As Michael Caine’s impeccable Alfred stated back in 2008’s The Dark Knight.
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.
Chaos incarnate.
And the truth is, there have been fewer fictional characters that have ever come closer to the
true meaning of that very specific chaos, than that of The Joker--a figure of such chicanery
and psychological genius, that on paper, it seems that no one has ever tip-toed closer
to the edge of madness on a Comic Book page.
But what if a person like that was real?
Or more importantly--has there ever been anyone like The Joker?
Let’s find out.
Hello internet, what’s going on--and once again welcome back to the most inquisitive
channel on YouTue--Life’s Biggest Questions.
As per usual, I’ll be your disembodied floating voice Jack Finch--as today, we curiously ask
the question--What If The Joker Was Real?
Roll the clip.
Of course, for the curious amongst you, that clip was from Christopher Nolan’s legendary
piece of cinema, 2008’s The Dark Knight.
And, also of course--we cannot do a video on The Joker without paying credit to the
late, great, Heath Ledger--whose performance as the clown-faced psychopath was the stuff
of cinematic legend--and no one has ever come close to depicting the character quite as
masterfully as him.
I mean--just take that scene for example, which was all improvised following a technical
delay with the pyrotechnics--and you can get an inkling as to the true nature of The Joker.
While it seems like he’s got a plan--really, he’s just making it all up as he goes along.
And whilst we’re on that note, it’s probably best to begin this particular Life’s Biggest
Question by attempting to paint a more video picture as to the man in question.
The truth is though, even that will be difficult--because as The Joker claims in Alan Moore’s The
Killing Joke--Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another---if I’m going to
have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice.
Yeah, come on guys, it goes without saying but nothing is clear when it comes to The
Joker.
Thankfully for us though, whilst his fictional origins are very much a multiple-mystery--we
can pin down his very real history as a comic book character.
First appearing in 1940’s Batman, issue 1--the Joker was originally conceived as an
evil, court-jester type--but was thought to be too clownish and downright silly for the
broody nature of Bill Finger’s Caped Crusader.
However, when Finger later saw a photograph of actor Conraid Veidt, wearing bizarre make-up
for the 1928 Silent Film--The Man Who Laughs--he knew just exactly how he wanted his devious
villain to be depicted, and the court-jester type was sidelined for a much more sinister
face-painted killer.
The thing is though, if you that that this was any kind of clearly defined archetype--then,
think again--because as you can imagine, The Joker has seen more incarnations that most
comic book characters--and that’s saying something.
The point of him is though, that despite his myriad of origin stories--all of it serves
to maintain the course with this figure of chaos.
All of it stays on theme, because the whole point of The Joker--is to be as ambiguous
and as nonsensical as possible.
Whether it’s his many differing DC depictions, be it on paper, on the screen--or in video
games--one thing remains the same.
The Joker is a homicidal, psychopathic, ruthless, sadistic, maniacal, lunatic, manipulative,
intelligent--and downright diabolical master criminal who wants nothing more than chaos
and anarchy wherever he goes.
Yeah, other than that--he doesn’t really ask for a lot.
Whether it’s Jack Nicholson’s incarnation, Mark Hamil’s--Heath Ledger’s, Jared Leto’s--or
the recent performance by Joaquin Phoenix--one thing remains the same.
He’s an evil genius like no other.
You see, although The Joker is depicted as the defining champion of unbridled insanity--in
many ways, he’s the exact opposite.
In Grant Morrison’s novel, Arkham Asylum--the Joker is suggested to have an incredibly unique
mental state--which is in fact, an unprecedented form of super-sanity--effectively giving him
ultra-sensory perception.
He’s not insane at all, in fact the complete opposite.
He’s the sanest man on the planet.
Now there’s a curveball for you, right?
And not only that, but this sense of super-sanity has also led to The Joker having an on page
heightened sense of self-awareness, that no other character in the DC universe has ever
possessed.
In many versions of The Joker, even the fourth-wall can’t hold back his overwhelming intellect--and
at times he’s even attempted to turn the page for avid comic book readers.
But--the real question is, has anyone like The Joker ever existed?
Out of all the myriad possibilities and impossibilities of the human form--surely someone must have
come close to this encapsulation of chaotic genius, right?
Well.
Wrong.
The short answer is--no.
No one has ever existed like The Joker--nor will they ever.
From a criminal perspective--if The Joker was real, he wouldn’t last five minutes
in the real world.
Well, maybe he’d last a few months or weeks--but conducting the scale of his operations as
seen in the same fiction--he wouldn’t last long at all.
Take, for example--perhaps the most successful criminal of all time, Pablo Escobar.
To many people a folk hero--and to others, a ruthless, master criminal who maintained
an unrelenting empire of enterprise.
In the 1980s--he was the 7th richest man in the world--with a net worth of 25 billion
US dollars.
Like The Joker, his criminal endeavour was successful to the point of unbelievable wealth--at
the tragic cost of the lives of thousands of innocent individuals.
But unlike The Joker--he did all of these things, not as a demonstration of the essence
of chaos--but out of personal gain.
Money.
You see, crime in the real world--pays.
But on the page, The Joker does things--because he is merely the reflection of an idea.
Now, that’s on the grander side of things--because yes, although no one figure of such massive
criminal enterprise could exist as The Joker--on a smaller scale, it’s possible.
You see, as the Federal Bureau of Investigation have found--many serial killers have stayed
at large for decades at a time, despite being hunted by one of the most capable and resourceful
federal law enforcement agencies on the planet.
That, in itself--is down to many patterns of behaviour similar to The Joker.
In many ways, they rely on chaos--an intellect that can segue the systems that have built
our society--but, if that was the case--then the identity of The Joker would have always
remained an unsolved mystery, and we wouldn’t even be at the point to ask this question.
SO yeah, let’s leave that paradox well alone.
You see, on the page--The Joker is an idea.
He is the personification of chaos--he is the The Prince that Machiavelli had to resort
to the imagination to even attempt to describe.
Yes, there are shades of his character in many individuals across history--tyrants,
geniuses and madmen alike.
But for them to be anywhere even close to the pure essence of what The Joker represents--is
impossible.
That’s why it takes fiction and imagination to manifest these ideas--to condense them
down to their purest form and personify them on the page--because the reality of the matter
is, we human beings are far more complex than even The Joker himself--but also, probably
half as smart.
Well, there we have it--our long and short answer to the question, What If the Joker
Was Real?
What do you guys think?
Do you agree?
Disagree?
Have any more intriguing insights to add?
Then let us know your thoughts down in the comment section below, as well as any other
suggestions for future Life’s Biggest Questions.
Before we depart from today's video though, let’s first take a quick look at some of
your more creative comments from over the past few days.
First up, KISHINxMEMBERS says--
What if our planet was made out of jello and our moon made out of Cheese?
--- Erm… yeah.
It is.
You just have to use the power of your imagination.
Yeah.
Sure.
You know what?
That made me kinda hungry--so on that note, unfortunately that’s all we’ve got time
for in today's video--cheers for sticking around all the way until the end--if you were
a fan of this video, or just Life’s Biggest Questions in general--then please, be a dear
and hit that thumbs up button, as well as that subscribe bell, and I’ll be seeing
you in the next one.
As always, I’ve been your disembodied floating voice Jack Finch--you’ve been watching Life’s
Biggest Questions--and until next time, you take it easy.