the right to equal education, eliminates their fears of insane healthcare costs, and alleviates the fear of police brutality.
But why can Gotham accomplish these great feats and America can’t?
Well, it’s fiction. It’s not bound by the realities of capitalism and the so-called American ideals. The United States spends a significant amount more compared to other comparable nations, but Americans also spend significantly more in personal healthcare costs causing unsustainable levels of American debt. Americans are constantly being brutalized at the hands of the police force — as of March 31, police have killed 286 people in 2022. Law enforcement are not held accountable for their actions and thus fail to provide the American public with even the basic information about the lives they’ve taken, forcing American citizens to do the collecting of this data themselves. Almost every step of the way, the American government has failed its people and has continuously supported big business at the expense of its citizens.
Gotham has its problems, constant robberies, villains wanting to blow up buildings and take over the city, evil fairy tale creatures, and a man running around dressed as a bat — but for a mayor like Joker, I’d be willing to accept all of those risks. And there’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to have a mayor like Joker. Just like in Gotham these progressive policies are quite popular amongst all demographics, but the corporate ties within our government keeps our politicians ineffective, even if there are a handful that are fighting for these policies.
So for now, I’ll live vicariously through the people of Gotham and support Mayor Joker and his progressive reforms. #JokerForMayor
Watch all of seasons 1 and 2 of Harley Quinn on HBO Max, new episodes for season 3 released on Thursdays.
