The Dark Knight Is Joker hiding behind a mask?

[Tojo]

So, in this film atleast, this is a guy who put's clown makeup on 'to scare people'. Like 'war paint'. He would never dream of doing his work without it. Yet he gives Batman s**t for hiding behind a mask. Is the Joker just a hypocrite, hiding behind something because he is too afraid too do what he does 'as a real, normal person'?

what do you think?

 

[Indrid Cold]

Nope, I'm pretty sure he's just nuts. Remember he is an agent of chaos.

 

[The Joker]

Joker doesn't have an identity to hide behind, remember?

His fingerprints, DNA, dental work don't match anyone on record. No identification on him. No other aliases. He is simply the Joker. And given the two different stories he told about how he got his scars, it makes you wonder does he even know who he really is.

 

[Victarion]

Recall in the video of him torturing Brian, the fake Batman, he indirectly blamed Batman for his condition. So I think him calling for Batman to take off the mask is a cry from the person Joker used to be whose lost beneath the new, more disillusioned and manic personality.

 

[Tojo]

No i don't mean he has a specific identity. Of course Batman does, but he also wears his mask for the same reason Joker does. i mean, why does Joker not just go around doing what he does without the mask. It seemed to me like he was hiding from the world by waering one, and not the fearless villain he portrays himself as

 

[Asteroid-Man]

He hides by NOT wearing makeup. You saw the seen Gordon is shot.

 

[Eggyman]

Joker is The Joker. If he took his make-up off, he would just be The Joker without make-up.

Oh, and A-Man, I like what you said

 

[Shane Diesel]

He just does things. Like a dog chasing cars.

 

[Anita18]

Joker doesn't have an identity to hide behind, remember?

His fingerprints, DNA, dental work don't match anyone on record. No identification on him. No other aliases. He is simply the Joker. And given the two different stories he told about how he got his scars, it makes you wonder does he even know who he really is.

Right. Batman has a life beyond just being Batman - he has to be Bruce Wayne during the day. When Joker makes that threat, he's assuming that Batman has to be someone relatively normal (compared to him) and has another identity that he can blackmail out of him. It's only after Joker finds that Dent is not Batman, that he realizes that he doesn't really care who Batman is behind the mask. Going mano a mano with an unidentified Batman is just a lot more fun.

The Joker doesn't have to hide who he is because he does nothing but be the Joker. And that vision of himself includes the makeup.

 

[the_scream]

He hides by NOT wearing makeup. You saw the seen Gordon is shot.

Great point!

 

[batman11]

The Joker wears makeup causes he's the goddam Joker...and he thinks it's cool. Obviously he has no problem going out without makeup (see the Loeb funeral scene), he just prefers to look like a clown. It amuses him.

 

[GlasgowGrin]

Right. Batman has a life beyond just being Batman - he has to be Bruce Wayne during the day. When Joker makes that threat, he's assuming that Batman has to be someone relatively normal (compared to him) and has another identity that he can blackmail out of him. It's only after Joker finds that Dent is not Batman, that he realizes that he doesn't really care who Batman is behind the mask. Going mano a mano with an unidentified Batman is just a lot more fun.

The Joker doesn't have to hide who he is because he does nothing but be the Joker. And that vision of himself includes the makeup.

yep, that pretty much nails it. nolan made it clear that he wanted the joker to just appear almost out of thin air, and that he was much more an absolute force of chaos than a human with a past and thus motivations and depth.

 

[nickyg641]

Shouldn't this all fall under the "To Bleach or Not to Bleach" discussion?

 

[bonesawmcgraw]

If Batman wore black make up instead then he'd be a racist.

Actually he does around his eyes... just like the joker

 

[DACrowe]

Oh he considers himself a freak and a product of Batman's weirdness. Batman puts on a mask and creates an environment where criminality and the streets of Gotham have a "a taste for the theatrical" and brings out Joker's inner freak. He already has the scars but is merely trying to match Batman's iconography and create an image that inspires dread or at least apprehension.

He isn't hiding anything, he is wearing who he is on his sleeves. And who he is is a murderous maniac who takes joy in destruction, a crazed clown who thinks life is an absurdist play and he he needs to illustrate this in broad terms for everyone. He needs to match Batman, who he thinks gave him a way to create this image and thus created him. But this is JOker not hiding who he is, but being free enough to express it. Otherwise he is just a goon. But he has no name or backstory...he just is what he is.

 

[magus]

Actually he does around his eyes... just like the joker

I'm pretty sure that in the context of the movie he doesn't actually wear the makeup. We know he is wearing makeup because the cowl can't go that close to his eyes but in the movie I am pretty sure that isn't supposed to be makeup.

 

[Sweetchuck]

I think the point is that The Joker isnt wearing his makeup to hide his identity like Batman does. Batman could go around in his suit but not cover his face. He chooses to hide. Cause hes mostly sane and wants a private life too.
The Joker is the Joker all the time. He's not putting on the makeup to hide. He uses it to scare people much like Batman uses the symbol of the Bat and a Big Black shadowy figure to scare people...

 

[the_tortel]

he's not a hypocrite, he is the make up, he is the disturbingly maniacal, grotesque cold-blooded killer who his make up defines

 

[the_tortel]

Double Post

 

[HughMorris]

If Batman wore black make up instead then he'd be a racist.

The Joker wears makeup causes he's the goddamn Joker

 

[Ace of Knaves]

i think he wears make-up to accentuate his scars, like i've said in the bleach or not to bleach thread i think its much more disturbing that a man who is disfigured actually highlights his horrible appearance. its like maybe as a child and all through his life he was tormented for his looks and called a "freak!". so hes like "you think i'm a freak? i'll show you a freak!!" it could also explain why he gets angry and defensive when someone calls his a freak. it could be a word that cause a lot of pain for him.

 

[Afternoon]

Recall in the video of him torturing Brian, the fake Batman, he indirectly blamed Batman for his condition. So I think him calling for Batman to take off the mask is a cry from the person Joker used to be whose lost beneath the new, more disillusioned and manic personality.

As far as I understood this movie, the whole "Take of your Mask"-Part was just a test for Batman. Only after Batman did not take of his mask, even though people died and more were threatend and even let Harvey Dent take his place the Joker accepted him as a "peer". In the end he even says that he brought Dent down to "their" level.

 

[Two_Face]

What does he have to hide from? The guy isn't scared of anything and the make-up is probably only used because he likes it. I have no doubt that if he wasn't able to access make-up he'd run around terrorizing people with his scarred face.

 

[Nepenthes]

I think he is hiding. He adopts an anarchy theory and makes up this outrageous character just to make excuses for what he does to people, because he knows it's wrong, otherwise he wouldn't do it. He doesn't go around doing nice unpredictable and unplanned things for people does he?

If you took off his make-up he'd just be sad lonely guy who can only feel better my hurting other people. Pathetic. But with the Joker mask he can be a larger-than-life 'agent of chaos' that can capture the attention of a whole city, and pretend like he's actually representing some avant garde philosophy, "I know the truth" and "I'm ahead of the curve". No, not really. He's just an average sociopath but with an exceptional survival instinct, imagination, intelligence and capacity for self-delusion.

 

[Two_Face]

Hiding from what? He has no prior identity. Your explanation is pathetic, this Joker doesn't get his thrills by wearing make-up, he just does it to scare people.