Buzaid- Batman (Joker)

“Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moon light?”

The Joker is definitely the trickster character with his clever creations of chaos and witty sly lines. His operations of destruction are nothing but foolish and pest-like. For example, the scene where the Joker forces the reporter Vikki Vale to have dinner with him, he tricks her into thinking she’s meeting up with Bruce Wayne.  “What do you want from me?” Vale asks, to which the Joker replies, “Oh, little song, little dance, Batman’s head on a lance.” The Joker knows Vikki will not help him, but harasses her anyway for the purpose of firing up Batman. He acts out obnoxiously when he begins to destroy the masterpieces in the museum: spraying graffiti on the paintings, smashing the sculptures on the ground, and playing funky music and dancing, acting as if he is some kind of hood rat kid. The Joker makes a show out of his every move and that is how Burton supports the trickster idea.  Although, a good 50 percent of the Jokers behavior in the film does overstep the boundaries of humor and games. There were some scenes in the film that caught the audience off guard and really widened the eyes of the viewers. The Joker was sadistic when he revealed the woman’s face who he had an affair with before he even became the Joker. He makes a remark saying that he attempted to make art out of her face, but as result she became a test dummy for his chemical cosmetics. He then later mentions that she committed suicide with zero sympathy or guilt. The Joker lives by no code of morals or ethics of the everyday world. He had no trouble burning somebody's face into oblivion and then speaking to the burnt corpse in an evil and threatening way. A scene I feel where Burton really undermines the Trickster character, before the Joker became pale faced and smiley, is the scene when Jack Napier shoots Bruce Wayne’s parents in front of him. To do such an act in front of a child, and then point a gun at his face, takes a twisted and sick person.  All in all, I believe Joker is not a criminal, but can be considered a rather artistic lunatic. It must have been a difficult character to play. Jack Nicholson really did an outstanding job.