Blog 9 Amanda Hasandjekaj

Summary

I chose to watch “The Killing Joke”. This movie really showed the Joker’s and Batman’s relationship. The watcher got a deep look into the Joker’s background. The movie shows how the Joker became the supervillain he is. He was financially unstable and had a wife and child on the way. He lets criminals into his work building so they can rob a company. Unfortunately, his wife and child both die while she is in labor. The plan to rob the company still plays through until Batman arrives and kills both criminals. This man who is now the Joker chooses the option to jump into chemical waste. His appearance changed after he jumped into the tank of chemicals. His skin turned white, his hair was green, and his lips were red. His new look drives him insane and leads him to become the Joker. The movie, “The Killing Joke” and the Batman: Ego pages both had many Gothic elements in them. I would say that “The Killing Joke” was more Gothic than the Batman: Ego pages. This is because there were many more gothic characteristics. They were both dark, gloomy, and eerie, but the movie was a bit deeper to me. The movie showed characteristics of madness and insanity. The disfigurement after jumping in the tank of chemicals drove the Joker insane. I think that also having no choice but to jump in the tank, trying to defend himself, shows characteristics of live burial. Although he does not die, he takes the chance of death just to escape. He was forced into a space he did not want to be in. The Batman: Ego pages also show the gothic characteristic of madness because Buster was driven to kill his whole family and himself because he knew the Joker was going to come after him after he escapes because Buster ratted him out. Although both the movie and the Ego pages had many gothic characteristics, they did not remind me of anything we read or watched in class this semester. This is because the stories of Batman are very different from everything we read or watched, in my opinion. Superheroes can definitely be gothic. Although they always want to do the right thing, they can look gothic. An example would be Wonder Woman. She is a superhero but I would say her looks are pretty gothic. She is pale, has very dark black hair, and has red lipstick on. She almost looks like a vampire. She always has this mysterious, mischievous look, although she is a superhero. Superheroes also tend to be in action during the nighttime, in dark, gloomy places.