Anghus Houvouras on the web reaction to Jared Leto as The Joker…
It’s been 24 hours since David Ayer unleashed his vision for The Joker. Jared Leto’s heavily tattooed, Marilyn Manson inspired take on the character has left hardcore fans perplexed. The reaction online has been a healthy mix of love, hate, and downright disdain. However, some of the cooler heads have prevailed giving us some interesting insights on this new version of the classic character celebrating his 75th Birthday this week. Let’s take a moment, take a deep breath, and try to find some perspective on this polarizing first image.
“This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”
Really? Did you never see Whoopi Goldberg in Theodore Rex? Or Furious 7? I assume you meant ‘this is the worst version of the Joker you’ve ever seen’. I can’t even say that’s true. Did you never see The Batman animated series that ran on the WB? The one that looked like the steel drum player in a bad reggae band?
The internet is bubbling, brewing cauldron of hatred. A virtual crucifixion machine. The moment this picture hit, the world-wide web hulked out and began hurling parked cars towards Leto, Ayer, and the entire DC Cinematic Universe. It was an unmitigated tragedy…
…which is exactly what everybody did when they saw the pictures of Heath Ledger. At that point, hatred towards anything that deviates from everyone’s preconceived notion of what their favorite comic book character should be is commonplace. Sometimes it’s well founded. Other times, like the legions of fans wailing mercilessly over Ledger because his Joker ‘looks like The Crow‘ teaches us that first impressions are far less important than the final product.
“The truth is the Joker is always changing based on whoever is writing the character”
This simple graphic gives us a great snapshot of how different directors have interpreted comics’ most famous villain. Tim Burton painted him as a brutal, less inhibited version of gangster Jack Napier. He was prone to fits on insanity, but he was more of a gangster with a penchant for the dramatic rather than a completely insane lunatic like we had seen from the comic. Christopher Nolan made his Joker a philosopher. An agent of chaos who challenged everything Batman stood for. There was a sick point to his anarchist ways. The Joker we saw in The Dark Knight wasn’t just creating mayhem aimlessly. It made for a great take on the character.
David Ayer’s Joker looks mental. The crazy, serial killing monstrosity that strikes fear into the heart of those who face him. We’ve never seen a Joker on film that has embodied the elements of fear the character possesses. Perhaps this will be the first time.
“It reminds me of the Joker from Frank Miller’s All Star Batman and Robin”
Whoa. Whoa. Let’s not say something we can’t take back. shudder.
“He looks like the guy from Die Antwood”/”He looks like Marilyn Manson”
He does. Maybe this Joker is going to front a band. Maybe they could have Joker do a punk cover of “Wonderful Toys” from the Batman Broadway musical that never got off the ground. That would be epic.
There are absolutely similarities. It’s almost as if the designers on Suicide Squad took inspiration from something in pop culture and used it to influence their particular take on a character.
Imagine that.
Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker. His latest work, the novel My Career Suicide Note, is available from Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5&v=pnc360pUDRI&feature=player_embedded
Originally published April 26, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
