The Joker, Jihad, and the Lesson of Suicide Squad
With his jagged yellow-toothed grin, greased green hair, and demonic laugh, the Joker has long been the most iconic villain not only in the Batman rogues’ gallery and the comic book universe but also in broader pop-culture. From deploying poisonous gas on a parade of spectating Gothamites in Tim Burton’s 1989 film Batman, to planting explosives on two packed ferries for the nail-biting climax of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, the character has become more than an entertaining psychopathic antagonist, but a symbol for destruction, madness, and — in the post 9/11 era — terrorism.
Copycats and Crazies
The Joker’s madness tragically has not been limited to the pages of comic books or the screens of cinemas. In recent years, there has been a shocking trend of individuals, being drawn to this character and inspired by what he represents, evoking comparisons in very real acts of violence worldwide. One of the most horrific of these incidents was the 2012 Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting that left 12 dead. The gunman, with orange dyed hair, reportedly said, he “was the joker” in the aftermath of his deadly attack. Two years later, husband and wife Jerad and Amanda Miller were responsible for a shooting spree that left five dead including two Las Vegas police officers (and themselves). The Millers reportedly had a penchant for dressing up as the Joker and his female partner Harley Quinn, making threatening videos as the character. Hard as it may be to believe, since The Dark Knight was released in 2008, there have been at least 7 other high-profile “Joker crimes” in addition to these two mass killings, carried out by individuals either mimicking or citing influence by the character.
The Joker as a Terrorist
Heath Ledger’s version of the Joker, with his anarchistic darkness and “Agent of Chaos” mentality, reinforced this character as the most dangerous type of villain — a psychopath without a plan, just a madness driven only by delighting in death and watching the world burn. In The Dark Knight, this version of the Joker tortures a man on film, poisons a police commissioner, blows up a judge with a car bomb, releases terrifying propaganda encouraging the public to kill, hangs someone from a tall building, surgically implants a bomb into one of his henchmen, holds hostages, and nearly blows up two ships packed with people. As the world comes to terms with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) which routinely puts out propaganda releases showcasing brutal executions, the parallels between these two purveyors of terror can’t be more similar.
Enter Suicide Squad
Which brings us to the latest incarnation of the Joker on the big screen with this summer’s upcoming film Suicide Squad. While little is known about the upcoming film, bits and pieces of the new Joker played by Jared Ledo have been revealed in teaser images and trailers. Covered in tattoos from head to toe, this Joker looks like a mix of A Clockwork Orange meets Sons of Anarchy and Punk Rock. Without lambasting the movies as a source or cause of violence, after all hundreds of millions of people have watched these films and NOT turned into mass murderers, it is fair to say that law enforcement authorities will be understandably concerned that the film which promises to feature the most extreme and hostile version of the character yet, may inspire similar violence.
The plot of Suicide Squad is essentially this: the U.S. government, facing an uncommon enemy in the Joker, pulls together a team of the “worst of the worst,” consisting of criminals and villains from the world of Batman, in the hopes that these very bad people can do some good. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” is the play of the day.
“ISIL is the Joker”
So can the premise of Suicide Squad and the Joker provide any insight into the War on Terrorism? Apparently President Obama seems to think so. As the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has grown and evolved into a formidable adversary, the President had this to say:
“There’s a scene in the beginning (of The Dark Knight) in which the gang leaders of Gotham are meeting. These are men who had the city divided up. They were thugs, but there was a kind of order. Everyone had his turf. And then the Joker comes in and lights the whole city on fire. ISIL is the Joker. It has the capacity to set the whole region on fire. That’s why we have to fight it.”
But facing the Joker-esque ISIL, is the U.S. running the risk of adopting a Suicide Squad counterterrorism policy of our own? Many have heavily criticized the government’s rapid willingness to support (either actively or passively) some questionable characters in Iraq and Syria with the aim of combatting the terrorist group. Entities like the more moderate Free Syrian Army and other groups that are not quite ISIL have been equipped and trained in the hope that they will be able to turn the tide. The problem is, as the U.S. witnessed in backing the mujahideen in Afghanistan, which eventually gave rise to the Taliban and al-Qa’ida, that a short-term and shortsighted strategy of convenient allies can potentially lead to a long-term threat of enduring foes.
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