More on The Joker
the_odd_one recommended that I check out The Killing Joke if I'm interested in more of The Joker, and I read its page on Wikipedia. How utterly fascinating!
I've never been into comics because I loathe that whole masked crusader, vigilante stuff. You had a bad day once upon a time, and so now you put on your tights and go save the world. How fucking noble. Have a cookie. I can't relate to that. My bad experiences just make me hate the world even more. Like today, my sponsor told me that she doesn't think I have the willingness to work my program. Does that kick-start me into working an A+ program? No, it just makes me want to say, "Well, if you feel that way then fuck it." I don't relate to people who go through bad experiences and then want to save the world. But I'm a very bitter and angry person. That's probably why I've empathized more with the villian, provided there's depth to the villian.
When reading the bit of Joker background that was provided in the Wiki article, my heart really went out to the guy. Failed stand-up comedian? Holy shit. I tell ya, I have nothing but oodles of respect for professional comics. Watching a singer bomb or an actor flub his lines just makes me laugh (because I'm cold-hearted), but when comics eat shit, I want to cry. The thing about stand-up comedy is that it's still such a pure art (despite corporatizing by NBC). Music and acting has been corrupted by greed, and I think a lot of people who get into it are motivated by money and fame. It doesn't work that way with stand-up comedy because the chances of being world-renown are very slim... at least as far as I can gather. I've dated a semi-professional drummer, and I've dated a professional comedian, and I have to say that my respect work-wise for the comedian was much greater than for the drummer. The drummer was very proud and egotistical about his work, whereas the comedian was very humble. And it's not entirely a personality thing because they both were narcissistic, especially the comedian (gorgeous man... he was on the Minneapolis auditions for Last Comic Standing for, like, two seconds... with a guitar... in some fucked up mariachi get-up... what the fuck, Dez?) But I'm digressing. I give massive props to stand-up comedians, and nothing hurts my soul more than watching a comedian bomb. I'd rather watch those PETA videos of ferret concentration camps or whatever.
I think The Joker was once a decent, good-hearted dude with a pregnant wife and good job (something at a chemical company) who just wanted to take a shot at his dream. But things went wrong, and shit got fucked, and he stooped to a low level. He didn't even want to go there. Something bad happened, and then a really bad thing happened, and he didn't feel he had any other choice than to go bad. THAT, I can relate to. Started stripping to support my spouse and family, got deep into my addiction, started prostituting myself, played driver for a day for a crack dealer, and I couldn't escape this horrible feeling that I was just waiting to snap and lose my fricking mind. "Go postal," as we kids have called it.
It's this thought of a sexy-ass Heath Ledger as this unnamed man getting on stage with the intention of making people laugh, and he's getting booed night after night when all he wanted to do was bring a little joy to you, he's watching his dreams collapse, seeing his marriage fall apart... it's killing me. And then he agrees to let two robbers into the chemical plant, finds out that his pregnant wife has just died, tries to get out of the plan, gets fucked into sticking with it, gets screwed through the thing, and ends up with this chemical damage. He's left with nothing but two choices - go bad or go good. And what's the point in going good when he's got nothing to go home to? Maybe all he can do is serve as a cautionary tale of what happens when life fucks you and to point out to others that we're all just one bad day away from insanity. I love it. I fricking love it. It breaks my heart, but I'm a sucker for angst.
It's rather intriguing, don't you think?
I've never been into comics because I loathe that whole masked crusader, vigilante stuff. You had a bad day once upon a time, and so now you put on your tights and go save the world. How fucking noble. Have a cookie. I can't relate to that. My bad experiences just make me hate the world even more. Like today, my sponsor told me that she doesn't think I have the willingness to work my program. Does that kick-start me into working an A+ program? No, it just makes me want to say, "Well, if you feel that way then fuck it." I don't relate to people who go through bad experiences and then want to save the world. But I'm a very bitter and angry person. That's probably why I've empathized more with the villian, provided there's depth to the villian.
When reading the bit of Joker background that was provided in the Wiki article, my heart really went out to the guy. Failed stand-up comedian? Holy shit. I tell ya, I have nothing but oodles of respect for professional comics. Watching a singer bomb or an actor flub his lines just makes me laugh (because I'm cold-hearted), but when comics eat shit, I want to cry. The thing about stand-up comedy is that it's still such a pure art (despite corporatizing by NBC). Music and acting has been corrupted by greed, and I think a lot of people who get into it are motivated by money and fame. It doesn't work that way with stand-up comedy because the chances of being world-renown are very slim... at least as far as I can gather. I've dated a semi-professional drummer, and I've dated a professional comedian, and I have to say that my respect work-wise for the comedian was much greater than for the drummer. The drummer was very proud and egotistical about his work, whereas the comedian was very humble. And it's not entirely a personality thing because they both were narcissistic, especially the comedian (gorgeous man... he was on the Minneapolis auditions for Last Comic Standing for, like, two seconds... with a guitar... in some fucked up mariachi get-up... what the fuck, Dez?) But I'm digressing. I give massive props to stand-up comedians, and nothing hurts my soul more than watching a comedian bomb. I'd rather watch those PETA videos of ferret concentration camps or whatever.
I think The Joker was once a decent, good-hearted dude with a pregnant wife and good job (something at a chemical company) who just wanted to take a shot at his dream. But things went wrong, and shit got fucked, and he stooped to a low level. He didn't even want to go there. Something bad happened, and then a really bad thing happened, and he didn't feel he had any other choice than to go bad. THAT, I can relate to. Started stripping to support my spouse and family, got deep into my addiction, started prostituting myself, played driver for a day for a crack dealer, and I couldn't escape this horrible feeling that I was just waiting to snap and lose my fricking mind. "Go postal," as we kids have called it.
It's this thought of a sexy-ass Heath Ledger as this unnamed man getting on stage with the intention of making people laugh, and he's getting booed night after night when all he wanted to do was bring a little joy to you, he's watching his dreams collapse, seeing his marriage fall apart... it's killing me. And then he agrees to let two robbers into the chemical plant, finds out that his pregnant wife has just died, tries to get out of the plan, gets fucked into sticking with it, gets screwed through the thing, and ends up with this chemical damage. He's left with nothing but two choices - go bad or go good. And what's the point in going good when he's got nothing to go home to? Maybe all he can do is serve as a cautionary tale of what happens when life fucks you and to point out to others that we're all just one bad day away from insanity. I love it. I fricking love it. It breaks my heart, but I'm a sucker for angst.
It's rather intriguing, don't you think?