Batman: The Killing Joke Isn't Entirely Funny

A Classic's One Great Flaw

Everyone is up in arms lately over the critical mugging of Suicide Squad. It’s a controversial film that’s worth talking about, but before I dive into that hornet’s nest, I want to call attention to that other Joker-infused DC Comics film. I’m speaking of course, of Batman: The Killing Joke, the animated movie adapting Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ iconic Joker story.

So, what exactly is there to say about The Killing Joke? For those unfamiliar, this seminal ‘80s storyline follows the Joker as he tries to drive Commissioner Gordon mad, mainly by paralyzing his daughter Barbara (secretly Batgirl). All the while Joker flashes back to the night he was driven mad, back when he was a failed stand-up comedian turned criminal to support his pregnant wife. It’s considered by many to be the definitive Joker story, and has inspired everything from Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond to Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger’s live-action takes.

The creators clearly held a lot of reverence for the work, given that the back half of this film translates it almost directly. But in trying to go for the source, they had to justify one element that doesn’t hold up to today’s standards. That being the shooting and crippling of Barbara Gordon. If you can’t remove the shooting, how do you keep it without reducing Barbara to a victim? She’s Batgirl, for crying out loud!

Well, the answer was to give Barbara her own mini story-arc, granting her an agency not seen in the original story. And while the idea behind this is sound, its execution makes an already murky story even murkier.

Mishandling Batgirl

In essence, the animated Killing Joke adapts the (very short) comic alongside an entirely new half-hour prologue. It’s meant to provide additional background and context for Barbara, showing a mission that she and Batman tackle. Again, on paper, this isn’t a bad idea. If you’re going to expand the original work, and make us feel more for Barbara when she gets shot, it makes sense to give us a window into her world. The problem is that window is kind of battered and broken and, quite frankly, dirty as all hell.

Batgirl, we learn, is addicted to the thrill of crime fighting. Hmm, interesting. She gets involved in a case with a mob boss’s son that becomes a little too personal. Ooh, cool. She rebels against Batman’s orders when he pulls her off the case. Promising, promising. Batman scolds her for this and the two have a brief fight. Okay, I can buy that. Barbara pins Batman down and has sex with him. Wait, what?

Yeah, apparently Barbara is attracted to her (much older) mentor and they do the *eh hem* Bat-dance on a rooftop. Now let’s get something straight here. What’s wrong with this scene, and Barbara’s characterization in general, isn’t so much the sex itself. There is an age difference, but she isn’t a minor, and actually initiates the sex. This isn’t a rape situation we’re talking about here. No, it’s more that Bruce and Barbara’s relationship wasn’t in any way romantic up to this point.

Their relationship in this short, and indeed in pretty much every comic, is that of a mentor and student. Now it’s not unheard of for someone like Barbara to be attracted to an older, physically fit mentor, especially someone like Bruce Wayne. But if anything, their dynamic plays more like an uncle and niece than lovers. Especially considering, you know, she’s the daughter of Commissioner Gordon, Batman’s chief ally. It’s kind of like getting with your best friend’s daughter. 

But despite all that awkwardness, this may have come off better if Bruce actually had feelings for her. Instead, Bruce’s protectiveness of Barbara seems more familial than overtly sexual. So why did their tension have to be resolved with sex? This whole thing would’ve worked better by sticking with the rebellious student angle. Instead, Barbara Gordon, one of the most interesting characters in Batman lore, is reduced to a jilted ex-lover of Batman.

One Bad Day, One Good Ending

So how does this even relate to the Killing Joke part of the story? Well, it doesn’t. Not really, anyway. There’s a tiny thematic connection, in that Bruce warns Barbara about going into “the abyss” and becoming a killer. This is basically what the Joker wants Gordon to do, and Batman’s chief struggle when confronting Joker. But the connection to the Batgirl story is just a little mention, nothing more.

Once the Killing Joke story gets going, the Batgirl story is kind of swept under the rug. All it really does is change the context of Barbara’s shooting, so she’s now Batman’s ex-lover instead of just Gordon’s daughter and the former Batgirl. What’s strange though is that Bruce and Barbara don’t even mention their former relationship here. It makes the entire prologue feel extraneous, as if its only purpose was to pad out the runtime to movie length. Which is kind of weird, because the film doesn’t even feel like a film. Taken together, The Killing Joke feels more like two short episodes of a TV show fused together. It’s not a coherent storyline, and thus it’s hard to even approach it like you would a normal movie.

The real tragedy in this is that when the actual adaptation starts, the film is largely brilliant. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, who have voiced Batman and Joker in cartoons and video games for almost two decades, are in top form here. Hamill, who for many is the definitive Joker in any form of media (yes, even beating out Ledger) stuns as both the Clown Prince of Crime and his younger, pre-Joker self in flashbacks. I think it’s a bit of an overstatement to call Hamill the king of voice acting, but by god, the way he embodies the Joker with just a laugh is chilling. And the fact that he’s delivering monologues from the best Joker story is a pure geek out moment for Batman fans.

It's just disapointing that this near brilliant adaptation is bogged down by an unnecessary, barely connected prologue. If you’re going to expand The Killing Joke, with Barbara or otherwise, it’d be nice to see that expansion worked into the actual story. More about Joker’s past maybe, or more exploration into his psyche? Maybe more of Batman searching for Joker, or Gordon fighting to stay sane after being shown pictures of his paralyzed daughter? And regarding Barbara, maybe showing her actually recovering more? Or possibly giving Batman information as he searches for her dad?

But I digress. Batman: The Killing Joke is a passionate love letter to the definitive Joker story, done with gorgeous animation and even better voice talents. But by trying to fix the one aspect that didn’t work, the filmmakers muddied this story more than it already was. With that said, maybe the film should be remembered more for how it lovingly adapted The Killing Joke in its back half than its sub-par Batgirl-focused first half. After all, if we let ourselves go mad due to one bad story arc, aren’t we letting the Joker win?