With ‘The Dark Knight’ on the minds of a lot of fans of late due to it being the 10th Anniversary of the film, it is not surprising to see some fun new theories come out regarding the movie, and it is even more interesting when they come from big name sources. In this case, there is a new Joker fan-theory being posited by Patton Oswalt himself that is gaining a lot of traction, and it actually makes a lot of sense. He discusses his thoughts on how Heath Ledger’s the Joker must have had not only a military background but most likely was also a part of military intelligence. He elaborates more in a quote taken from a longer post he made on Facebook:
“He seems to be very good at the kind of mind-f***ery that sustained, professional interrogation requires. His boast about how “I know the squealers” when he sees one…The way he adjusts his personality and methods depending on who he’s talking to, and knowing EXACTLY the reaction he’ll get: mocking Gamble’s manhood; invoking terror to Brian, the “false” Batman; teasing the policeman’s sense of loyalty to his fallen, fellow cops; digging into Gordon’s isolation; appealing to Harvey Dent’s hunger for “fairness.” He even conducts a “reverse interrogation” with Batman when he’s in the box at the police station — wanting to see how “far” Batman will go, trying to make him break his “one rule.” In the end, he ends up trying to mind-fuck an entire city — and the city calls his bluff. Or is that what he wanted all along? He plummets to his seeming death, laughing like a child. And when he’s rescued by Batman, the one individual he couldn’t manipulate or break, he’s blissful and relieved (and, visually, turned on his head).”
What are your thoughts here? Could Ledger’s Joker have been military intelligence? It does fit as he would have had to have that kind of keen mind and ability to read people to be able to go toe-to-toe with Batman and get away with everything that he did in the film. And that kind of backstory still leaves him shrouded in mystery as we honestly do not know whether he went into the military with evil intentions intent on causing Chaos or something happened to him during his time there that turned him into the Joker we see in the film.
Either way, feel free to share your thoughts on the matter in the comments below!
And check out the full post from Facebook below!
