Tuesday, August 05, 2008


The Dark Joker

Pleasures are always dark. And Sinful.

Admit it, you walked out of The Dark Knight with pleasure written all over you. The pleasure of confusion, the pleasure of anarchy and the pleasure of Heath Ledger dead but alive on the screen you just watched breathtakingly for the past 2 and a half hours.

I have seen this film twice now. I was awed by the whole experience the first time, with a mad rush of admiration for the Joker. Second time around, it was like understanding your lover. I have fallen in love with Mr Joker....as a whole. Character and Actor as one.

And because Heath is dead, I couldn't help but reading his performance as his alter-ego. He will forever haunt me.

The best part about the story - is when Joker says, "Do I look like a guy with a plan?" Yet, all his moves are so well planned...his actions and his lines. And his performance. There is no chaos there...but anarchy...a dare to differ attitude....yes.

Like I said...there is no greater pleasure than to do what you are not supposed to do. The Joker makes us gloat in that feeling the whole time. Does that mean we become criminals in real life?

No, but to take inspiration to upset the set up...definitely.

Joker is a genius, but his brilliance does not get recognised or appreciated by anyone in Gotham. It is only admired by us sitting in the theatre. The villains in the film keep calling him a "freak". Just as in real life, anyone would call someone a geek. He is a character on the edge who can see through society's hypocrisy and finds the rules of the established order meaningless.

The Dark Knight, Batman on the other hand is confused about the "righteousness" of his job.

This paradox....of the "good" unsure of its reasons, and the "bad" having no reason....isn't that life? Yet everything ties in and ends are still loose.

And as the audience we take refuge in the darkness of this theatre.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Loved the way you gave words to my thoughts!

Cheers!!

Grand Exemplar said...

Bravo, H-Bomb! Bravo!