The Joker Research Paper

There are many superhero movies with intriguing villains. More specifically in 2008, when a number of comics were produced into movies, including The Dark Knight. Christopher Nolan’s interpretation of the Batman comics is more realistic. He portrays The Joker as a psychotic human, instead of a man that was in a “freak accident” to make him who he is. Everyone loves a villain and in The Dark Knight, the main point is the relationship between Batman and The Joker. This raises a commonly asked question. What makes The Joker so “batty”? It could be one of the many reasons “he got his scars”, or a number of other situations he has gotten himself into- possibly even Batman. Another theory offers that The Joker isn’t crazy. “I’ll show ya, when the

Instead of insanity, he is actually putting on a show where he is completely self-aware. People often associate uncontrollable laughter and gross tricks, much like The Joker’s, as mad. However, he isn’t. The Joker only does these things when he wants other people to think he’s insane. These facts connect the theory previously mentioned with this one. It is assumed that he has gone through severe emotional trauma, in reality The Joker fabricates these stories to help his image and to get away with all the crimes. To make it even clearer, sometimes he will mock himself. “Ha ha. Hee. Ho. And I thought my jokes were bad.” (The Dark Knight). Instead of using his “mad man” laugh, he fakes it, showing that he can be in control. Throughout this movie, The Joker plays a series of moral games. He conducts an experiment with the ferries, making people decide to blow the other boat up, or take no action in hopes the other passengers do the same. He also makes other characters choose between difficult tasks. He asks Officer Ramirez to take money for helping him kill Rachel. All of the actions he presents come with hard decisions based on the moral of the person. Thus proving, The Joker is not mad; he is a mastermind.

The relationship between Batman and The Joker is complicated. Batman sees him as a trouble making criminal that needs to be stopped, and it’s assumed that The Joker feels the same. Bruce Wayne is moved by vengeance and revenge because his parents were murdered when he was young thus creating Batman. So, in all his attempts to stop The Joker and all other evil in Gotham, the relationship is defined by good versus evil. The Joker is solely there to corrupt the morals of everyone, specifically Batman, as he demonstrates in all of his