Week 13: The Killing Joke (2 pts)

 1. What is your reaction to the text you just read?

Wow! This was amazing! It was so complex and it questioned many concepts that most people believe to be true. I especially appreciated the showing od the Joker's past and how it gives the reader an understanding of why he is the way he is. I do think him falling into the chemical waste river was a bit unnecessary, as it's very believable that one can go mad just from going through the circumstances that he did and not properly dealing with his emotions and thoughts. However, falling into the chemical waste river does make for a faster and more dramatic outcome so I understand why Moore took that route.

 

2. What connections did you make with the story? Discuss what elements of the story with which you were able to connect?

The biggest one for me was The Joker's want to feel normal. He wanted to prove that deep down everyone is just like him. I found it very sad that he went to enormous lengths to try and drive commissioner Gordon mad so that he could prove that people are more similar to him then they might think; that he's not a freak. Even in the way he tried to make Commissioner Gordon feel like an outcast by caging him and narrating how different he was from the Joker and the other members of his carnival gang was done so in a resentful way. It was in an immature but understandable "I'm going to make you have a taste of your own medicine," approach. It made me see that the Joker really isn't that crazy he's just a person who has some serious trauma and doesn't know how to deal with it. Which I would say is most likely the case for most criminals and I think that Batman is one of the only comics that I've read that really explores that as a concept. 

3. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you choose; what changes would you make?

I would definitely adapt this comic into an animated series. There's so many complex ideas being explored that we could really elongate this story into maybe 10 episodes to really give time to explore the Joker's past, his want to feel normal, Batman's struggle with not wanting to kill the Joker but feeling like he may have to, Barbara possibly being paralyzed, and this character at the end that questions if people are really good by choice or by fear. That last character could honestly take 10 episodes of an animated series to himself! I would for sure explore that idea thoroughly and show that character actually trying to pull through his plan. I really did think that ending was powerful though, that he still thought he would go to heaven after killing Batman. It shows the irrationality that some people really have when looking at themselves. They lack the ability to be objective when judging themselves. 

4. In what ways does this story differ from the typical expectations the reader might have for a superhero story?

The villain is usually a lot less multi-dimensional and the reader doesn't really find themselves sympathizing with them. But in this story, every character was multi-dimensional, they felt like real people with real motives that you could really grasp. This was such an amazing read and I am motivated to read more Alan Moore stuff because of this, I found it really brilliant.