The Killing Joke: Batman laughs, Joker’s sorry and Batgirl has sex

Batman: The Killing Joke, Alan Moore’s one-shot graphical take on the origins of the Joker is a classic. There’s no other way of putting it.

Not only does the graphic novel – penned by Brian Bolland – dare to dive deep into what is undeniably the most tragic of love-hate relationships in DC comic universe, it also tries to deliver a message along the way.

That all it takes is one bad day to either give in, or to lay your demons down.

Of course, in the case of the Joker, it was the former that catapulted him to the utter psychotic, making him one of the most controversial, and without a doubt, the most complicated supervillains the "entire" comic world has ever seen.

The Killing Joke is almost three-decades-old now, and finally, someone took the courage to adapt it for the big screen.

Who better than Bruce Timm, the man who gave us the great Batman: The Animated Series of the '90s.

If that weren’t enough, The Killing Joke movie sees the return of the prodigal trio of Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill and Tara Strong, from The New Batman Adventures (again, created by Bruce Timm).

There is so much to love about The Killing Joke film, on paper; and yet, it falls so much short of the graphic novel that it makes you want to cringe in utter disbelief.

It’s not that bad, you know. Then again, it’s not even half of what the graphic novel is, even after all this time: a cult classic.

Back in the day, The Killing Joke was criticised for its unapologetic depiction of violence against women, in this case Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl.

The team behind The Killing Joke film wanted to change that. It wanted to showcase women in good light.

Hence was born the need of a close to 30-minute prologue – the whole movie is about 75 minutes long – that, on the face of it, would set the tone for the bigger picture.

Not before giving a long overdue – and as many would say, unnecessary – footage to Batgirl, and her side of the story.

Women empowerment, anyone?

The movie has that bit covered for you, only that it doesn’t necessarily help empower anyone, let alone women.

In the graphic novel, Barbara Gordon – daughter of commissioner James Gordon – is shot (and paralysed) and sexually assaulted by the Joker (who takes pictures of her in the nude after the predicament); a premise that would eventually lead to the ultimate clash between him and Batman.

The movie keeps all this intact (obviously) but tries to right the wrongdoings of the graphic novel by providing more background narrative for Batgirl. And therein lies the film’s biggest problem.

Batgirl has a thing going for Batman, and Batman doesn’t quite reciprocate. Not only because, well, he is Batman, but also because he is way older.

Now, in the comics, Batgirl has been romantically paired with Dick Grayson, or the first Robin, a lot. Batman, or Bruce Wayne, has been a father figure for her, largely.

Even though, The Batman Beyond timeline – again, created by Bruce Timm – paired Batman and Batgirl for a one-off thing, it wasn’t exactly meant to support the women empowerment hypothesis. You see, Barbara was already quite empowered back then.

In The Killing Joke film however, she’s seen as a jilted lover who forces herself onto Batman – not, that Batsy resists the temptation – pinning him down and the two end up having sex.

The DC comic universe has always been dark and twisted. But this for it was an all-time low.

On top of that, when Batman starts avoiding her – after all the sex – she just can’t take the hint and instead wants to get back in business.

"It was just sex. It doesn’t have to mean anything. It’s not like we have to care. I don’t care. You don’t care. We just go back, like it was. Please," she says.

And thus ends the torrid love-affair between the young librarian and her yoga teacher.

Tell me, exactly where is the empowerment in all this?

You can argue, The Killing Joke is just a 46-page story. Understandably, it required additional narrative for the movie adaptation. Now that I’ve seen it, well, I’d rather prefer it had gotten straight to the point.

The first 30 minutes or so serve no real-world purpose and instead look like they’ve been borrowed from an R-Rated teen movie or something. Make sure you survive those initial 30 minutes of "what the heck?", because, you just can’t miss what lies ahead.

After all, it’s the remaining 45 minutes of the film that address the classic storyline of the original graphic novel. In all totality.

The Joker is out to prove a point. That he is crazy for a reason. And that anyone would become like him – crazy as a coot – under select circumstances. "All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy," is what he argues.

To prove his point, he takes commissioner Gordon hostage – after paralysing his daughter Barbara – and attempts to push him over the edge. Then he uses Gordon as bait to lure Batman into the whole fiasco. You see, he’s trying to make Batman realise, they are not very different from each other. They are both different levels of crazy, only that Batman wouldn’t accept it.

Batman, on the other hand, wants to end things once and for all. Not before giving the Joker one last shot at redemption though.

The Joker knows it’s too late for him to go back, and he’s sorry for it. You can see it in his eyes. Batman extends his hand out to him, but the Joker wouldn’t take it. He can’t take it. Instead, he tells a joke. A joke that fits just right, a joke that talks about freedom and faith, or the lack of it.

And Batman laughs, oh he laughs to his heart’s content. He laughs like he has never laughed before. Then the laughter ends… in stunned silence. What happens next is for you to decide. Just the way it is in the novel.

All this while, the Joker’s origin is traced via flashbacks. A family man who left his job as a lab assistant to become a comedian, only to fail miserably at it.

Not many DC timelines have dared to decipher the Joker the way The Killing Joke does.

The film brings to life the larger-than-life canvas penned by Bolland once upon a time, and does fair amount of justice to it, especially in the way it maintains a steady sepia tone during flashbacks.

Just like it is in the graphic novel, the Joker has the last laugh vis-à-vis dialogue and Mark Hamill reprising the role, well, it doesn’t get any better. The "Petition to get Mark Hamill to play the Joker in an animated Killing Joke" on Facebook was totally worth it!

The film leaves a few iconic dialogues – prominently the one where the Joker masterfully narrates the sordid tale of the most rare and tragic of nature’s mistakes: the average man – but well, at least it adds a few bits and pieces of its own here and there.

Mostly, it stays true to the original source material though.

The Killing Joke movie is not a disaster. But it isn’t as good as the novel. In fact, it’s not even close.

The novel, for one, is sublime – and artistic – in the way it transitions from present world to flashbacks and vice versa. The film tries, but the transitions don’t exactly blend in all that well.

You can say, it’s just nitpicking, but it isn’t. At least not for someone who has read the novel.

Moore and Bolland have created a masterpiece, and some things do look better on paper than on reel. Maybe, it’s just one of those instances.

You want to hear one more nitpick? The police never arrived on the scene in the end. I would have liked some lights and sirens to go along with all that laughter. It’s the little things that made the novel so iconic.

The lack of them is what makes the film a lesser mortal. Not to forget, the fast-forward at the speed of light first 30 minutes.