William Tung from USA on Wikimedia
The Dark Knight was a massive hit upon being released in the summer of 2008. While it had striking visuals, a perfect score, and a top-notch cast, it was their take on the Joker that made it a bona fide sensation and the blueprint for future superhero movies.
Christopher Nolan's characterization of the Joker was its driving force. It was bold and unique, which was an impressive feat when you consider that this character has appeared in hundreds of different iterations between the comics. television and film. It would have been easy for The Dark Knight to present a boring version of a sadistic Joker, but it didn't. It went far deeper than it had any right to go, and audiences were rewarded. The trick was understanding the character and what made him such an enduring villain.
If you're a die-hard fan of The Dark Knight and the Joker is your favorite part, then let's dive into why that might be based on what the movie got right about this iconic villain.
Chaos as a Philosophy
The Dark Knight reshaped earlier film versions of the Joker by getting rid of the gimmicks and focusing on how he is driven by a pure ideology of chaos. Instead of being a clown with a distinct and multi-faceted plan, he was just a man bent on introducing chaos to the order of Gotham. Even he didn't care how he went about it.
To him, the joke was how people weren't moral beings, and it wouldn't take much for their facade to crumble. He treated Batman and Harvey Dent as players in his moral chess match, not adversaries he needed to take down.
A Character With No Backstory
Every writer tries to outfit the Joker with a backstory. He was a gangster, a failed comic, or a misunderstood patient at a mental institution. The Dark Knight understood that the best way to make the Joker terrifying was to strip away his origin. It doesn't matter. What mattered is that ambiguity made him more of a challenge to Batman and more terrifying.
Without the anchor of an origin, the Joker was a truly unpredictable character. Not only did this make for an exciting plot, but it also made it impossible to anticipate what the Joker would subject Batman to next, creating an unease and a level of engagement that no other Batman movie has accomplished.
Batman's Psychological Mirror
Batman is on order to the Joker's chaos. This might seem simple, but many have tried to just make the Joker another one of Batman's villains. However, he's more than that. He's the mirror opposite of Batman, and exists to challenge his code of ethics and to force him to enter and figure his way out of moral gray zones.
This dynamic was a vast departure from Joel Schumaker's Batman movies, and viewers were ready for it. What The Dark Knight truly got right is that the Joker never wants to kill Batman. He wants to corrupt him. Weirdly, the Joker loves Batman and wants their relationship to continue forever. Honestly, it's kind of sweet even if Batman doesn't see it that way.
The Dark Knight is a masterpiece, but it wouldn't have reached the level it did without the amount of thought they put into creating their version of the Joker. From his philosophical stance and lack of a backstory to his dynamic with Batman, this Joker was fresh, captivating, and thought-provoking.
