Analysis of the Joker
The Joker “I believe whatever doesn’t kill you, simply makes you…stranger. ” This quote was said by The Joker in the movie The Dark Knight. In The Dark Knight, a superhero is fighting against an evil villain in an attempt to save Gotham City and the citizens that live there.
The evil villain, The Joker, is a character who is severely emotionally damaged. He views everything as a game and the citizens of Gotham are the players. The name Joker can be seen as a serpent, which signifies his devilish ways and tricks in Gotham City.The Joker’s past and his fetish with knives show how he has a mental illness, while his lying and manipulating demonstrate how intelligent he really is, proving him to be a complex and dangerous character. Throughout the movie, The Joker shares many different stories about the scars on his face. “Wanna know how I got these scars? My father was… a drinker.
And a fiend. And one night he goes off crazier than usual. Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn’t like that. Not-one-bit. So – me watching – he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it! Turns to me, and he says, “why so serious, son? Comes at me with the knife… “Why so serious? ” He sticks the blade in my mouth… “Let’s put a smile on that face! ” And…Why so serious? ” If this story were to be true, it would mean that he was emotionally hurt as a child.
Emotional damage leads to feeling the need to get revenge on others so they can experience what one had to go through. Another story The Joker explained is when he cut his face that created the scars to make his wife feel better about her face. In return for doing a good deed, he was left with no wife. She left him because she was unsatisfied with his decision to cut his own face and was not content with how he looked.If either of those are the actual reasons for his scars, why would he want to try and do well towards someone again? Clearly, he does not want to do well for anyone because of those incidents, so he targets blissful people and puts them through torture and that’s what really makes him happy.
The Joker has an obvious fetish with knives and is fascinated by hurting people and animals. The weapon of choice for The Joker is a knife, because if he were to use a gun it would be too quick and easy. He chooses possessing a knife so he can make people suffer longer and it will then bring out the real person in them.In The Dark Knight, The Joker purposely beats dogs and wants to hurt them. The beating of animals often signals that one has a mental illness.
This mental illness also relates back to the scars on his face. The Joker believes his scuffles in Gotham City are a game. In the beginning of the movie, he hands out his ‘business’ cards which are actually playing cards, the playing cards show how he is bluffing and takes this all as a game. The Joker wants everyone to play his game, so he puts them through certain situations that make them chose between life or death, or hurting other people.He is an intelligent man but uses his intelligence in unethical ways. These unethical ways make him who he is and entertains him.
The Joker’s previous experiences and his knife fetish show how he has a zany personality and a possible mental illness, while his lying and planning demonstrate how intelligent he really is, which proves him to be a dangerous and complex character. Things may happen in someone’s life that carry on to their adulthood which can change so much about who they are. The Joker is obsessed with using knives and hurting people, making people feel bad for him, and playing games.
