This week we are required to read The Killing Joke which is one of the stories in the Batman comics series. It is an independent story from Batman Comics, but it influences the Batman stories very much.
What impressed me in this story is how deep that Alan Moore observes humanity. In the story, there are a couple of narrations interspersed with the Joker's flashbacks. And this is where readers find out Joker's past, and this is also the place where people figure out why the Joker became Joker.
My reaction to the text I just read is it really catches the reader's attention because the text is full of information. What more interesting is the text always has some implications, especially when Joker is talking. I can't forget the last dialogue that Joker had with Batman about two lunatic men crossing the gap. For me, it is a metaphor for the Joker himself and the batman. The one who promised will shine the gap is the metaphor for Batman, the one didn't trust the man is the metaphor for the Joker. I assume what the Joker wanted to say is he has lost anything about positive faith and too late to be saved. I like how Alan Moore used these metaphors, it makes the story interesting,
I feel really sad about what the Joker had experienced. When I was in elementary school, I used to be the person who is always being tricked. They said they were my friend, but what they actually did to me were not friendly, for example, hid my eraser or pencils and enjoyed watching me being anxious finding my stuff. After that they never apologized, they said they did this to me because they liked me. At that time, I really wanted to hurt them. Fortunately, I didn't change to a "Joker" because I met other great friends after I went into middle school. There must be a lot of kids who are experiencing this, and maybe we all have the potential to become a Joker. It is just if you are lucky enough to meet someone who can save you.
When it comes to the question about what changes would I make to adapt the story into another medium, I would say I will choose to make it into 3D animation with 2D comic style, like Spiderman Into the Spider-Verse. It'd be cool to see the film that can keep the comic style, because what displayed in the comic fits the story very well, also people have already get used to the comic, they would love to see it on the screen.
The killing Joke is a really unique story, one of the reasons is it doesn't fit the typical expectations that readers usually have to the superheroes. Usually, people think superheroes are powerful and they can deal with everything. However, in this story, Batman is not that almighty. He can't save the Joker because the Joker himself isn't the reason that changed into a villain, what changed him is so-called innocent people and the whole society. In a certain sense, the Joker is innocent too. And Batman understands this contradictory situation, so he hates but he can't do anything. This is what makes Batman differ from other superheroes, he has a complicated design about his mind and the world he deals with.
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