The Joker, Or The Perfect Villain
The Joker is one of the mainstream’s most recognized and beloved villains. Indeed, his popularity is such that he no longer needs Batman to be recognized. Currently, a new movie is underway, where the role of Joker will be played by Joaquin Phoenix.
Several actors brought this villain to life. And yet, Heath Ledger’s Joker stands out in particular for his performance which won him the posthumous Oscar. However, we do not underestimate other high quality performances, like that of Jack Nicholson. The cinema has contributed, to a large extent, to soften the image of the Joker. And to associate it with that of the eternal villain.
The evolution of the Joker
Until the 1940s, Batman belonged to the Detective Comics series . But from there, the character became independent and was then the protagonist of a comic bearing his name. Like any good superhero, he needed a rival. Then begins to take shape the Joker, whose authorship has been quite disputed. This first Joker looked like the joker figure from the game of poker. On the other hand, it should be noted that initially, his intrusions were less elaborate than today and that he was presented as a “classic” villain.
Then, over time, his popularity increased and it seems that he became an essential figure in the Batman comics. Almost as if the two figures were two sides of the same coin. Good and evil, inseparable, indissoluble.
It is indeed this idea that the British screenwriter Alan Moore tried to convey in the film Batman: The Killing Joke . The idea, then, that the hero and the villain are not that different, that the goodness of Batman is not so pure, and neither is the cruelty of the Joker. The murderous joke comes at a time of crisis. At a time when the old editorial rules no longer work, the old ones start to grow weary and the Joker’s jokes are losing their grace.
Moore has managed to make a radical shift. He indeed staged a different Joker, who was no longer a flat and superficial character and whose villainous essence was reinforced. Thanks to Moore, the Joker ceased to be a secondary character who, while featuring some interesting storylines, was in the background. As a result, he had become a complement to the main character: Batman.
From this point on, interest in the villain increases. Due to the discovery of his dark and confused past, about which we hardly know much. Of seeing if the nature of the villain has always been there or, on the contrary, if it is the fruit of a bad day. Indeed, Moore managed to find the missing pieces of the puzzle and mapped out the main characteristics of the Joker’s true personality, the reason for his insanity.
Who is the Joker?
His physical appearance is a real mockery to Batman. A serious and dark character with a tragic past, compared with the appearance of an eccentric and colorful Circassian. Her physical appearance, explained in various ways throughout the comic, is due to a fall into a tank containing chemical residue that disfigures her face and changes her skin. Some authors usually add makeup, others explain that the color of her lips is due to contact with the residue.
In Batman; The Killing Joke , the Joker remembers his past in different ways. We see flashbacks, but we don’t know if they’re real or not.
In The Batman Adventures: Mad Love , the Joker explains to Harley Quinn a sad past in which he had problems with his father. However, we also found out that Batman narrated another similar version, but with a few variations.
In the film Batman (1989) directed by Tim Burton with Jack Nicholson in the role of the Joker, the latter has a name: Jack Napier, and we witness the scene of his transformation into the Joker in the chemical tank.
Heath Ledger’s Joker had a more realistic tone, closer to that of a criminal, a serial killer who always leaves his mark of identity next to his victim. A bit in the wake of its origins in the first comics.
The Joker’s past is unclear and undefined. There are different versions, all of which draw different possibilities. The Joker usually makes up his stories and manipulates them in order to achieve a goal, as in The Batman Adventures: Mad Love . We don’t know what’s real, nor what’s made up, but we can guess a dark past. A past perhaps not that different from that of Batman who, with his sadism, built the character we know today.
Sadistic, mocking, extremely intelligent, mad, manipulative: such is the Joker, no matter what version of his past. Indeed, the madness seems to be closely linked to the character, who manages to transmit it to those around him. As is the case with Harley Quinn. Indeed, although he is his psychiatrist, he falls in love with him and his madness. There is something charming about the Joker, a narcissistic, self-centered, and cruel aura. But what is curious is that it is difficult to avoid getting caught.
His taste for jokes and for laughing at what no one would laugh at. His mockery of life and death. Or his tortuous but intelligent and elaborate plans. So many factors that make him the perfect villain. The absolute villain. So perfect in its archetype that it manages to make us fall in love.
The mean one
Not knowing his past and even though Moore tried to confuse good and evil, in reality, the Joker is the perfect psychopath. The literary or cinematographic villain who is fair, because no external cause could have led him to take this path. There are many versions and the proposals are different. However, they all coincide in that they paint an unscrupulous sociopath whose sole purpose is to wreak havoc.
We tried to see the villain as everything that the hero is not or could be. If Batman is order, Joker is chaos. If Batman is good, Joker is bad… However, the villain figure is much more complex and has been studied in different forms. There are many types of villains out there and it is difficult to categorize them.
The archetype of the villain is found in artistic manifestations of very diverse characters. The villain is not always a character, he can also be an institution, a group, etc. We usually relate it to stories, to popular lore, a place where the archetypes are very clear, where the characters are adapted and configured.
Vladimir Propp made an in-depth study of the morphology of history. He was talking about a series of 31 common or recurring points in all fairy tales and, of course, made reference to the villain and his relationship with the hero. These functions were used in the construction of stories, in the study of narratology. We see them in fairy tales. But also in larger works. Even in the world of comics or cinema.
The figure of the s seems essential in the morphology of Propp’s tale. And in the same way, every hero needs a villain, a character who tries to sabotage him, who hurts his family, who destroys his plans and who contributes to the construction and mythification of the hero himself.
Our thoughts Batman is a complex character who tells us a lot about how to face and overcome our fears.
