Part of Joker's origin story in the comics is that he falls into chemical waste and it bleaches his skin white.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Marvel/DC
Put on a Happy Face — 6 years ago(August 30, 2019 10:27 AM)
Part of Joker's origin story in the comics is that he falls into chemical waste and it bleaches his skin white.
Ledger's version painted his white. This version copies off Ledger's, as Phoenix also appears to paint his face white.
I understand the movies are going for realism, but there's nothing unrealistic about chemical waste discoloring someone's skin with contact. It may not be an even-tone of pure clown white, but it can be white, a more uneven tone of white with blemishes of off-white discoloration to look more like a chemical disfigurement. It's an aspect of Joker's origin that they can still keep intact while maintaining the realistic tone for which they're aiming.
Joker is already, as is, one of the most realistic villains in the DC and Marvel gallery. He isn't from from another planet. He didn't get superpowers from some industrial accident. Do movies need to make him even more realistic by having him paint his face white, than a simple scene of him coming into contact with chemicals?
I hope at least they do something with the smile. I'm not a fan of only painting lipstick on. I like Joker having a disfigured smile - at least Ledger had that.
And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane
By those who could not hear the music. -
Put on a Happy Face — 6 years ago(August 30, 2019 11:20 AM)
Nice false dilemma fallacy there lol. I didn't suggest how the script would have him get scarred. It could be done by a number of methods. Someone could throw it on him. Like, the two guys who attacked him in the alley and broke his sign, could throw him in it. Who knows.
Your question is an unusual one to answer as is. Let's say they made a new Harry Potter reboot where Harry Potter was from another planet instead of a wizard. Someone suggests they should keep Harry Potter's origin as a wizard intact as that's what in the original source material, and you say "…and that would make the movie better?"
Making the movie better or not is moot. In the original source material on which the movie is based, Joker gets disfigured by chemical waste, and it's always proper to adapt as closely as possible to the original source material if you can. What I'm merely saying is these Joker versions don't necessarily have to stray away from that.
And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane
By those who could not hear the music. -
matt_shade — 6 years ago(August 30, 2019 08:15 PM)
In the original source material on which the movie is based, Joker gets disfigured by chemical waste, and it's always proper to adapt as closely as possible to the original source material if you can.
As far as I know there is no original source material, the Joker has no canon origin. The closest is Alan Moore's The Killing Joke (which was intended to be a non-canonical one-shot story) which has the Joker experiencing flashbacks that may not be at all what happened and the story has Joker remark on it in the end "Sometimes I remember it this way, sometimes that way!" This was the basis for how Jack Nicholson's Jack Napier becomes the Joker in Batman (1989).
'(sigh) We humans are stupid egotistical self-deluded beings' -
Put on a Happy Face — 6 years ago(August 31, 2019 02:35 AM)
No it was done in 1951 first, Detective Comics #168. Joker at this time is a thief named Red Hood who robs Ace Chemicals, and falls into a vat of chemicals while escaping the police.
Burton based Batman on this story. He renamed Ace Chemicals to Axis. The Killing Joke came out when Batman was already almost complete, so that wouldn't have been enough time.
"The Killing Joke" flashback scenes reference the 1951 Red Hood story. Except in this new twist, we find out that the Joker was actually duped, and made to wear the Red Hood mask to serve as a decoy for police so the real Red Hood can escape. Much darker and sadder. It makes Joker a victim, like this movie.
When Joker says, "Sometimes I remember it this way, sometimes that way!" the dichotomy is between wether Joker was the set up as the Red Hood or was he the real Red Hood the whole time?
Joker never had a backstory as far as his name, but it was always implied his skin looked like that. In his first appearances, there are panels that show his arms and legs and they're the same color as his face.
And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane
By those who could not hear the music.
— 6 years ago(August 30, 2019 02:56 PM)