On January 22, 2018, Heath Ledger’s performance in "The Dark Knight" as the Joker was voted best movie villain of all time on the anniversary of the great actor’s death.
Heath Ledger has always been one of my favorite actors due to his amazing performances. "The Dark Night," "Knight’s Tale," "The Patriot," and "10 Things I Hate About You," starred Health Ledger and are some of my favorite movies. Although, his lesser-known roles in "Candy," "Casanova," and "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" are even better than his major movies because we get to see Ledger develop as an actor.
However, this article is not about Heath Ledger, RIP.
This about the Joker. Why was this performance of the Joker so good? Why did this version beat out major all-time villains like Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter, Sauron, and Lord Voldemort!
I can’t really quantify it into one word or even sentence. Instead, I am going to break the movie down into two scenes so we can understand the character of the Joker a little better. These two scenes really create the Joker for the movie.
I’m going to mostly ignore the heroes, even though they add a lot to the Joker throughout the movie. Like how Batman and Dent are the opposite sides of a two-headed coin, or how the theme is not just Batman vs Joker, but both are fighting for Dent as a representation of Gotham. I’m just going to focus on the Joker scenes.
Scene One: The Bank Heist
The Dark Knight starts off with one of the best opening scenes of all time, in my opinion. We see a group of bank robbers attempting to rob a mob-controlled bank in Gotham City. The robbers execute the plan, and each other, methodically until there is only one robber left and a ton of cash escaping on a school bus.
At the end of the heist, the last robber is seen taking his mask off to reveal it was the Joker the entire time. This idea plays on the theme of Joker as a character vs. Joker as a performer.
The Joker is usually depicted covering his face with a painted clown mask; here he is a performer. He covered his face with paint for some unknown reason from his past. This character move shows that somewhere he changed into the Joker instead of the real person behind the mask. The Joker officially becomes the Joker with his painted mask. Just as Batman is not Bruce Wayne with the bat mask on. The Joker is not the Joker without his mask.
In the robbery, he covers the painted mask with a plastic toy mask. Here the Joker is just a character acting out the role of a robber. He is trying to entertain. He pretends to be someone else not for character development but for a specific role. He is no longer the Joker, but instead, he is actually an actor acting out a character.
Here we get to see the Joker's character instead of his performance. We aren’t distracted by his face mask, instead we get to see his personality portrayed through his faux character.
We see a villain who is patient and calculated. Someone who rules his followers through fear. We see someone who is the perfect opponent to Batman.
The masks come up again during the movie when the Joker demands that Batman takes off his mask and turns himself in. Why does the Joker ask Batman to remove his mask, when the Joker’s face is still covered? The Joker says, “I’ve removed my mask.” However, he never did. He never removes his mask.
This further builds on the foundation that to the Joker, his entire life is just one big performance. Hence, his entire life is just a big joke without any clear purpose or reason. His reality is that he has no reality.
The movie continues while introducing Batman, Dent, and Lt. James Gordon as our heroes. The Joker plays silent through this part of the movie, being patient. The most interesting part of this time was the ever-changing origin story of the Joker.
The Joker keeps changing his story of how he received his scars. This adds even more to his terrifying mysteriousness as a performer. Since he is only just performing, he does not need a solid backstory. He can change his backstory to change the motivation for his performance. The Joker uses the present instead of the past to define his motives. This completely contrasts with Batman. Batman focuses on his dark past as the sole source of motivation for dressing up as the caped crusader.
Scene Two: The interrogation of the Joker.
In the interrogation scene, Batman tries to use his strength and intimidation to make the Joker tell him where Rachael is located. However, here we see the Joker’s secret strength. Batman’s main strength is using his brute force to intimidate his opponents into submission. However, the Joker doesn’t care if he dies or not. Batman can hit him and scream at him forever. To the Joker, all of this means nothing (it is a joke) because Batman can’t actually threaten the Joker with anything.
This is the Joker’s secret power: removing his opponent’s power from them. He actually says this in the movie to Batman when he says, “You have nothing to threaten me with. Nothing to do with all your strength.” Just by saying these lines, the Joker shows us how to beat Batman. If you take away his power, then it doesn’t matter how much power you have or not since he has none.
There are theories and some comics where the Joker breaks the fourth wall. I think this idea is what makes the Joker so interesting. The reason he is crazy is that he knows he is just a character performing in a movie or a comic strip. He puts the mask on to hide from the truth that he is nothing but an idea scribbled down by an Omni-powerful scriptwriter. He creates chaos as entertainment for the audience, not for himself.
People often blame the Joker as a victim of mental illness and that he is actually just crazy. However, I do not believe he is crazy at all. Instead, I would argue he is extremely intelligent and knows exactly what he is doing.
The Joker shows us that the only way to win is to play for your own self-interests. This is what the Joker wants. He wants to show that given enough pressure people will throw away their morals and always choose what is best for themselves, even if that means killing.
The Joker goes beyond all other villains. The Joker makes us seek out our own personal dark thoughts. He makes us confront the monster within every single one of us. The Joker seeks to prove that selflessness does not exist. He wants to prove that everyone is like him deep down. That a person will always act in their own self-interest given enough pressure. Maybe I praise the Joker so high because it is easy for me to connect with him.
If we are really just floating on a planet around a sun that will eventually destroy us, then what is the point? This is the Joker’s view of his life. He sees everything as a farce, everything as a performance. He isn’t motivated by money or power like a normal villain. Instead, he seeks to turn everyone into a villain. He never tries to be the villain, but rather prove there is a villain inside everyone else. This is why the Joker is the greatest movie villain of all time.
