Revisiting The Dark Knight: A Character Study

This weekend, I revisited what I consider to be one of the greatest movies of all time, The Dark Knight. I chose to revisit this movie after seeing the new film, Suicide Squad . Watching Suicide Squad caused me to wonder what made Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker so amazing (I found Jared Leto to be lackluster and annoying). I am definitely not a film critic, I just love movies. I have read a few books on the topics of filmmaking and screenwriting so I have some idea what I'm talking about, but please take all of my observations with a grain of salt. I don't care to much for comic books, but I do think they can make great movies. For most people (at least the three that I asked), the most defining part of The Dark Knight is the character of the Joker. I think that the Joker is one of the greatest movie villains of all time, and I want to explain why in this post. Thus, today I dive into the character of the Joker, as portrayed in The Dark Knight .

*Just a forewarning, I wrote this based on the assumption that the reader has watched the movie. If you haven't, I highly suggest watching the movie. It's fantastic. You still might get the general idea of what I'm saying though, so contiune ahead if you want.

(Spoilers Ahead)

So much of what makes the Joker great stems from his ability to attack Batman in a way that cripples him, simply by using a few of Batman's weaknesses. Now I don't mean physically attack, because the Joker attacks Batman on all levels. The Joker goes after his allies, forces him into making terrible decisions, and exploits his morals and his strengths and weaknesses at every turn. In fact, the ability to exploit Batman's weaknesses is one of the reasons the Joker is as powerful as he is. Most of Batman's power comes from intimidation, and the myth he has created around himself. Batman has become an urban legend to criminals, one that stalks them throughout the night. When they are confronted by him, they feel fear. Batman is used to intimidating people. Yet when he is confronted by the Joker, he finds his greatest strength (intimidation) to be useless. The Joker takes Batman's greatest strength out of the equation. In some instances, he has some information Batman doesn't, some unknown contingency. For example, when the Joker is being interrogated by Batman, he is able to hold the fact that he has kidnapped Harvey Dent and Rachel over Batman's head. Slowly, he lets Batman know he is holding his childhood friend, Rachel, and ally, Dent, captive. The Joker also reveals that there is only time to save one. By manipulating Batman's "strength", the Joker causes Batman to lose control of the situation. He no longer wants information form the Joker, he needs it, in order to save someone. In this scene, the Joker boats about how he has exploited Batman's reliance on intimidation. The Joker states "You have nothing. Nothing to threaten me with. Nothing to do with all your strength..." ("Nolan 94"). He knows he has Batman in a position of weakness. This was possible because the Joker simply took Batman's greatest strength, intimidation, out of the picture.

Another way in which the Joker weakens Batman is by manipulating Batman's moral code. One of the defining characteristics of Batman is his refusal to kill, his "one rule." In this movie, the Joker exploits that rule to no end. In fact, the Joker wants Batman to kill him, simply because he knows it is something Batman cannot do without destroying everything he stands for. Early in the movie, the Joker presents Batman with an ultimatum; take off the mask, and reveal his identity, or daily until he does, the Joker will kill innocents, police officers, anyone. Thus, the longer Batman goes without stopping the Joker, the more people die. The Joker makes it clear to Batman that the only way to stop him (quickly, that is) is to kill him. Batman is presented with the terrible ultimatum: forgo everything he stands for, destroy his morals, and kill the Joker, or watch innocents die until he catches him (or until he takes off the mask). The longer that Batman does nothing, the more the public begins to turn against him. It is at this point that Batman's moral code is revealed to be fragile, and seemingly useless. This is one of the reasons that the Joker is such a great villain. He manipulates Batman in a way that cripples him, simply by using his strengths and morals.

The Joker also forces Batman into making terrible choices, choices that most anyone would struggle with. This is one of the roles the Joker plays in the story and the screenplay. We, the audience, idolize Batman, he's supposed to be the hero of the story. Yet as Batman is slowly backed into a corner by the Joker, we begin to doubt him. Is revealing his identity really the best option? Should he have turned himself over sooner and spared more innocents? Why is he trying to save Rachel when Harvey is what Gotham needs? The Joker causes us, the audience, to begin to doubt our hero. The Joker learns about Batman by forcing him to make choices. He discovers Batman has affections for Rachel when he throws her out the window, thus he uses her against him later. These choices reveal the true type of person Batman is.

The final reason that the Joker is so memorable is because he and Batman are not just fighting each other for no reason, they are fighting for something much bigger than themselves. They are fighting for Gotham. Batman wants law and order for the city, prosperity. Near the beginning of the movie, Batman and his allies are close to reaching that goal. They've cleaned up the mob, have enough evidence to prosecute the majority of the criminal underworld, and order may finally rule the city again. Then, the Joker shows up. The Joker wants the city in chaos because he believes it is the natural order of things. They both want wildly different things for the city, and the movie is essentially about them competing with each other to see their visions realized. This raises the stakes of the story, makes it more compelling. Throughout this contest, the Joker actually improves Batman. The Joker shows Batman how to stay steady under immense pressure, he shows Batman the benefits of having allies, and, above all, deepens Batman's resolve to his crusade.

It is for these reasons that I consider the Joker to be the most memorable part of The Dark Knight, and one of the best movie villains of all time.

Thanks for reading!