Bruce Timm Weighs In On Implications Of "Killing Jokes" Sexualized Joker

[CBR News]

Timm discusses what the film says about Joker's sexuality, and its approach to the graphic novel's sexual violence.


Full article here.

[dan12456]

Is Timm a chronic liar? Those lines seem pretty dang intentional, not something you'd throw in just because. The fact you have a scene of Batman questioning prostitutes about the Joker implies it was relevant or why include it?

[mabromov]

Is Timm a chronic liar? Those lines seem pretty dang intentional, not something you'd throw in just because. The fact you have a scene of Batman questioning prostitutes about the Joker implies it was relevant or why include it?

Why don't you ask Brian Azzarello as to why he wrote that?

[joybeans]

In the comic, Batman does interrogate a group of prostitutes, but it's only a single panel without any dialogue, and its place is among a sequence of similar dialogue-less panels in which Batman visits various seedy characters looking for information. There's no implication that the prostitutes are personally connected to the Joker. It seems to me, that the writer, to pad the story out, chose to provide more explicit context to these scenes, and gave Joker a sex drive to justify why Batman would interrogate the prostitutes. I'm more willing to take the position of Hanlon's razor here and assume that this is just a case of nearsighted writing (something that the film certainly has no lack of), than specific intent to imply rape.

With that said, intentional or not, the implication is clearly there, with nothing to contradict the possibility, and Timm's Word of God does nothing to change that.

[dan12456]

Why don't you ask Brian Azzarello as to why he wrote that?

And I'm sure Azzarello will admit it's intentional rather then being like "oh well uh... I never even noticed that scene, completely missed it while doing my job of being producer! Didn't even know it was in my film, dur dur". I'm not even critiquing the decision to concretely take a stance on the issue, just the fact that Timm is blatantly lying about it now rather than own up to the fact that they made a decision on whether the Joker rapes Barbara in this movie. He spent months of his life on this movie, he didn't overlook something people are picking up on in 1 hour and a bit of viewing.

[mathew101281]

[ChaoticScholar]

I'm on the fence about KJ, but this lady wanted an edited version of Deadpool for kids. Of course, she's going to hate Killing Joke.

[Joker]

Jeez, just when you didn't think this could be worse...

[KingsLeadHat]

I get the sense that DC is subtly attempting to troll Alan Moore but at this point...Alan Moore just doesn't care. Let's face it, making money aside, DC is filled with a lot of jilted creators who idolize Moore but were hurt by his dismissal of their talents and originality. Creatively at least, the joke is on them (oh how ironic) given that they're still mining so much of what Moore did and accomplished. It's even more amusing since Moore has said that he dislikes what he did in Killing Joke. American's Best Comics was a kind of atonement for his past sins. Only now, in 2016, is DC caught up to where Moore was at in 1999 with their Rebirth philosophy. Creatively, Moore is running away with this.

[LonestarF1]

I could maybe believe that Timm didn't think those lines meant what they did, but I absolutely believe they meant exactly how they sounded. I love Azzarello's work, but it's not the first time he's written a Joker with sexual desires that raped a women over the course of the story. If those lines aren't meant to remove the "Did he or Didn't he" from Joker's scene with Barbara, then the scene with the prostitutes has zero reason for existing at all. It's there to serve a purpose, simple as that.

That being said, I also don't believe he raped her in the original story.

[Bluebolt1967]

Hmm.. is it possible to be controversial just to be controversial? What's the reason for Batman and Batgirl having a relationship? Doesn't it just sound weird - "man" having sex with "girl"? Shouldn't they at least call her "Batwoman" to make it not sound so creepy? Isn't Batgirl about Robin's (Nightwing's) age? Seems like she would be ten years younger than Batman or more. Additionally, seems odd that Batman would have a relationship with Gordon's daughter. I don't know - I'm probably over-thinking things but I don't see how this extra part makes the story better but I can understand how it would creep people out.

[LonestarF1]

Hmm.. is it possible to be controversial just to be controversial? What's the reason for Batman and Batgirl having a relationship? Doesn't it just sound weird - "man" having sex with "girl"? Shouldn't they at least call her "Batwoman" to make it not sound so creepy? Isn't Batgirl about Robin's (Nightwing's) age? Seems like she would be ten years younger than Batman or more. Additionally, seems odd that Batman would have a relationship with Gordon's daughter. I don't know - I'm probably over-thinking things but I don't see how this extra part makes the story better but I can understand how it would creep people out.

To be fair, when the book was original released, Dick and Barbara were never really a thing. He had a bit of a crush on her, but she was a decent bit older. He was with Starfire for most/all of the 80s.

[dan12456]

To be fair, when the book was original released, Dick and Barbara were never really a thing. He had a bit of a crush on her, but she was a decent bit older. He was with Starfire for most/all of the 80s.

To be fair, none of this decision has anything to do with the book, which had no hints of it (the book was shitty to Barbara in its own unique ways).

[Alkaidswrath]

They even have a line in the movie where Commissioner Gordon asks her if she remembers when the Joker first appeared in Gotham and she responds something like " Dad I was 6, just a little kid". Also she is the one who initiates the sex scene with Batman in the first place and he just kind of lets it happen.

[Bluebolt1967]

They even have a line in the movie where Commissioner Gordon asks her if she remembers when the Joker first appeared in Gotham and she responds something like " Dad I was 6, just a little kid". Also she is the one who initiates the sex scene with Batman in the first place and he just kind of lets it happen.

That entirely seems responsible and in character for Batman (Much sarcasm implied)