by Jonelle Jankowski

Created on: July 11, 2009

Jack Nicholson did play the Joker very well, so did Heath Ledger. The difference is Jack Nicholson became the Joker in The Batman. Heath Ledger was born as the Joker in The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger did an outstanding job being crazy. He was a wacko. Gotham needed that. "This town deserves a better class of criminal and I'm gonna give it to them," quoted the Joker. That's exactly what he did. It spices up the story. Jack Nicholson was a rated pg 13 of the Joker. Heath Ledger was a rated R of the Joker. The laughing was the same, remarkably. Jack Nicholson was the light side of the Joker, whereas Heath was the dark side. I like the dark side better. It's more of a challenge for Batman.

Who is the Joker? No one knows. Traces couldn't be found. DNA didn't do the job. No one knows where he came from. He told stories of his life, often contradicting what he said. First, he said he had an abusive father who scarred the Joker's face by engraving a smile on his face. Another story is cutting his own face with a razor to prove to his wife that the scars on her face did not bother him. She ended up leaving him. This could have possibly damaged his psyche. One of these stories can be true, or they both can be lies. No one knows. The manager of Gotham Bank asked the Joker what he believed in. He said, "What doesn't kill you makes you stranger." This could result from an incident he encountered that could have killed him, but didn't. Instead his mental health might have been damaged to help him cope with the violent attack or incident.

The Joker doesn't have empathy which is true. Batman beats him to find out where Rachel and Harvey are, but the Joker finds it hilarious. He also doesn't care about his safety. He wanted Batman to run him over in the street. When Batman threw him off a skyscraper, the Joker just laughed. He seems to be very intelligent. One step ahead of everyone else including the police and Batman. His looks portray his character, his personality, which means he doesn't care about his looks or his safety.

To prepare for the role, Heath lived in an apartment by himself. Creating posture, voice, and psychology. He was able to generate a voice that was not like Jack Nicholson's in The Batman. He read The Batman, The Killing Joke, and Arkham Asylum. Jack Nicholson was actually angry that he wasn't asked to replay the role of the Joker. Heath Ledger refused to mock a performance of the Joker from The Batman. He wanted a challenge. I like that. It's a shame what happened to him after filming the movie. He played his character so well that he became the Joker, even when he was not on camera. He couldn't sleep so he took sleeping pills. He had trouble snapping out of it. He took other pills that drove him to his death. There are certain boundaries you can't cross between acting and reality. Unfortunately for him, he crossed the boundary. He couldn't even see the line anymore. That's what scared him.

Chris Nolan enjoyed working with Heath. His death was devastating. He dedicated part of the film in Heath's memory.

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