While the portrayal of the Joker has changed a lot over the years, there are core elements of his character that make him relatable. The Jokers from Batman and The Dark Knight undoubtedly share these characteristics. Both are known as psychotics, a claim that can be supported by the fact that both Jokers have symptoms of psychosis. Lack of empathy, for example, is a symptom, evident by the way they kill without remorse and destroy things without any consideration. When they find themselves in serious or dangerous situations, both maintain a distracted or even carefree attitude, which one might say is because it is “crazy”, but has no direct logical connection with psychosis, other than perhaps the symptom of lack of empathy. Both Nicholson's and Ledger's Jokers wear makeup and dress in a specific way for certain practical purposes, not just because they like it. Although they have different tones of voice, the way they speak is similar because they both pause after each sentence. This creates tension, puts you on the edge of your seat, and leaves you waiting for what they'll say next. Both Jokers are independent and tend to think only of their own interests. For example, at the beginning of The Dark Knight, the Joker causes men in the workplace to kill each other, until he becomes the only person left to take the money. An example in Batman would be how he scars his lover Alicia to practice his "art". Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay There are some differences between the Jokers from Batman and The Dark Knight that are obvious, while others require careful observation to really see clearly. One of the biggest differences between these two versions of the Joker is the tone they emit. Burton's Joker is very clown-like and his face is set in a permanent smile. His voice and his obnoxiously colored clothes might scare you, but he's not really scary until he threatens you. Ledger's Joker, on the other hand, comes across as very disturbing and intimidating. His face is distorted by scars, his makeup makes him look like he's getting worse, and he never smiles. Another obvious difference is their attitude towards Batman. In the 1989 version, the Joker wants revenge on Batman because he captures the attention of the press, while the Joker wants to take center stage. He wants to kill him so he can gain complete control of the city. The Dark Knight's Joker is the exact opposite; he's like Dr. Moriarty to Batman's Sherlock Holmes. He needs someone who is strong enough to be by his side, and that person is Batman. While in the interrogation room, the Joker tells him: “I don't want to kill you! What would I do without you?…You complete me.” Furthermore, the two Jokers are dangerous for different reasons, have different levels of intelligence, and have different methods of committing crimes. Tim Burton's Joker had a lot of power over the city. After killing Carl Grissom and poisoning shiploads of produce with smilex gas, he seemed unstoppable until Batman outsmarted him. Even so, he never seemed to be prepared for Batman's fancy "gadgets" like the Batpod, which took away all of his balloons. His crimes are always planned first and can best be described as organized chaos, such as when he tried to kill people on the streets of Gotham with smilex gas. Heath Ledger's Joker is much more dangerous, because he is not only unpredictable, but also extremely intelligent. As he tells Harvey, he doesn't make plans, yet he always seems to be five steps ahead of everyone else. I thinkthat this demonstrates his ability to think and act on the spot. Besides this, he has the ability to manipulate people to get what he wants, such as how he provokes the police officer who is in the holding cell with him by talking about why he kills with knives instead of guns; “In a way, I know your friends better than you ever have. Would you like to know which of them was a coward?" This causes the officer to attack him and Joker manages to overcome him in order to ask for his phone call, causing an explosion inside the prison. His way of committing crimes is much less straightforward, but he's much more dedicated and willing to go through complicated procedures to get his way. Jack's Joker kills for a specific reason, but Ledger's Joker kills just because he can a little closer to see is why every Joker wears makeup and costume. Joker Jack does so mainly because it's a part of the brand he created for himself, and that's how he wants to be seen by the audience. He also uses it to manipulate the audience and acts "normal" for certain periods, saying that he is taking off his makeup. This is how the audience will lower their guard and think that his crazy and hateful side is just an act Ledger's Joker also uses makeup and clothes for his public image, but he also uses them to make him more difficult to identify as a real person. As mentioned in the film, the customized suits made it much more difficult for them to find the Joker's true identity. The makeup he wears and the way he wears it makes him even scarier, and he knows it. Seeing his makeup immediately gives a sense of chaos and carelessness. The last difference I want to talk about is their attitude towards themselves. Jack Nicholson's Joker cared about his own well-being. He took precautions, planned escape routes, and had people fighting for him. Heath Ledger's Joker didn't care about himself at all, which is clear both from his scruffy appearance and from the way he yells at Batman while he's racing towards him on his bat bike, telling him to "do it", i.e. run him over. . Society and our expectations of cinema are certainly partly responsible for the Joker's change. As time goes on, we as an audience want or even need to see the subject matter in movies and TV become darker and darker, because we become immune to seeing it. We continue to need more to give us that shock value we need to maintain our interest. As a result, we needed a darker and much more menacing version of the Joker, a departure from past versions of the character, which were much less serious and less scary. In the video "The Sound of Anarchy", Hans Zimmer explains how he created the soundtrack for The Dark Knight and specifically how he captured the sound of anarchy in his music. He really thought about what anarchy is and how it makes you feel. Hans wanted to find a way to define the Joker's character in music using anarchy, what it does to a person and the courage it instills, because the Joker's character is defined largely by the philosophy of anarchy. He carried out thousands of sound tests, experimenting with different objects and instruments to achieve the sound that captured certain feelings including tension and suspense, fear and mystery. He's used everything from razor blades on piano strings to pencils tapping on desks. At one point he said he wanted to be able to define the Joker with one note, which ultimately turned out to be two notes on the cello that "got out of tune beautifully." These notes produced an eerie sound that gave the impression of danger or chaos. Hans' dedicationZimmer in capturing the idea of ​​anarchy and transforming it into music made the soundtrack of The Dark Knight truly special. To answer the question of whether Heath Ledger's description of the Joker as a "psychopathic, schizophrenic, mass-murdering clown with zero empathy" is correct, we must take the statement piece by piece. For starters, is the Joker a psychopath? A psychopath refers to someone who has psychosis. Psychopathy has many symptoms, many of which are clearly present in the Joker. These include a lack of empathy, which is clearly demonstrated when he shows no hesitation towards blowing up a hospital or a ferry full of innocent civilians. Psychotic people also show a lack of emotion, nor do they show a differential brain response between emotional and neutral terms. Throughout the film the Joker maintains a stoic attitude, apart from perhaps a few moments of annoyance or anger. Even when the Joker laughs and smiles, he does not communicate happiness, but rather instability. You could beg him and cry, asking him not to kill you because you have a family, and it wouldn't elicit a different reaction from him than if you hadn't said anything. Another symptom is externalization of blame, or blaming others for events that are their fault. This is evident in the Joker when he talks to Harvey Dent in the hospital and to Batman in the interrogation room. Instead of continuing to talk about what he did wrong, he will continue to blame society and its rules. I could continue with two more symptoms, but the answer is clear. Yes, the Joker is psychopathic. The next question is: is the Joker a mass murderer? Well, mass murder is the act of killing a number of people, usually at the same time or in a short period of time and in a small geographic area. While not all of his murder attempts are actually successful, for example on the ferries, he still kills several people within Gotham (small area) within a matter of a few days (short period of time). So by your definition, the answer to the question would be yes, he is a mass murderer. Ledger describes the Joker as schizophrenic, but I have to disagree slightly. Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder characterized by emotional blunting, intellectual deterioration, social isolation, disorganized speech and behavior, delusions, hallucinations, and reality displacement. Based on the information we get about the Joker from the film, there is not enough evidence to support the hypothesis that he has schizophrenia. It shows emotional dulling (lack of empathy and emotion), social isolation and perhaps distancing from reality, but the former is also a symptom of psychosis. We can't know if the Joker has symptoms like hallucinations and delusions unless he tells us, or we see the world from his point of view. Schizophrenic can also mean that something is contradictory or has inconsistent elements and is characterized by unusual disparity. I find that this definition doesn't even fit the Joker, because he isn't shown contradicting himself. Heath Ledger's Joker does not fit the definition of a clown in the traditional sense, as he is not a comedic actor in a circus or theater production, nor does he wear an (extremely) outlandish costume and makeup or entertain people with jokes and tricks . . However, another definition of clown is a prankster or practical joker, and even though the rest of us might not agree with his dangerous sense of humor, he likes to mess with people and their emotions, to not to mention the fact that he literally called himself the Joker. The question of whether or not the Joker has zero empathy has already been answered several times in this test through the discussion of his psychosis.