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Being a huge Batman
fan, I have been looking forward to this watching this movie since day one. It
has been a while since I have seen it, so I was pretty excited to watch it.
With that in mind, I enjoyed it overall, but the inner Batman fan in me was
annoyed by some of the changes (Joker’s origin story, Batman killing, the whole
killing of Bruce’s parents). But that is not the point of this post, though I
could complain a fair amount about the film (do not get me wrong, though – I enjoyed
it). I want to talk about the Joker.
Created by Bill Finger
and Bob Kane, the Joker has always been Batman’s nemesis and has always wanted
to create as much trouble as possible simply for the hell of it. He is a
trickster character, and like every good trickster character, he pushes the
limits of power. I think Burton made it very clear as to what kind of trickster
Joker is, from destroying paintings to killing mass people (which I think
undermines the idea of a trickster in a way, but I will get to that later).
From the Joker using witty one-liners to contaminating Gotham’s cosmetic
products, Burton definitely supports the idea of a trickster with the Joker’s
witty, somewhat playful destruction – all with a smile on his face.
However, I also think
that Burton undermines the idea of a trickster in two key ways. The Joker has
no special powers, and does not outwit people as much as just kills them. The
Joker is someone who could potentially fit into our own world, so magic is out
of the question. The Joker uses guns when he can, and kills people in whatever
way he sees fit. Like the art museum scene (with Vicki Vale) and the very end, Joker
does not seem to care who he kills, as long as it is creative (“I’m the world’s
first fully-functional homicidal artist").
The Joker in Batman
makes a very dark, very convincing trickster that fits well in this movie. He
is a homicidal maniac, and one never knows what he will do next, which I think
was Burton’s intention.
