Aarun Saini- Critical Investigation

"...some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn- Alfred Pennyworth" [[1]].

To what extent are on-screen Hollywood villains, such as ‘The Dark Knight’s 'Joker', having an impact on the audience?

Despite the world's fandom for the critically acclaimed ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy, there is a mega shift in the tone and feel of Hollywood characters especially those in the superhero genre. This is particularly apparent in Christopher Nolan's highly commended ‘Dark Knight Trilogy’ where the character- Joker and even Bane do just that. In Nolan's film, the Joker has seemed to be one of the best performances ever given by Heath Leger. It has been praised as one of the ‘best acting portrayals’ in cinema history [[2]], and this is very much influenced by the fans reaction. Fans and film viewers in general were very pleased with the portrayal of the Joker they demanded more of it, unfortunately the actor Heath Ledger died shortly after the film’s release. Conspiracy was generated after the passing of Ledger where it was believed that the actor couldn't tell the difference between being a psychopath like the Joker; and being a normal man. A moral panic is essentially fear within the community over a wide spread of problems that can pose a threat to the moral standards of society. A moral panic had launched in the media which got people including parents concerned whether this type of portrayals are really suitable for a younger demographic especially when it is for a 12A certificate in the UK. What also was controversial is the fact that an incident had took where a member of the audience (who was watching the final instalment of the franchise), got up and killed many viewers who were watching the last Dark Knight movie in Aurora cinema [[3]]. What is so fascinating is that the actions of an on-screen character; The Joker had influenced the man to go out and mimic his actions that occurred on screen. The fact that “portrayals of violence in various media (e.g. television, movies and video games) are linked to actual are linked to actual violent behaviour for children and teenagers... has placed the topic of aggression at the fore of much social discourse” [[4]] is something not to ignore as it is a fact. When "The Dark Knight became the fourth highest grossing film of all time. Clearly something about the film appeals to viewers… " [[5]]. This is precisely the aim of what the essay is trying to argue, if there is a correlation of content seen on screen and the viewers who consume it. The Joker is no ordinary Hollywood character, “he exhibits no interest in our cultural values, be they by material or moral" [[6]], showing the shear difference that this character has against many others that have come before him.

The most prominent movie out of the Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy was ‘The Dark Knight’, simply due to the long wait for another actor to reprise the role of Batman’s greatest foes; The Joker- played by Heath Ledger. The character of Joker is known for his psychopathic and disturbing comic book moments, everything to skinning a man alive to ripping someone to shreds is the norm of every Joker fan. There was no doubt that this was the direction that the film wanted to take the character on in ‘The Dark Knight’ theatrical film. After the release of the film, it was critically acclaimed for the legendary performance Heath Leger had while playing the Joker. Fans believe it to be the perfect portrayal of the character since Jack Nicholson’s adaptation. However, shortly after the film’s release it was announced that the actor Heath Ledger died and there was a lot of conspiracy surrounding his death. Like William H. Macy said, “people have demons. Sometimes it’s hard to see them” [[7]], this quote says it all. What made the film so controversial were the clues left behind by Ledger himself. Clues that showed that the character of the Joker had created an influence in to his daily life and caused him to commit suicide. This form of ‘influence’ had also occurred with previous actors who were in line to playing the role, such as Jared Leto for the upcoming Suicide Squad movie, where it was said that he was showing off some form of off psychopathic behaviour which made one colleague of his think if he were actually “crazy” [[8]]. This shows how much of an impact that the character of the Joker had on actors who were trying to give the best portrayal yet. In addition to this, during the release of the final instalment in ‘The Dark Knight trilogy’- ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, a shooting had taken place where a young man had gone out of his way to shoot audience members stating that he ‘was the Joker’. He even mimicked the characters portrayal in his real life by boobie trapping his room similar to how the Joker would trap his victims, this can be linked to “Uses & Gratification” theory of personal identity [[9]] where Mr Holmes is presenting his new identity of being a psychopath. Furthermore, after the gun shooting “gun sales in America rose by 43%” [[10]], and it was because of all these events that a “moral panic” (Stanley Cohen) [[11]] was created because citizens were concerned that such characters and content to be allowed for public audience members. The gun empire in the United States is in itself of big controversy due to thousands of American losing their lives due to the fact that such weapons are still open to the public. The fact that weapons of mass destruction are available to purchase is extremely worrying, as this event is one of many incidents where a young man creates a massacre. However, it is in question in to why and what had caused such attack…

Nolan’s Batman trilogy is known to be one of the greatest and prominent trilogies of all time in cinema history, but what made ‘The Dark Knight’ so special that the other films didn’t have? Despite it being the first film out of the two to have received “$1 billion at the box office” and an “Oscar for best supporting actor” [[12]], it was the portrayal of the Joker that really blew people away, especially the fans. The fans were eager to see his big screen debut after so long and were blown away with what Ledger had achieved in that film, making it one of the most prominent theatrical acting of all time. But what made it so controversial was the fact that an on screen character; the Joker had, had an influence on an audience member and had caused him to go out and mimic his on screen actions in the real world. The film was said to connote "images of the 2001 attracts and their capacity to elicit emotional effect and incite trauma in viewers, and second, ‘The Dark Knight's’ potential to revoke such effects through flashbulb memory, the arresting image, or a simulation of traumatic memory" [[13]]. The reason why such a moral panic emerged was because of one of the most infamous cases ever to have created a moral panic for films which was the James Bulger case. This case is very much similar to the Joker case where audience members were influenced by what they watched on screen and mimicked it in real life to harm other people. The Aurora shooting had resurrected that moral panic and had been brought back once more. The media played a large part in forming forcing that the media is injecting information in to the consumers mind, like a “hypodermic needle model” [[14]] which essentially meant that society believed that the media is at fault for these crimes as they are constantly interacting with the media, thus gaining an influence from it. A theorist known as ‘Todd Gitlin (2003)’ [[15]] stated that there should be careful attention towards the violence selected and what is absent (mediation). He believed that fictional violence was a target for criticism not only from the media, but from society; a form of “scapegoat” [[16]] for societies worries. Furthermore, a more recent event similar to this had occurred late 2016, where it was proven that the cause of the infamous ‘killer clown craze’ had “originated from the new poster for the upcoming it remake” [[17]]. These examples as well as the main text itself are proof that there is some capacity of films and characters having an influence on audience members, whether that is good deeds or bad. The reason why good deeds can be originated from moving text is because incident have occurred where audience members mimic the on-screen actions for the greater good. For example, “people dressed up as batman and went hunting for clowns in order to deter people from ding such hideous acts” [[18]].

The problem that these occurrences had on society was it made people especially parents question whether or not such content and characters should be allowed to viewed by children especially if it is related to iconic superhero characters which are largely associated with the children demographic. Over the years, films (especially) superhero movies had begun taking a darker approach as a theme for these movies. DC films in particular were best known and were quite successful in delivering great dark themed superhero movies, batman being the most prominent. Dark themed superhero movies have become the norm, allowing for more darker and graphical stories (and characters) to be brought to the big screen, because it is said to be ‘acceptable’. As a result of this dark and gritty theme the superhero genre adopted characters like the Joker made their way to be more violent and dark for young viewers which also resulted in the “age certification” [[19]] for such films to be 12 and over; way above the traditional superhero certification rating. Moral panics are generated as a form of concern from audience members as such characters may have an influence on their children similar to the way the children who watched Chucky mimicked what they watched on an innocent child- James Bulger. The fear of the Medias influence on people and families has been under research since the 1950s, where there were anxieties about a ‘Televisions influence on family life’ [[20]].

There have been many different portrayals of the Joker on both the big screen and on TV, however none come close (not even Jack Nicholson) to how Heath Ledger portrayed his Joker. The character subverts the audiences expectations in a way no villain in superhero history has done till date. The way in which the audience praise and side with the villain is something very unusual and very unique. The twist of course, “is that this is a new breed of criminal (and not just because he shoots his fellow thieves), one who dislocates himself from the narratives sterilised notion evil that characterises the mobsters" [[21]]. What audience don’t know is that there is more than just the portrayal audience enjoy, they enjoy the characters mind-set and how he detaches himself from other characters. The psychology of the Joker presented in the film gives off a horror feel to the character and a very menacing character is presented before the audience. Scenes where the Joker “tortures Rachel by talking about how he got his scars” [[22]] really brings out this psychopathic approach to the character. The more the Joker speaks through-out the text, the more the audience begin to feel a bit unease with the character as if he is more than just a ‘typical’ villain. There is more than just dialogue that comes in to play when an audience can feel influenced by a characters on-screen actions, and one of the major things that had an impact on the audience, was the mise-en-scene and camera presentation to capture these horrific moments. “The Jokers make-up, his purple suit, and his absurdity can still seduce the objectivity-minded guardians of good” [[23]] which all present him in a rather unusual and comedic way, similar to his natural counter part of being a ‘funny’ character; like in the comics. However these props and make-up seem to juxtapose the idea of comedy and bring out a more scary and horror-like tone which give the character more seriousness and creates intimidation towards the audience.

Furthermore, the shots used to capture the moments the Joker had on screen also played a part in building this theme of dark humour, for example, when Gambit is being tortured with having a knife in his mouth and the Joker tells his story about how he gets his scars, the shots used were selected very carefully. This scene used a lot of close-ups especially when the Joker was intimidating Gimbal, the intention was to make the audience feel as if they were the ones being intimidated, and Gimbal is essentially the audience in the movie, whatever Gimbal was feeling and facial expressions, the audience felt the same way. This effect in turn would create this sense of fear within the audience. They feel as if they were interrogated by the character despite the fact that they are just watching it passively. It shows how the pros and camera shots used were carefully selected to bring forth a powerful, yet intimidating scene out of every Joker appearance. One thing that the “Joker makes clear in The Dark Knight is the success evil can enjoy when we naively ignore the presence of evil" [[24]] which is true to a large extent. Audience members are blinded by the shear horror that the character holds and enjoys the scenes he is in, despite how evil his actions are. And finally, "The Dark Knight's cinematography and mise-en-scene continually operate to slightly aspects of 9/11" [[25]] which plays a key factor with every character within the films, especially the Joker. ‘The Dark Knight’ uses this ideology of 9/11 through-out the film, and uses characters to portray certain aspects of this. The scene where a hospital is blown up by the Joker is very reminiscent of the twin towers explosion, and the Joker is presented as the terrorist in the story. This links deeply in to the narrative of the film where there is a link between the 9/11 event and how this film tries to reinvigorate it as a core story element within this film. The Joker playing the terrorist, he is the one who uses persuasion to get his way, for example when he tries to brainwash Harvey Dent in the hospital. This scene above all else was what really connected with the audience. This is when the Joker justifies his actions by essentially manipulating and hallucinating the viewers in to falling in to his trap of being an ‘honest guy’ a man who isn’t like others, who wants people to show their inner-self. It really splits the audience in two minds, whether to hate the Joker or agree with him, and this can have affect with the way audience members view their real lives. An example of another real life copy-cat crime that was influenced by the Joker would be Christopher Clancy who allegedly committed arson by setting fire to his school while having the Joker make-up applied to his face. His reasoning for committing such a crime is similar to that of the Joker stating that the school ‘is run by hypocrites’ [[26]] which is similar to the ideological thinking the Joker had towards society when talking to Batman face to face in the prison cell. Another act of this crime that mimicked the Jokers on screen portrayal was that in the film the Joker is seen to be burning money, which is evident when the young boy is burning his school. There are many more crimes and influences that the character of Joker has had on audiences and it may not be the end of Hollywood’s influential characters; like the Joker.

The historical text chosen to compare against ‘The Dark Knight’ text would be the 1960’s Batman TV show starring ‘staring Adam West’ [[27]]. The reason why this is the perfect text to compare with ‘The Dark Knight’ is because of the vast difference in time, of where these two texts have been created as they both are based off of the original DC comic characters, but presented in a much different way. What makes this text so different is that it is built up of the ideologies and popular culture of the time period the shows was created in- the 1960’s. During the “late 1940’s, censorship became a prominent way of trying to stop certain information being consumed by the public” [[28]], and comic books were no exception. This in turn had a major impact on the 1966 TV show as censorship had to be a key role within this show. Batman was known to be quite dark than its Marvel comic counterpart, that being more in line with kids. Batman was a character more suited and relatable to adults than children’s as the topics that the comics dealt with were real life situations such as losing parents etc. Obviously, showing such crude content on TV (especially during the 1960’s) would be deemed unforgivable and would create major anger amongst society. Such censorship had forced publishers like DC comics to tone down their content which resulted in the “disappearance of horror and gritty books from the mainstream” [[29]]. So in turn, the 1966 Batman TV show captured the zeitgeist of that era, by dealing with the issues of censorship at that time. Alongside “nostalgic currents there was an emphasis on escapism in the post-9/11 American popular culture. For instance, the ratings for the long-running New York-based sitcoms Friends increased by 17 percent in the wake of the terrorist attacks” [[30]] showing how people want a form of escapism who are not much interested in the story, but just want a visual source to escape to.

What has made this Batman (1966) so unique and interesting is the fact that there is such a vast difference between the two time periods. This is largely to do with society’s expectations and ideologies of such content at the time. This is because since the since world war two was the major shock to the world and the world was in the process of recovering, to read or watch any particular content that would reinvigorate that sense of horror or stress would be deemed unfit for society. People wanted a source of escapism, to watch content and forget about their real life issues. Batman 1966 was one of many shows (at the time) that aimed to be ‘just another’ TV show to act as a form of audience pleasure. The 1966 interpretation of the Batman is camp and rather more comedic to fit in with society’s popular culture and ideologies at the time. Furthermore, the way the Joker was presented in the show is completely different to that of Ledger’s Joker. The Joker (played by Cesar Romero [[31]]) too was more suited for the audience of that time period, acting more camp and comedic rather than the intimidating Joker we know of the modern era. Furthermore, the key theme that is played-out through all three seasons would be the sense of comedy and campiness and the less serious approach that the show takes. It’s as if it deliberately is trying to be less about the story and more about the visual entertainment that audience members can enjoy. It really shows the vast difference in culture and audience mainstream between the two texts time period (zeitgeist).

What makes these two texts so different from each other is the perception of the source; superhero’s. Since the birth of superheroes ‘stereotypes’ [[32]] of this content has been largely associated with children, and wasn’t until there was major changes in audience expectations and change in society where something largely associated with kids, will soon be an attraction for adults. This shows how much audience demands and expectations have changed over time. The norm and mainstream can be common for so little time, until it becomes something hated upon rather than loved. This all changed when Tim Burton revived the Batman and superhero genre as a whole by providing audience with a new and unique twist on the genre by giving a more serious and gritty approach to the character. And it wasn’t until Christopher Nolan took directing duties to deliver the very best of what the real batman truly was. It is said that a film supervises “both their construction by the film maker, and their reading by an audience” [[33]] which shows how the auteur effect gives plays a major part when telling a vast and immersive story like this where characters who are meant to be hated- are actually loved and enjoyed defeating the entire purpose of a villain. This opened doors to fans and non-superhero viewers for something more than just a kiddy action-packed film. The typical demographic range for such content was between the ages of 7+, whereas due to the sheer changes in this genre, it has opened the age groups to a more adult range (15+). This is because this demographic share a similar interest of dark humour and more serious tone movies which is the approach the industry is taking this genre to. Then from that moment on, superhero films has been dominating the box office with large amount of success and carry different themes along with them, some with dark humour (Batman V Superman) and some more humorous (Captain America Civil War). This links to the ‘psychographics’ [[34]] that the films are appealing towards where the ‘new’ audience for superhero movies has essentially shifted to a more serious tone and a sense of realism which are beliefs and interests that this new audience share.

To conclude, although this investigation may not prove 100% that audience members are affected by what they see, there is an extent to where they feel influenced, or even emotionally connected to what they have viewed and is something they will not forget. It surely shows that "...Nolan's nightmarish version of the Joker persistently suggests his capacity as an agent of chaos" [[35]] and this is implied both on screen and off screen. The fact that the director can try and aim for a specific take on a character can really create something innovative and iconic, similar to the way that Joker was presented. There have been past encounters with on screen violence being re-enacted off screen including other media outlets such as video games, and therefore show that there is some degree of influence upon audience members.

Bibliography;

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· ‘The Dark Knight’, Nolan C, 2008, America

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Aurora cinema shooting BBC article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18937513

Article about Jared Leto sending gifts to fellow cast members of Suicide Squad: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/How-Jared-Leto-Dead-Pig-Stunt-Affected-Viola-Davis-Suicide-Squad-Performance-113127.html

A tweet from a highly acclaimed person regarding Ledger’s death: https://www.accesshollywood.com/articles/updated-stars-react-to-heath-ledgers-death-62175/

Batman shooting info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Aurora_shooting

Ledger’s notebook conspiracy: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3193027/Documentary-Heath-Ledger-s-father-reveals-journal-actor-kept-prepared-role-Joker-resurfaces.html

News link (Gun sales going up after theatre shootings): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18981769

Jared Leto’s psychopathic off-screen acting: http://www.metronews.ca/views/in-focus-richard-crouse/2016/08/04/how-jared-leto-freaked-out-his-suicide-squad-costars.html

Wikipedia document on the ‘Mass Media’- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influence_of_mass_media

Man dressed as Batman to fight clown craze: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/12/man-dressed-as-batman-chases-killer-clowns-in-cumbria/

https://moviepilot.com/p/why-no-one-will-ever-top-heath-ledger-s-joker/866336

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3768375/Survivors-Aurora-shooting-massacre-ordered-pay-theater-chain-700-000-fees.html

Journals

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-mind-stage/201211/do-fictional-characters-affect-our-real-life

Heath Ledger death conspiracy: http://www.hindustantimes.com/hollywood/what-killed-heath-ledger-documentary-reveals-chilling-details/story-INYcak19qwQOeYeLuuwyGN.html

Joker influences in real life- whatculture.com/comics/9-horrifying-real-crimes-inspired-joker

Looper staff- http://www.looper.com/13883/joker-haunted-every-actor-played-role/

Print Texts

News-paper article on IT (film remake) and its influence on the killer clown craze influence: London Evening Standard (broadsheet) - Page 5

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Maximillien L. (2010). Hollywood's Earth Shattering Scandals: The infamous, villains, nymphomaniacs and shady character in motion pictures. 8th Edition. America