Casting Call 02.26.09: Issue 91 - The Joker

Posted by Jason Chamberlain on 02.26.2009

With ten Casting Calls remaining, 411's Jason Chamberlain takes a look at an Academy Award winning performance that is sure to pass the test of time; Heath Ledger's spellbinding performance as The Joker!

With Heath Ledger being awarded the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his inspired performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight, I want to take a closer look at that performance this week.

I touched on the character briefly a few months back in my column about Batman's Rogues Gallery, but there's more ground to cover, thanks to the incredible job Ledger did with the role.

I'll be honest; I'm totally biased towards The Dark Knight and this character because I've been a fan of the Batman mythos all my life. It takes a whole lot of effort to mess up Batman and his world (though it has certainly been done) so I've been keenly observant of all things to do with Christopher Nolan's reboot of this cinematic franchise since it started. Batman Begins was killer, and perfectly set the stage for a sequel that would be bigger and better. And from the moment Jim Gordon handed Batman the Joker's calling card and Bats promised to look into it, you had to know that the sequel would be something to see.

When casting announcements for TDK started rolling out and Ledger's name was attached as The Joker, I admit I scratched my head. Having never seen what was arguably his best known role in Brokeback Mountain, all I knew of Ledger was from the late 90's teen flick 10 Things I Hate About You (a really fun movie, by the way). I dug him in that, but he didn't exactly scream "Clown Prince of Crime" to me.

Then the first teaser for the film leaked, featuring no scenes - only the Batman logo and a number of voices from the movie. And from the very first maniacal cackle, I knew Ledger was doing something really special with The Joker.

But as has been much reported over the past year, Ledger died tragically in January of last year as the result of an accidental overdose of prescription medication, robbing the entertainment world of a gifted performer and, more importantly, robbing his daughter Matilda of her father.

For better or worse, Ledger's death served to amp up the hype for the film a thousand fold. Rumors flew that his time in character was so disturbing, it haunted him for the rest of his days. This was in contrast to reports from his fellow actors and the director who described him as perfectly happy and enthused on set, able to switch in and out of "Joker mode" with ease.

Whatever led to Ledger's early demise, it can't be denied that when The Dark Knight hit the screens, his performance stole the film. Every time he is on screen, it's hard to take your eyes off him. From his facial tics to his manic line deliveries to that haunting laugh, he simply nailed the iconic character and gave the industry what will certainly be one of the most memorable villainous performances ever.

Who is The Joker? What is his story? Where does he come from?

We're never told. Unlike the villains from Batman Begins, both of whom have something of a back story/explanation, The Joker just appears and creates anarchy. That's fitting for the character, in a way. It doesn't really matter how he became who he is. He's not about the past and he's not about the future. He is a force of chaos solely consumed with wreaking havoc on the here and now.

Batman is trying to make Gotham a better place for the future. The Joker is trying to expose how sick and twisted humanity is and how a peaceful Gotham is never going to happen, as much thanks to its citizens as its criminals.

More than once his point is proven. Look at the public reaction to his order to kill the lawyer who wants to give away Batman's identity. Sure enough, mobs form and normal citizens try to become killers. How about when he declares that the city is his and everyone who doesn't like it should leave? It's every man for himself as people scramble to get away. The Joker is as much about proving Gotham's hypocrisy as he is about terrorizing the city.

That said, he is a rare breed of monster that the average Gothamite could never be. His plan to make Gotham's ferry escapees blow each other up backfires when neither boat can bring themselves to destroy the other. Even the one full of criminals declines the chance of a free pass. The Joker, however, would have done it himself had Batman not stopped him.

Is there any humanity to him? No. And that's the point. He's the flip side of Batman's coin. The dark side of the moon, if you will.

He does pass on killing Harvey Dent when he has the chance, but that's not done out of humanity. Dent has a part in his plan of tearing down Gotham, one he fulfills by become a raging murderer at the end of the film. Murdering Gotham's White Knight does the Joker no good. Dragging him down to his level, though, that wins the war for Gotham's soul.

The one thing he can't do, and the reason he fails, is taint Batman's conviction. He can't corrupt the Dark Knight. Batman may be a freak, but he is a freak with humanity at his core, and as long as that's the case, there is hope for Gotham City.

As for The Joker, he won't soon be forgotten. He may be locked up in Arkham, but he held up a mirror to Gotham and showed the city just how ugly it can be. He may be out of the picture, but he did a fair bit of damage to Batman's reclamation project.

And Heath Ledger, rest his soul, was simply fantastic in creating the iconic role.