The Joker: Johnny Rotten to the Core!

Posted by Robin Ruinsky (robin@filmschoolrejects.com) on June 11, 2008

Heath Ledger as the Joker and Johnny Rotten

No one who knows the character of the Joker in Batman will deny that he’s rotten to the core. But who knew he was based on a punk rock icon in his latest film incarnation?

Writer/director Christopher Nolan told Scifi Wire that he had Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols in mind when he wrote the Joker, portrayed by Heath Ledger, in The Dark Knight.

In a bit of a twist Gary Oldman who plays Gotham City police Lieutenant Jim Gordon portrayed Rotten’s band mate Sid Vicious in the 1986 film Sid and Nancy. Sid died of a heroin overdose in 1979 a little over a year after being charged in the murder of his girl friend Nancy Spungen in the old Hotel Chelsea in NYC.

Johnny Rotten, born John Lydon got the stage name Rotten from the dismal condition of his teeth. The Sex Pistol’s first single was “Anarchy in the UK” and I assume Nolan had a bit of that in mind in his vision of the Joker.

“I wanna be anarchy!
In the city”

Seems like an apt inspiration, considering the Joker’s devotion to destroying Gotham City. Nolan sees the Joker as a man devoted to anarchy, to creating mayhem for mayhem’s sake. He’s not in it for money, but for the joy of destruction. From what I’ve seen of Heath Ledger’s Joker, his creation is chilling and certainly fits these lyrics from “Anarchy in the UK”:

“Right ! now ! ha ha ha ha ha

I am an antichrist
I am an anarchist
Don’t know what I want but
I know how to get it
I wanna destroy the passer by cos I

I wanna be anarchy!”

Something tells me The Dark Knight will be very dark indeed.

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VVarhead

Never been much of a Sex Pistols fan. I like thinking of Ledger's portrayal of the Joker more along the lines of Malcolm McDowell's Alex from A Clockwork Orange.

Cole Abaius

Wow - the Clockwork Orange angle is something I hadn't even thought of. We'll have to wait to see the entire portrayal, but you could be right. From the trailers, it looks like a more manic version of Alex, like an Alex on Speed.

Not that Alex wasn't delightfully insane, but he seems like more of a gentleman that the Joker does. An air of aristocracy about him.

I'm guessing The Joker would definitely go for a bit of Ludwig Van and the old ultraviolence, though.

uglier casanova

as long as he isn't based around present day johnny rotten. i sure as hell don't want to see some obnoxious, cockeyed old-bastard blowing sh*t up. he's a judge on some crappy, reality-tv singing competition now, right?

BIRTHE.

I HOPE THAT HEATH`S PERFORMANCE WILL BLOW EVERY BODY AWAY!

andy barr

heath ledgers joker, is total anarchy, the way he postures like a crippled aristocrat
is 100% johnny rotten. His devil -maycare attitude to violence and mayhem is very reminiscent of a the young sex pistol. as an aging punk, i saw that in there. nolans idea of the joker gave more credence and vehemence. such a shame heath died, this character would have developed. punks not dead mr nolan! long live the joker!
Andy Barr Hull

The Joker: Johnny Rotten to the Core!

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