O'Doherty - Twisted Tricksters

Tricksters, although they can be funny, are very dark, very evil, very twisted characters. The Joker in Tim Burton's Batman is the perfect example of a trickster. The Joker (even before he becomes the Joker) has a very evil heart. We see this when he murders Bruce's parents right in front of him, when Bruce is just a boy. He doesn't hesitate or show any remorse for what he has done, so it is safe to assume that he doesn't seem to have any problem killing innocent people. In fact, one might argue that he actually finds joy in killing. That's another thing about tricksters - they are very selfish and do things solely for their own benefit. They do want they want, when they want to, and they do not care who they hurt along the way. In fact, they will often use people and manipulate them in order to get what they want. They lure people in and make it seem as if they can be trusted, and then they turn on them, use them and or kill them. We see this happen in the parade scene when the Joker is standing on a float, throwing money into the air for the townspeople to grab. While all the citizens are scrambling to pick up the money, the Joker releases poison into the air. Perhaps, he thought that they should be punished for their greed. The Joker is very familiar with greed, as well as several other negative human qualities, but he seems to think that other people have to be punished for showing off their dark side. One of his goals seems to be to prove that we are all innately evil, sinful creatures. Not only does he prompt the people of Gothem to be greedy when he passes out the money, but he also forces people to unmask themselves when he put chemicals in the cosmetics. Although the disuse of cosmetics only unmasks blemishes (such as the newscasters large, disgusting pimples), the Joker wishes to unmask more than just their physical imperfections. He wants to show the people of Gothem that they are no better than he is. He wants to show them that they all have flawed souls and dark sides. I think he does this so that he will not feel so alone. Society has alienated him and made him feel like he is trapped. They did this by rejecting his twisted idea that every man should have complete free will without any consequences. Which brings us to another quality of the trickster- they seem to be as close to an animal as people can be - not only are they violent. They are also sexual predators. There is no love or emotion, just sex, and what's even worse is that they act on their desires, without thinking about others.