Hi. I'm Michael. This is Lessons from the Screenplay. When I think about why The Dark Knight works
so well, the answer always seems clear: The Joker. “Good evening ladies and gentlemen.” There have been psychopathic villains before. Other antagonists with elaborate, twisting
plans... But there's something special about The Joker. But putting The Joker character into a movie
clearly does not automatically make it great. So what’s special about The Joker in The
Dark Knight? Is it just Heath Ledger's excellent performance? “Yeah.” Or is there something more going on? Today, I want to investigate this. To examine the function of an antagonist in
a story… And break down why The Joker is the perfect
opponent for The Dark Knight. Exceptionally Good At Attacking the Hero’s
Weakness Let's begin with a quote from Robert McKee's
Story: “A protagonist and his story can only be
as intellectually fascinating and emotionally compelling as the forces of antagonism make
them.” So an antagonist must be powerful. The more powerful, the harder the struggle
for our hero. And the harder the struggle, the more compelling
the story. But that's a little vague. What does powerful mean in this context? John Truby has a good piece of advice about
how to make the antagonist powerful in a specific way: “Create an opponent who is exceptionally
good at attacking your hero’s greatest weakness.” The Joker is exceptionally good at attacking
Batman’s greatest weaknesses. Much of Batman’s power comes from his ability
to intimidate. From his physical strength. And The Joker delights in creating situations
that nullify Batman’s strength. Like when he’s captured Rachel and Harvey
Dent. “Where are they?!” “You have nothing." "Nothing to threaten me with." "Nothing to do with all your strength.” The Joker turns Batman’s strength into a
weakness. He can do this because he doesn’t fear death,
in fact he wants Batman to kill him. “C’mon I want you to do it." "Hit me!” Because he knows Batman’s morality takes
the form of one rule: he doesn’t kill people. So the more chaos The Joker causes, and the
more people he kills… The further he reveals that Batman’s moral
code can also be a weakness. Because the only way to truly stop The Joker
is to kill him, something Batman can never do. But the Joker’s plan isn’t just to beat
Batman, it’s to show Gotham his true colors. He does this by pressuring the protagonist
into difficult choices. According to Robert McKee: “TRUE CHARACTER is revealed in the choices
a human being makes under pressure—…“ “…the greater the pressure, the deeper
the revelation, the truer the choice to the character’s essential nature.” So in every story, the forces of antagonism
must increasingly apply pressure to the protagonist… Forcing them to make more and more difficult
choices. Choices which reveal their true nature. As far as pressuring the protagonist into
choices that test and reveal character, that is quite literally The Joker's plan. After 45 pages of pretty boring set-up, on
page 46 the screenplay kicks into gear when Batman is faced with the first in a series
of conundrums. "You want order in Gotham?" "Batman must take off his mask, and turn himself in." "Every day he doesn't, people will die." By refusing, at first, to give in to this
terrorist demand, we the audience see that Batman has what it takes to do what’s right. But The Joker proves to be unstoppable, always
one step ahead of Batman… In a sequence that I realized is very similar to
another movie with a great antagonist — Se7en. Batman and Gordon investigating a crime scene… Discovering fingerprints that lead them to
the apartment of the suspect — only to find that it’s all part of the antagonist’s
game. Even The Joker’s plan to purposefully be
caught is similar to Se7en. “Detective!” Throughout all this, the pressure on Batman
increases as people keep dying. The people of Gotham turn against Batman,
until the pressure is too much and Batman’s true character is revealed. "Today I've found out what Batman can't do. He can't endure this." Batman decides to turn himself in. Harvey Dent claiming to be Batman and taking his place is the only thing that stops him from doing so. The most revealing choice Batman makes is
when The Joker pressures him to choose between Harvey Dent and Rachel. "Which one you going after?" "Rachel!" In choosing Rachel, Batman reveals what he’s
unwilling to sacrifice for the greater good of Gotham. The limit to his resolve. But with The Joker, things are never that
simple. Throughout the film, The Joker forces Batman
into choices that reveal who and what he cares about when the pressure is really on. Batman is forced to face his true self. Let’s look at our final point. Competing for the Same Goal as the Protagonist How do you make sure your antagonist is the
right one for your hero? After all, The Joker may be the right antagonist
for Batman, but completely inappropriate for a different protagonist. Let’s go back to John Truby. "It is only by competing for the same goal
that the hero and the opponent are forced to come into direct conflict and to do so
again and again throughout the story." This concept helps distinguish your antagonist
and make sure they are the right one for your hero. So how are Batman and The Joker competing
for the same goal? Both of them have their own vision of what
they want Gotham City to be. Batman is fighting for hope, for a Gotham
City without crime. For law and order. And The Joker… “Upset the established order and everything
becomes chaos.” Batman versus The Joker. Law and order versus chaos. In their final scene together, The Joker even
has a line that makes it very clear that he knows what their battle is all about. “You didn’t think I’d risk losing the
battle for Gotham's soul in a fist fight with you?" They are both competing for the soul of Gotham,
and only one of them can win. I want to take a moment to underline this
point further, because it shows that a relatively measured but specific threat can be extremely
compelling. In the finale, the only lives in danger are
a few hundred people on the ferries. Batman is not racing against time to stop
the villain’s random-machine-of-destruction. When the villain’s plan is to destroy the
whole world, on a meta level we the audience know that can’t happen, because there’s
probably going to be a sequel. But The Joker could have blown up both ferries,
and the film could have had an Empire Strikes Back-esque ending. A powerful set-up for the next film. Again, Batman and The Joker aren’t competing
for the survival of humanity. They’re competing for the soul of Gotham. The stakes are personal, first and foremost. So now we’ve seen how The Joker is exceptionally
good at attacking Batman’s weaknesses. How he pressures him into difficult choices
as they both compete for the soul of Gotham. But what is cumulative affect of these things? What is the greater function of The Joker? “With respect, Master Wayne, perhaps this
is a man you don’t fully understand either.” Throughout the script, Alfred hints at the
lessons Batman needs to learn. “Some men aren’t looking for anything
logical, like money.” “They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned
or negotiated with.” “Some men just want to watch the world burn.” In the beginning, Batman believes that criminals
are simply after money, that there is a logical order to things. But he learns not to underestimate his enemies,
that his strengths can become weaknesses. Batman grows wiser because of the Joker. “Know your limits, Master Wayne” “Batman has no limits.” “Well you do, sir.” Under the pressure of the antagonist, Batman
learns that alone he does have limits. But with the right allies, they can overcome
any challenge. Batman’s resolve deepens because of The
Joker. “People are dying, Alfred." "What would you have me do?” “Endure, Master Wayne.” And in the battle for Gotham’s soul, he
learns that he’s able to make the difficult choices no one else can. “You either die a hero or you live long
enough to see yourself become the villain.” “I can do those things because I’m not
a hero.” “I’m whatever Gotham needs me to be.” Batman becomes the Dark Knight because of
The Joker. The Dark Knight shines as an example of what
happens when the forces of antagonism grow from the protagonist. When they're inextricably linked. When they’re two sides of the same coin. The Joker isn’t a great villain because
he has an insane laugh and acts unpredictably. He’s great because he has a profound and
specific affect on the story, and on the protagonist. “I think you and I are destined to do this
forever.” The Joker is the perfect antagonist for The
Dark Knight. Hey guys! I had a lot of fun putting this video together,
but I'd be lying if I said it was easy. It actually went through a lot of changes
but I ultimately I learned a lot. And I want to share what I learned with you! So as a thank you for all my supporters on
Patreon I'm going to be doing a blog post detailing the process of making this video. Everything from early version of the script
to early rough cuts of the very different video that it was. And even the screenplay for the film with
all my notes in it. So look for that on my Patreon. If you have any questions about the making
of this video leave them in the comments below along with any suggestions for future screenplays
for me to analyze. And as always please like and share and subscribe
and consider supporting this channel on Patreon. And most importantly — thank you for watching! "The Dark Knight"
This makes a great point that I haven't heard elsewhere:
When the villain's plan is to destroy the whole world, the audience knows that can't happen. But the Joker could have killed those people on those boats. By keeping the stakes smaller, The Dark Knight actually increases the tension.
My favorite thing about the Dark Knight is that at the final confrontation between the Joker and Batman, you feel like they have been rivals for quite some time now because of the multiple encounters throughout the film, even if it was "only 2 and a half hours.
Eckhart playing Two-Face was totally underrated. His last scene still gives me chills. Yea he was a villian but you could easily sympathize with him. "It's not about what I want, it's about what's FAIR!!"
[deleted]
The scene where he escapes and they show him driving with his head out window and the sound fades out, was fucking magic. It truly made you feel like Joker was just this force that couldn't be contained.
"We're destined to do this forever."
This line breaks my damn heart.
Why the fuck did you have to die, Heath?
God damn it.
I wonder if in 30 years people will talk about the first time they saw this in the theatre. My uncles always talk about the first time they saw Vader but I really had a similar moment seeing Heath Ledger do the joker. Especially because the only other live action version was Nicholson. When he took his mask off in the bank, for the first time, it was incredible.
Shots fired at Suicide Squad!
This was what draws me to this movie more than anything. The real challenge that Batman faces isn't solved by punching a little harder, or driving a little faster. Sure there is fun action set pieces but ultimately the heart of the conflict came down to having faith in people being good, and then sacrificing his own reputation and relationship with his allies to keep that faith.
Compare this to TDKR where the conflict comes down to if Batman can magically punch harder than last time he fought Bane. Or MoS where Superman has to just keep flying harder until he wins (although I can forgive that, it's other reasons that I thought it was a bad movie).