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Geeks the world over have been waiting years, even decades, to see a full adaptation of Alan Moore’s legendary graphic novel, The Killing Joke. It is considered the seminal examination of the relationship between two of fictions most iconic characters, Batman and the Joker, by pretty much everyone who isn’t loony. What’s more, Mark Hamill, THE voice of the Joker, has been pushing for it since he began to play the Clown Prince of Crime in the 90’s, even indicating he’d come out of Joker-retirement to do it. Fans were over the moon when an animated film was announced, and the lines to see it during its special screenings were staggering. But despite the hype and stellar performances, controversy quickly rose around the film and its treatment of female characters. Geek Chorus host Rob and Ginger Geek Blog’s Matt Delhauer break down what went wrong, what went right, and the depiction of gender roles in the comics world.
“See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum…and one night, one night they decide they don’t like living in an asylum any more. They decide they’re going to escape! So, like, they get up onto the roof and there, just across this narrow gap, they see the rooftops of the town, stretching away in the moonlight…stretching away to freedom. Now, the first guy, he jumps right across with no problem. But his friend, his friend daredn’t make the leap. Y’see…y’see, he’s afraid of falling. So then, the first guy has an idea…He says ‘Hey! I have my flashlight with me! I’ll shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk along the beam and join me!’ B-but the second guy just shakes his head. He suh-says… he says ‘What do you think I am? Crazy? You’d turn it off when I was half way across!’”
