One Bad Year: The Joker’s Recent Relegation To The Sidelines
02016 has been a rough year for the Joker. Created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson in 1940, the Clown Prince of Crime has become one of the most venerated and recognizable characters in the American entertainment canon. He is the Michael Jordan of villainry, the Leo Messi of chaos. Would you stick Jordan on the bench for Game Seven or leave Messi out of the starting eleven for a Champions League Final? Absolutely not. So why was the Joker relegated to the background in two feature films released this summer? In both Batman: The Killing Joke and Suicide Squad, the cackling psychopath was unceremoniously forced into a secondary role that was both insulting to the character’s legacy and detrimental to both movies.
Our first example is certainly the most confounding. Batman: The Killing Joke is a feature-length adaptation of the seminal graphic novel of the same name. The one-shot revolves around the idea that just one bad day could be enough to destroy an individual’s existing psychology and drive them insane. Writer Alan Moore and illustrator Brian Bolland explore the idea that Batman and the Joker are mirror images of one another, living proof that just one bad day can fundamentally change a person’s psyche. Yet while the Dark Knight used the death of his parents to motivate his crusade against crime, the Joker’s bad day inspired him to recognize the absurdity of life and pushes him to become the sadistic maniac we know and love. While this is a Batman story, the Joker is the focal point of the piece. The novel presents his definitive origin story as a struggling comedian who decides to participate in a heist at his old workplace in order to provide for himself and his pregnant wife. Cut to his one bad day, in which his wife dies in an accident and he is disfigured as a result of an accident during the heist. This tragic string of events results in a complete psychological breakdown in which the mild-mannered comedian transforms into the Architect of Anarchy. In the present, the Joker puts the “One Bad Day” principle to the test as he kidnaps and tortures Jim Gordon in an effort to prove his theory to the Bat. The end result is a harrowing, disturbing, and thought-provoking story — a testament to the power of the medium.
This summer’s adaptation, unfortunately, seems to forget what makes the story special. On paper, it is a promising project, with a team predominately comprised of people who had worked on Batman: The Animated Series, including the return of Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as the Joker. (Quick side note: this article is not intended to criticize the performances of Hamill and Jared Leto. Both actors are excellent in their portrayal of the character and it would be unfair, and just plain wrong, to blame them for how the character was integrated into the narrative of these respective films.) Despite its strong pedigree, The Killing Joke adaptation goes awry from the first minute. The decision was made to devote the entire first act to a storyline that revolves around Batman, Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), and a generic Gotham crime kingpin. This sequence not only fails to construct a connective tissue between the first act and the second, it delays the Joker’s introduction until the beginning of the second act. The Killing Joke is the Joker’s story and we must start with the Joker in order for the full impact of his journey to be felt. It seems like the writers just tacked on the first act in order for the film to meet the length requirements of a feature. And herein lies a real missed opportunity to delve deeper into the themes of the source material. The film could have followed in the novel’s steps and constructed the definitive film exploration of the Joker. Instead, it forced the Joker into the background, only trotting him out when absolutely necessary.
Suicide Squad is the second feature this year to include the Joker and of the two its misuse of the character is the most understandable. David Ayer’s antihero blowout was always going to have to confront the obstacle of balancing the multitude of the gigantic personalities present in the lineup. Several DC villains make their live-action debuts, including Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and Enchantress, and the time required to develop their characters pushes Jared Leto’s depiction of the Joker into the shadows, and not in a good way. The Joker’s role in Suicide Squad is a bit confusing. He is primarily used as a way to help develop Harley and seems oblivious to the burgeoning apocalypse a few blocks away. One would think that Enchantress’ plan would be perfect for his proclivity in using chaos to accomplish his own goals. He makes a half-hearted attempt to “rescue” Harley and is unceremoniously “killed off” shortly thereafter. It seems that the intention is for the Joker to only serve as a love interest for Harley and even this relationship is streamlined to make way for more time with the Squad. You could remove the Joker from the narrative entirely and the story would not be affected. This is an issue when we’re talking about one of the most famous villains in literary history. Furthermore, Leto’s intensive preparation seems to be wasted, as we’re only treated to glimpses of his demonic portrayal of Mr. J.
The Joker says that “All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy.” While one bad year won’t affect the Joker’s reputation in the same way that his bad day affected him, it is disheartening that he has been treated with such flippancy. The Joker is an event, a whirling dervish of hilarity and horror whose larger than life personality shouldn’t be suppressed. To treat him in such an offhanded fashion is a disservice to the character and ultimately harmful to the quality and entertainment values of the films. When you have a Joker up your sleeve, you can’t just leave it there.
John Drain | Staff Writer