This has to do with "The Dark Knight". I along with another friend attempted to watch this movie on the very day it was released. Needless to say because of the extremely favorable reviews and the death of the actor who played the role of Joker, it was extremely difficult to get a ticket. We reached the theater at 6 PM but found out the tickets had all sold out. Then we faced the difficult decision to either watch some other movie or to try some other theater. I convinced my friend to do the later, and after reaching this new theater, we found it full too. After idling in a park for about an hour we returned to the theater we started from. It was already 8:30 -9:00 PM by then and in a moment of madness we bought tickets for a show which would begin at 12:30 AM. Idled away 3 more hours with great difficulty and by the time we were in our seats, I was exhausted, dehydrated, irritated and half dead. . And after all this we had to endure at least 30 minutes of long, boring and useless trailers. By the time the movie began I had myself been transformed to a cynical Joker.
I found nothing great or darkly philosophical about the movie as reviewers had described it. The story was very very ordinary and didn't have the tiniest of the twists. Of course Batman chose to save " The Good Mayor" over his ex girl friend. But then, didn't he do it so that his dead ex would approve what he did. I didn't find Joker to be unusual, nor his performance to be powerful. Things were easy for him because he was under a mask, so he didn't have to change expressions on his face. The only modulation in expression came through the variation in the tone of his speech, which I concede was good. But the credit for that should go to the dialogue/script writer as well. Joker's character was built around the proposition that this world is full of people who are empty, that he stands out of them all and that Batman is one more empty guy who is just trying to showcase himself as non empty.
There is nothing novel about this proposition and most of us believe that very few people in this world are intelligent. So we are all Jokers and we can all at least act how Joker acted. The actress was beautiful, the stunts were fancy and Batman had an accent which was difficult to comprehend. But that was about it. I always fail to understand why deeper meanings and philosophical motives are ascribed to science fiction tales or comic book stories like this. Sure, they are inspired from the ups and downs of real time stories, but doesn't that make real stories more well...true and real. I am rambling already and should perhaps shut down before I try to debunk this whole business of deconstruction and interpretation of tales. Matrix(I) was an exception though.
To Neo I cheer, not to the most ordinary of jokers!
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2 comments:
As someone who has seen it twice I have to humbly disagree. Maybe the ordeal that you had to go thru to get the tickets had a role to play in the dumbing down or maybe its just that you didnt like it.
I think a movie becomes more than a hit when it can make people interpret it in their own ways and not necessarily the way the creator wanted it to. Matrix was great and it did it in many open ways and clear illusions. The latter two parts were a big letdown.
With Batman, it was something unexpected. It was like finding a gem in the trashcan. People interpreted it in their own ways and I also have an interpretation. But perhaps mine seems more close to what the creator had in mind.
I think Joker represents a new way of thinking amongst people who do things not for any profit motive/approval etc. They just do it for the risk involved. They dont really want to win the fight. They just want it to be as dangerous as it possibly can and leave the outcome to chance. See "No country for Old Men" for another character like that.
Cheers!
Yeah. I agree with your description of Joker! But perhaps I was too tired and the movie seemed a bit too long to me and I vented some of my frustration here.
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