Guest Submission: Why Do We Love The Joker? by Jarec
I completely freaking suck, I know. I do want to assure people my lack of updates is not indicactive of a lack of interest in this blog. The truth is, you voted for Emperor Joker and, whilst I have my fondness for the Boy in Blue, I'm a Batman girl through-and-through and so have been avoiding moving ahead. There's also been plenty going on in my non-geek life to distract me, some good and some bad. At any rate, the new review will come soon, I will ensure I maintain my NY goal of two reviews a month going forward and, with much excitement, I present a guest essay here on this blog from big-time Joker fan, JAREC.
Why do we love the Joker? What is the source of this mad clown’s hold on our minds and hearts? On the surface, it appears to be all out of proportion- in most fan polls, the Joker comes in second only to Batman, and often surpasses even the Dark Knight.
Some say it’s his sense of style, the way he always appears to be totally in control of his situation. Others claim it’s his twisted and flat-out evil nature, that his single-minded devotion to wickedness and chaos speak to some dark part of our own minds. Still others point to his charm and wit, to the fact that he is one of the few sources of genuine mirth in the grim world of Gotham City. A final group point to his sense of the theatrical, to the grand production he makes of his crimes. All of these seem, at first, to be valid arguments.
And yet...
There are many other villains who embody these same characteristics, some even moreso than Our Clown Prince, and yet do not enjoy a fraction of his popularity. One could hardly argue that both Catwoman and the Penguin possess an abundance of style. The Penguin lives in the lap of luxury, and even his way of speaking is classy. Catwoman does almost everything with panache and flair, outdoing even the Joker at times.
The Joker is evil, of that there can be no doubt. Yet, in this arena he is out done by a number of villains. Ra’s Al Ghul aims at nothing less than genocide, at wiping out most of the human race. Mister Zsasz is, in my opinion, the most terrifying member of the Rogue’s Gallery- a serial killer so true to life that he could very well be taken from today’s headlines. Twoface possesses a devotion to evil that at least equals the Joker’s. So we can’t just dismiss our infatuation with the Joker as a Bad Boy thing.
Nor is humor alone a good enough answer. While its true that no villain in Gotham City equals the Joker for gags, there are plenty of villains in other comics that spout jokes. In DC we have Mxyzsptlk (hope I spelt that right)- his every appearance is the cue for a plethora of surrealist sight gags and inside jokes, often much funnier than the Joker’s usual schtick.
Finally, there are numerous Rogues who make greater productions of their crimes than the Joker does. The Riddler, for example, not only commits crimes in public but gives advance notice so that everyone can be sure of who did it. Twoface plans all his crimes around the number two, while the Joker only occasionally plans his crimes around a theme, and never does so for long. So, it appears that even here the Laughing Man is outdone.
The Joker isn’t even a very ‘deep’ character. Where characters like Twoface, Scarecrow, the Ventriloquist and Hush have numerous stories which explain their background, the Joker is given only a few snippets of contradictory background. Joker stories almost never investigate the clowns ‘real motivations’ or who he really is. Even the few exceptions to this rule rarely dig far below the surface- and yes, that includes the Killing Joke and Going Sane. Both those stories merely highlight the fact that the Joker is crazy, and don’t explain what, precisely, causes him to behave as he does.
So, with all of these arguments derailed, what’s left? What is the mysterious X factor that draws us back to the Grinning Ghoul over and over, month after month, for more than half a century? I have an answer, and it’s surprisingly simple:
Joy.
The Joker absolutely LOVES what he does- he is utterly and completely happy with the world and with his place in it. Unlike the other Rogues, he has no moments of doubt, no moral qualms, no questions about who and what he is. He isn’t committing crimes for money, or because of some psychological quirk, or for some supposedly noble cause. He does what he does because it makes him happy, and in this he is completely unique in Gotham City.
Batman is a brooding vigilante, forever haunted by an event he couldn’t control. His ‘family’ is a mess of neuroses, angst and social issues. The Rogues are as sad a collection of misery cases as I’ve ever seen. Catwoman longs for what she can’t have, Poison Ivy is forever alone, Twoface is at war with himself- even the Riddler is tormented by a need to prove himself to people he left behind decades ago. Ra’s Al Ghul is forever striving for a goal he can never reach, while the Ventriloquist is a slave to a puppet. The ordinary citizen of Gotham lives in a crime-ridden, festering urban nightmare (at least in the current interpretation).
Even Harley Quinn isn’t truly happy- she alternates between happiness with Joker, anger at Joker, and pining for Joker.
Alone in all the city, the Joker laughs, free of care, free of worry, free of angst.
And us? We respond to his happiness, because many of us envy it. How many people reading this can say that they are honestly as happy and satisfied with their lives as the Joker is with his? We all have regrets- things we should have done, things we shouldn’t, opportunities missed- but he doesn’t.
He has everything we wish we had, and he knows it.
Though his crimes may horrify us, when we read of his latest antics, we can smile, and feel a bit of happiness ourselves.
Why do we love the Joker? What is the source of this mad clown’s hold on our minds and hearts? On the surface, it appears to be all out of proportion- in most fan polls, the Joker comes in second only to Batman, and often surpasses even the Dark Knight.
Some say it’s his sense of style, the way he always appears to be totally in control of his situation. Others claim it’s his twisted and flat-out evil nature, that his single-minded devotion to wickedness and chaos speak to some dark part of our own minds. Still others point to his charm and wit, to the fact that he is one of the few sources of genuine mirth in the grim world of Gotham City. A final group point to his sense of the theatrical, to the grand production he makes of his crimes. All of these seem, at first, to be valid arguments.
And yet...
There are many other villains who embody these same characteristics, some even moreso than Our Clown Prince, and yet do not enjoy a fraction of his popularity. One could hardly argue that both Catwoman and the Penguin possess an abundance of style. The Penguin lives in the lap of luxury, and even his way of speaking is classy. Catwoman does almost everything with panache and flair, outdoing even the Joker at times.
The Joker is evil, of that there can be no doubt. Yet, in this arena he is out done by a number of villains. Ra’s Al Ghul aims at nothing less than genocide, at wiping out most of the human race. Mister Zsasz is, in my opinion, the most terrifying member of the Rogue’s Gallery- a serial killer so true to life that he could very well be taken from today’s headlines. Twoface possesses a devotion to evil that at least equals the Joker’s. So we can’t just dismiss our infatuation with the Joker as a Bad Boy thing.
Nor is humor alone a good enough answer. While its true that no villain in Gotham City equals the Joker for gags, there are plenty of villains in other comics that spout jokes. In DC we have Mxyzsptlk (hope I spelt that right)- his every appearance is the cue for a plethora of surrealist sight gags and inside jokes, often much funnier than the Joker’s usual schtick.
Finally, there are numerous Rogues who make greater productions of their crimes than the Joker does. The Riddler, for example, not only commits crimes in public but gives advance notice so that everyone can be sure of who did it. Twoface plans all his crimes around the number two, while the Joker only occasionally plans his crimes around a theme, and never does so for long. So, it appears that even here the Laughing Man is outdone.
The Joker isn’t even a very ‘deep’ character. Where characters like Twoface, Scarecrow, the Ventriloquist and Hush have numerous stories which explain their background, the Joker is given only a few snippets of contradictory background. Joker stories almost never investigate the clowns ‘real motivations’ or who he really is. Even the few exceptions to this rule rarely dig far below the surface- and yes, that includes the Killing Joke and Going Sane. Both those stories merely highlight the fact that the Joker is crazy, and don’t explain what, precisely, causes him to behave as he does.
So, with all of these arguments derailed, what’s left? What is the mysterious X factor that draws us back to the Grinning Ghoul over and over, month after month, for more than half a century? I have an answer, and it’s surprisingly simple:
Joy.
The Joker absolutely LOVES what he does- he is utterly and completely happy with the world and with his place in it. Unlike the other Rogues, he has no moments of doubt, no moral qualms, no questions about who and what he is. He isn’t committing crimes for money, or because of some psychological quirk, or for some supposedly noble cause. He does what he does because it makes him happy, and in this he is completely unique in Gotham City.
Batman is a brooding vigilante, forever haunted by an event he couldn’t control. His ‘family’ is a mess of neuroses, angst and social issues. The Rogues are as sad a collection of misery cases as I’ve ever seen. Catwoman longs for what she can’t have, Poison Ivy is forever alone, Twoface is at war with himself- even the Riddler is tormented by a need to prove himself to people he left behind decades ago. Ra’s Al Ghul is forever striving for a goal he can never reach, while the Ventriloquist is a slave to a puppet. The ordinary citizen of Gotham lives in a crime-ridden, festering urban nightmare (at least in the current interpretation).
Even Harley Quinn isn’t truly happy- she alternates between happiness with Joker, anger at Joker, and pining for Joker.
Alone in all the city, the Joker laughs, free of care, free of worry, free of angst.
And us? We respond to his happiness, because many of us envy it. How many people reading this can say that they are honestly as happy and satisfied with their lives as the Joker is with his? We all have regrets- things we should have done, things we shouldn’t, opportunities missed- but he doesn’t.
He has everything we wish we had, and he knows it.
Though his crimes may horrify us, when we read of his latest antics, we can smile, and feel a bit of happiness ourselves.