Up My Own Ass

We’ve all seen The Dark Knight by now, yes?. If you haven’t there something wrong with you. It’s a rare occurrence for me nowadays, going to see the motion pictures, what with the ass-raping that is ticket and food prices. But how can anyone not be a part of the phenomenon that is The Dark Knight? Christian Bale, and the new great director of our time Christopher Nolan, have resurrected the franchise. And Heath Ledger’s impeccably-timed death has turned the film from just another great movie into perhaps the greatest film ever made. Thank you, Mary-Kate Olsen!

Fans and critics everywhere have lauded Ledger’s performance as nothing short of genius. Indeed, perhaps he was so into his role as The Joker that it drove him mad and he was just feasting on pills like Elvis – Stojko, the Canadian figure skating champion. Boy, can that fella knock down the yellow submarines!

While I did enjoy Ledger’s portrayal immensely, I could very well see from where he obtained his inspiration.

Ledger’s Joker seems, at first, a tremendous homage to the first film Batman, Michael Keaton, and his role as Beetlejuice in the appropriately titled Beetlejuice, and then, perhaps, many of the roles Johnny Depp has played, from Sam in Benny & Joon to Captain Jack in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Oh, wait a silly goose that Johnny is! And so sexy!

But there was more.

I was amazed to see a little bit of Al Franken’s Saturday Night Live character Stuart Smalley in Ledger’s performance, which gave me a new appreciation for how creepy Franken’s character really was.

Could the late Mr. Michelle Williams have studied this wonderfully zany SNL character played by the arch nemesis of Bill O’Reilly?

But then came the true genius in the character. Ledger’s Joker seemed to have been borrowed freely from the one place where the acting always gets knocked – professional wrestling.

Any fan will tell you that some of the greatest villains, or heels, in pro wrestling history are very apparent in the central villain of The Dark Knight. The laughter, the absolute madness, it all seemed derivative of classic wrestling heels like “Rowdy” Roddy Piper in the mid-80s, and Cactus Jack of the early to mid-90s.

This, however, is still merely the tip of the Joker iceberg, because by the end of the film it was clear to me that Ledger had spent many hours viewing the matches and interviews of one wrestler in particular: Doink the Clown.

Fans of Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment of the 90s should remember that prior to the Doink character’s ill-advised baby face (or good guy) turn in 1994, Doink was an evil, evil clown, always laughing and just making an incredible amount of trouble for everyone. Over the years there were many wrestlers who portrayed Doink, but from ‘92 to ‘94 it was a man named Matt Borne who pretty much created the gimmick and played the role wonderfully. It was this Doink, I believe, that Ledger studied.

So, when the time comes, and Ledger is posthumously given the Academy Award for Best Actor next March, I declare that it should be “Maniac” Matt Borne who accepts the award on Heath’s behalf, says, “Well done, Mr. Ledger!” as he points to the Heavens, and then bashes the presenter, hopefully Adam Sandler, over the head with the trophy and proceeds to kick and punch him in classic heel style, maybe even getting a chair shot or two on him.

For this is how the Joker should be remembered.