The Dark Knight Jokers humor

[Demon Within]

Having seen the IMO awsome heath ledger pic I tried to get a sense of where Nolan was going with this joker. Its my opinion that Joker will not be "the clown prince of crime" everyone knows an loves from comics/past movie/TAS and his antics will not be over the top haha funny most expect. For this argument I will liken this Joker to Gallagher the over the top comedian. Instead Nolan is going a different path, creating a Joker who is a buffalo bill type crazy character who, by certain circumstances has come to look like a Jesture. The humor of this Joker will be more like Dennis Miller, subtle but highly intellectual. This is going to create a few polarizations with audiences:
1) hardcore fans will say this Joker is horrible because he does not have the over the top haha funny that he is known for while others will find the take disturbing and real while also fresh.

2) Generally Jokers ways of killing are so over the top it lessens the seriousness of the crime to a point most people see the humor of what he has done instead of the killing itself. This Joker will be the opposite, his crimes being very brutal with the humor being subtle, like an inside joke or ironic humor. Alot of people wont laugh because they might be disgusted by how brutal the crime is but that doesnt mean its NOT funny. These people are Batman. The few that do find the humor in his actions will be Joker.

This is all of my opinion but this is what I sense is upcoming for TDK. Agree/disagree and if this is the case are you willing to except this take on Joker?

 

[Cain]

The website pretty much answered everything. The e-mail's speaked for themselves.

 

[Two-Face]

"Trying to cheat the Cheater?" (spelling?) I love that.

 

[Baba Ghanoush]

The look alone polarized a lot of people here. I can't wait to hear peoples' diatribes when they actually see how the Joker is portrayed. I think the boards might crash.

 

[Demon Within]

The website pretty much answered everything. The e-mail's speaked for themselves.

spoke.

 

[Cain]

spoke.

*does not edit post*

 

[The Redux 714]

The Joker has a problem; that being insanity. But, he is funny, no way around that. Being a pyschotic serial killer with a sense of humor wi;ll be a very delicate balanece to maintain.

If he's too funny, he's campy, and doesn't come off as a serious threat.

If he's too serious, he looses his most defining quality.

The Joker's "act", as it were, is always jumping from one foot to the other, a monster with a grin to a clown with a really dark sense of humor, and back again. This adds to the "crazy" factor that is his mind; he's never one or the other for too long.

The one thing that does remain constant, though, is that he's smart. Very smart. Always on top of things, always ready, and always knows exactly what/when/how to do whatever it is he needs to do.

Personally, my dream Joker would something like this:

John Travolta's character from Swordfish - A driven, unflintching, calculating machine.

Kevin Spacey from Se7en - No one whose seen that movie can't tell me that the killings he did were'nt akin to something the Joker would do. Totally nuts, yet very intelligent. The difference between Jack the Ripper and Einstein was a slim one, remember this.

Denis Leary - The personification of black humor.

And on top of all this, the Joker needs to be creepy. Maybe not just flat out scary, but creepy. Un-nerving. So much so that I don't want blinking too fast because I might wet myself creepy. But not scary.

 

[Batjml]

The look alone polarized a lot of people here. I can't wait to hear peoples' diatribes when they actually see how the Joker is portrayed. I think the boards might crash.

i agree. i don't think many fans can appreciate the fact that someone wants to have a fresh take on an old character, thus trying to make the story more interesting. it has been a long time since i have *****ed about how a superhero movie is not faithful to the source material. i decided to accept a movie for what it is. i consider movies as an alternate version of the comics they're based off of, similar to DC's "All-Star" series or Marvel's "Ultimate" series (hell, the movies can even be their own planet in the DC Multiverse :P). it doesn't bother me that some details may be different. imo, it brings some spice into the mix.

 

[Cain]

"I always say, you never know what a man is truly made of until you peel
the skin off his face one piece at a time."


From:[email protected]

"People always ask me about my charming boyish smile. Jessica used to love it. She was the loneliest girl in high school, and my first big kiss..."

There's nothing to worry about in terms of characterization.

 

[BubbaGump]

If he's too funny, he's campy, and doesn't come off as a serious threat.

If he's too serious, he looses his most defining quality.

You described it perfectly. One of the comics where killer and clown are balanced accordingly is "The Man Who Laughs." And the BTAS episodes where Joker has a humorous side, but still retains that dark, creepy persona are "The Laughing Fish" and "Joker's Favor"

I want Nolan-Joker to crack a few jokes (no corny one-liners) before shooting someone. There needs to be a delicate balance. It should be like Spider-Man 3 humor...only with more blood and guns. Yessssss

 

[Batjml]

The Joker's "act", as it were, is always jumping from one foot to the other, a monster with a grin to a clown with a really dark sense of humor, and back again. This adds to the "crazy" factor that is his mind; he's never one or the other for too long.

ah, but is the Joker really "crazy"? imo, one could argue that he is a sadist who uses insanity as an excuse for his pleasure of tormenting people and his sick sense of humor.

 

[itsthebatman]

"I always say, you never know what a man is truly made of until you peel
the skin off his face one piece at a time."


From:[email protected]

"People always ask me about my charming boyish smile. Jessica used to love it. She was the loneliest girl in high school, and my first big kiss..."

There's nothing to worry about in terms of characterization.

Aye. Spot-on so far.

 

[itsthebatman]

ah, but is the Joker really "crazy"? imo, one could argue that he is a sadist who uses insanity as an excuse for his pleasure of tormenting people and his sick sense of humor.

As Jason Todd said 'You're not as crazy as you'd have us believ, it just makes it easier to excuse all the horrid things you've done'.

 

[Batjml]

well, there you go. evidence to support my claim.

 

[BubbaGump]

As Jason Todd said 'You're not as crazy as you'd have us believ, it just makes it easier to excuse all the horrid things you've done'.

Anyone read the Paul Dini/Alex Ross run in Batman Black and White? The psychiatrists read over a file that indicates that the Joker is perfectly sane. He just happens to be extremely sadistic, and uses the insanity plea as a loophole to murder just for the hell of it.

 

[Batjml]

Anyone read the Paul Dini/Alex Ross run in Batman Black and White? The psychiatrists read over a file that indicates that the Joker is perfectly sane. He just happens to be extremely sadistic, and uses the insanity plea as a loophole to murder just for the hell of it.

lol, even more evidence. t:

 

[The Redux 714]

Regardless if he's "carzy" or "insane" by diffinition, he sure as hell isn't, byt any stretch of the imagination, "normal". Remember, when bad guys want to scare each other, they tell Joker stories.

 

[itsthebatman]

lol, even more evidence. t:

I'd alert the DA that you have a case.

 

[Rockbottom]

Well he needs some humour because remember half the reason he keeps coming back and is obsessed with Batman is because he wants to make him laugh.

 

[weezerspider]

He needs dark Humor. A Loooonnnnggg time ago I gave this as an example of joke by the Joker:

Police Man: *Smoking a cigar*
Joker: You know officer.... *Slams the cigar into the mans mouth and
eventually chokes him to death with it*.....Smoking kills.

Not that great, but dark humor like that is what he should do. Dark, so its not real campy and it shows his brutality, but it still does show hes and insane funny guy.

 

[Tempest19]

Now this might surprise some, but I really want some of the Joker aspects from the film BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER. The PG-13 cut, especially his treatment of Robin. Why? Because that Joker has always scared me and still does- really fcking sadistic and takes pure joy in it to the extent that it's borderline scary. That whole idea of making a home video of doing that and how he did it- very very creepy, something we wouldn't laugh at, but the Joker would find to be hilarious!

Does anyone else like how the Joker was depicted in that film?

 

[Ecstasy]

But since this movie's also marketed to the kids, they'll have to keep the humor understandable to them, right?

I'm not saying I'm against dark/ironic humor with the new Joker.

 

[Tempest19]

Make the Joker humorous to kids? NO. The Joker isn't supposed to be funny for kids, one of my favorite Jokers- as I stated above is the one from 'Return of the Joker'. Because it's plain sickening, sadistic, scary and you can see how the Joker finds it funny. I don't think we should find what the Joker does funny, we should be scared of him because he thinks the things that he does is funny. This is the type of Joker we should get.

The first films wasn't marketed towards kids, and that's one of the things teenagers and adults love about it. It's serious and takes itself like a serious drama while maintaining the fun. That's what seperates Batman Begins from the crowd.

 

[Muziko]

I don't know about anyone else on this board, but I thought that ^ was hilarious(weezerspider).

 

[Cain]

Now this might surprise some, but I really want some of the Joker aspects from the film BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER. The PG-13 cut, especially his treatment of Robin. Why? Because that Joker has always scared me and still does- really fcking sadistic and takes pure joy in it to the extent that it's borderline scary. That whole idea of making a home video of doing that and how he did it- very very creepy, something we wouldn't laugh at, but the Joker would find to be hilarious!

Does anyone else like how the Joker was depicted in that film?

That whole Joker kidnapping Robin thing is why I could watch that movie, I wasn't much of a Batman Beyond fan at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUsVwW_gEno