The Man Who Laughs

[I had been throwing around the idea of writing an post defending the new Joker before I heard of Heath Ledger's premature death. This article is dedicated to his memory. Warning: Any offensive or insulting remarks will be deleted without warning]

When I showed the latest trailer for The Dark Knight to my siblings, the reaction was lukewarm at best. "I don't like the make-up", "He's not Jack Nicholson" and "He's not funny" were the main complaints. A few years ago, I probably would have agreed. I fondly remember watching Nicholson's Joker as a kid – a depraved but strangely funny character who chewed the scenery and delivered many a memorable quote (Our favorite was "Bob, gun" – after which he proceeds to shoot Bob).

I now realize that that is precisely the problem – many of us think of the Joker primarily as a funny, insane criminal – a cartoon character, really. Ask your average non-intensive Batman fan to think of a word they associate with the Joker and terms such as funny, entertaining, depraved and insane probably come to mind. Scary? Horrifying? They're probably not even in the top five.

This is a shame – because there is another side to the Joker, a side that elicits not laughs but rather sheer terror. Behind the jokes and the wackiness lie a psychopathic, terrifying monster who kills and maims just for the fun of it. For the Joker of the comics, everything's a joke – society, law, morality and even human life itself. His crimes are utterly devoid of any logic; as Batman once put it – they "make sense to him alone".

Neither are his methods or actions reason for laughter. One example can be found in The Killing Joke, considered one of the ultimate Joker stories. In the story, the Joker shot and paralyzed Barbara Gordon (Batgirl, though he didn't know it), stripped her and took pictures. Then he kidnapped Commissioner Gordon and showed him the pictures with the express intent of driving him insane, thus proving that anyone can become like him after a "bad day".

Another demonstration of the Joker's "humor" can be found in the unedited version of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. [Spoiler Alert] In a critical flashback scene, we learn that the Joker kidnapped Robin and brainwashed him into becoming a Joker sidekick named "JJ". When Batman finally tracks him down, the Joker shows him a movie graphically depicting Robin being electrocuted. Enraged, Batman attacks the Joker and pins him to the wall. The Joker simply tells him: "If you don't like the movie, I've got slides". Still think he's funny?

So I say: bring us the Joker of the Dark Knight. Bring us the Joker in his full, uncensored version – a "sick, demented monster" (World's Finest) whose high-pitched laughs send chills down your spine and whose "jokes" only demonstrate his complete lack of morality. If nothing else, we will perhaps finally begin to realize this lesson: there is nothing funny or "cool" about evil.