The Real Goal of the Joker
Movie Villains
One of the most classic movie villains is Batman’s Joker. There are so many good superhero villains in comics and movies but not many can beat Joker. There is something about the character that makes him stand out from everyone else.
What makes a good movie villain isn’t someone who is big, strong, angry, and destructive. Although those characteristics can complement a good villain. A good villain is someone who thinks what they are doing is good, they are relatable, and they are the center of attention even when not on the screen.
An indication of a good villain is if they make you question who is the one who is in the right and who is in the wrong.
Jokers Goal
Joker uses incentives and the inherent self-interested behavior of humans to rob, manipulate, and lie. In The Dark Knight, we constantly try to figure out what the goals are of the irrational Joker. To do this we need to start from the end of the movie and work our way backward. From there we will find that Joker is in fact entirely rational.
Money
Initially, we think his goal is to get money. He does this in the movie’s opening scene where he robs a bank. He hires a group of criminals to help him rob a bank. But throughout the scene, we see as soon as one of the heist members completes their job they get killed by another member. This is perfectly designed by Joker.
He needed to be sure he hired people who would kill for more money, literally. He needed to make sure these people are greedy enough that they are willing to kill for a slightly larger share of the loot. Little did the robbers know that the other robbers were willing to do the same thing. So they all ended up dead except for Joker, who proceeded to take all the loot.
This wouldn’t have worked if the robbers hired weren’t greedy or if they weren’t willing to kill for their greed. Joker perfectly predicted their incentives and self-interests for his benefit.
He also negotiates with the mob for more money for the death of Batman. In fact, he asks the mob for half of their wealth for the death of Batman. Joker claims that Batman will slowly but surely take down the mob and you’ll be left with nothing, therefore your best bet is to give me half your wealth for Batman’s death and keep their mob business alive.
Seems quite convincing that Joker is motivated by money. But later we see him burning a mound of cash. So it couldn’t be that.
Kill Batman
Maybe it’s to kill Batman. He did try to negotiate with the mob to make money for the death of Batman. Why would you do that if you didn’t have the goal or intention to kill him? It would a win-win for Joker, to kill his nemesis and get a bunch of money for it. But he later reveals that he doesn’t and never wanted to kill Batman.
This is where we get his true intentions, which also makes him the best supervillain. He loves to play the game. He loves the repeated games he plays with Batman. That’s why he doesn’t care about the money and especially doesn’t want to kill Batman. Without Batman, there is no one to play a game with.
Playing the Game
Jordan Peterson mentions this when parents teach their children to play a game fairly. That it doesn’t matter whether you win or lose but that you played fairly. You teach this because the game the kids play isn’t the game but the set of games. Although the kids don’t understand this because they just want to win the game. Playing fairly will allow you to be invited back to the next game and the next one after that. It’s playing the game that is winning, not winning the individual game.
Breaking Bad
You can see this phenomenon in Breaking Bad. Where Walter White becomes Heisenberg after starting his drug empire. Towards the end of his drug-dealing career, it is revealed that initially, he started it as a way to make money for his family but he continued because he loved the game. He loved cooking meth, making deals, running from the government, and building his empire.
It is playing the game that is fun, not winning it. Walter already had enough money for his family, which was his initial intention but keep going back and going bigger. He made riskier decisions because the game was too easy for him. He wanted a bigger challenge.
No Batman, No Joker
This is why Joker never wanted to kill Batman. It would end the game, with no one to play his psychologically insane games. In fact, I don’t think Joker even cared about himself dying. I believe his life would be miserable without Batman and that he would prefer to be dead himself than be alive without a Batman.
Most super villains would prefer to have no one be in their way to try to stop them. Joker is different in this respect. He not only wants a challenge from Batman but needs it. Without Batman, there is no Joker.