Joker Played By Heath Ledger & Joaquin Phoenix Are Different, Stop Looking For Similarities
Troubled, downtrodden, dependent, sans identity, broken, angered, aspiring, diseased, sad, helpless, lost, lonely, transcendent, Joker. This is what the Todd Philips' Joker is and much more. The identity and story of every Joker has changed with every Batman venture. In some interpretations he is the mafia king, in one he is an anarchist, and more recently a creation of the corrupt society.
It was Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight who set ridiculously high standards of acting and the execution of the character of Joker. For people he was the bench mark. That is why Jared Leto was dissed unanimously by the public for falling short of matching that standard in the Suicide Squad.
It was taken for granted that no matter who played the Joker and who made it, they will have to either match or surpass the Joker Heath Ledger and Christopher Nolan created together. Nothing else would be enough. Then came Joker, conceptualized by Todd Philips, brought to reality by the versatile actor Joaquin Phoenix and comparisons began again.
This time however, the audience was pleased with, actually beyond impressed by Joaquin¡¯s performance as the Joker and it has to go down in history as one of the decade¡¯s best. He made us sympathize even to the twisted streak in his character and if a character makes you question your morality, it is the mark of a successful actor.
However, apart from comparisons and the talks of which Joker was better, began the drawing of similarities. Some have drawn the conclusion that Phoenix Joker is indeed the making of the Joker of The Dark Knight. That his is the back story of the Ledger Joker. The internet was and still is full of photo shopped pictures of the two Jokers together and I write this to tell people- to stop that. Both these characters exist in their own realms and we need to respect that. Their lives do not crossover and there is no strong hint of one in the other and I will tell you how.
The Dark Knight
Let us talk about the Joker from The Dark Knight. He calls himself ¡®an agent of chaos¡¯, he knows who he is and what he wants- to dismantle the society from its core, test its moral standards and see them fail. The movie starts with him killing the pawns he hires to do his job. He has no qualms in killing. He has different stories about his scars. He is politically involved, active and identifies as an anarchist. He cripples the entire Mob, drains it out of money to have Batman¡¯s sole attention on him.
He plays games, he likes to see people crumble and give into their baser instincts ( example, what he did with Harvey Dent). He is hostile, and focused on destruction of a civilized society, dismantling of the established regime. There is no value of human life for him, rather he experiments with it.
Twice in the movie he put the Batman in a position to choose- between Harvey Dent and Rachael and then the ships, one full of civilians one of criminals. He is sane yet cynical, he knows what¡¯s happening around him and he plans it too.
He is the master of notoriety. His aim to exist does not seem to be more than to see the society crumble and take the ¡®white knights¡¯ down with him. He wants to show society a mirror which does not completely exist. Even though Gotham is rotten, corrupt, brewing with criminals there is some humanity still left in the people, the idea of chaos that Joker propagates takes a beating in the end.
Joker
Then there is the Todd Philips Joker. Arthur Fleck is the victim of chaos, the 30-year-old who looks much older for his age, as the nights he has slept with hunger are visible on his body. He is a semi-psychotic being trying to survive in a world of bullies, make ends meet by literally playing a clown.
He is a depressed, feminine and vulnerable and lives with his ailing mother. He knows something is wrong with him and he is looking for help, for company, he is trying to reach out but there is no to hold his hand. With a disease which leads him to laugh at any moment he aspires to be a stand up comic.
His therapist gives no damn and that just confirms for him that it is ¡®getting crazier out there¡¯. This mentally touched person is bullied into owning a gun. Then follows the identity crisis, he knows not who he is and reckons if he solves the mystery of his birth things will be set right. He is unsure, lost and a victim.
He reached his ¡®fuck it¡¯ point when he realized that his mother¡¯s mental problem is genetic and that he was tortured as a child, he was flawed by birth. He shoots his bullies and then there is no turning back. Without even planning to, he is the center of attention, yet invisible. He creates a revolution, he has challenged capitalism, he is the messiah of the ¡®scum¡¯ of Gotham.
He loses all contact with the need to stay normal when his mother dies, when he kills her. He is not on a killing spree, he wants to hurt those who hurt him. We know Arthur Fleck has transformed completely into the Joker when he dances in a trance on those steps.
His need for attention is reflected in his dreams and it comes to fruition when he is invited to the Murray show. That was to be his stage and he set things up. He got his moment to show the world that the poor will always be neglected unless they stand up and do something wild. And even though he starts a revolution, we find out it could just be a dream, a made up fantasy. The Joker could just be another of Arthur Fleck¡¯s fantasy.
By the end of the movie we realizes that there is no hope for him to come back but is he a person who would hire a mob to go around the city on a cat and mouse chase? May be not.
He has lost, suffered and he is a loner. He is not a man with a plan and he is the real threat to the society as he truly stand with a mirror.
The two Jokers are very differently motivated, one is trying to propagate chaos and one trying to internalize it. One is untouchable, one vulnerable. We know nothing about one, it could all be lies, we sympathize with the life story of another. One wants to see the city rot, one has become rotten in the city.
Lets stop looking for similarities now and let them exist as two separate iconic characters.
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