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The Dark Knight


The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)




I felt that the Joker was actually one of the more honest characters in the movie. Even if he changed the story of his origin depending exactly on who he was talking to, and he does deliver one baldfaced lie, it appears to all be within the realm of his believing in having fun by playing games. Batman seems to force himself to have to believe in what he stands for, but the Joker has no problem whatsoever in letting you know that he believes in Anarchy and the vileness of human nature, but it still has to be demonstrated with a maximum amount of "fun". This Joker is definitely one of the scarier characters I've ever seen. I don't know if you think that escalating one-note symphony which played during the tenser moments of the film was a cheat or super-effective, but I always took it to be what the Joker hears inside his mind when things are going his way.

Many of the characters in the film are duplicitous, but the Joker seems to stay true to his beliefs. He's obviously very smart and possesses some form of mind control to be able to pull off all the things he does with no visible means of support. I mean, he must have some financial backing, but it isn't anything comparable to Bruce Wayne's. Plus, the Joker commits a heinous crime in the film: he burns money! (I'm only discussing what's seen in this film, not the comic books.)

In some ways the Joker and Harvey Dent both seem interested in playing games of chance, whether involving playing cards or coin flips. The Joker probably enjoys doing magic tricks more than Harvey, but he certainly did a good one when he spoke to Harvey Dent (offscreen) in the hospital room.