The Joker

So, after seeing Dark Knight again on IMAX, I realized just how great a character The Joker is and just how great Heath Ledger was in portraying him.

I think the scariest thing about Joker is that, as he mentions in the film, he isn't a monster. Just like Batman, he is a human being who, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, took on this personae. I like how the film doesn't explicitly go into Joker's past, but there are moments when Ledger's performance hint at the character's depth.

One scene that sticks out in my mind, as I mentioned after the screening, was when Batman is riding towards Joker on the motorcycle, threatening to run him down. Joker is taunting him, asking him to "do it, hit me." The scene is so compelling to me because Ledger reads the lines not only as a taunt, but as a plea. In that moment, I might go so far as to say that Joker is quite vulnerable, that he has had enough of his life, of whatever demons are haunting him. His lust for destruction and violence then, seems to stem from his own self-hatred.

This is the kind of subtlety that comes through in Ledger's performance, which is why it is so brilliant.