This guy kind of gets it, and kind of doesn't, and I can tell he's never read the comic books.
The man is praising The Dark Knight because it spares the backstory of the Joker, making him crazier, more irrational, and basically a better character for Heath Ledger to play around with. Fine, good, I agree. However, he says it fails at putting Harvey Dent/Two-Face in it and giving him a bigger backstory. Why not do the same thing with Two-Face that you did with the Joker?
Because Chris Nolan knows the comics better than you do. I'll explain, since Batman is my all-time favorite superhero*.
In the comics, the Joker had no real backstory, and what was there was very vague. Apparently he got dunked in some weird chemicals, giving him the green hair, red lips, white skin, and crazy smile. So, no, it's not actually make-up. The Killing Joke, the seminal Joker story, fleshes it out a little bit, showing that the Joker a failed comedian turned robber, and that's how he fell in the chemicals. Still, however, it's very vague, and the Joker himself states that he doesn't remember his former self that well. There is a point to this, and that's what the article writer gets, except that it isn't Chris Nolan's idea. He's just going by the comic canon. The Batman creators knew it when they created the Joker. Having a backstory gives a character a more rational reason for the crimes they commit. The Joker is supposed to be the ultimate irrational character, to be juxtaposed with the rational, logical Batman. He's the perfect villain.
Next, we have Harvey Dent. For Harvey Dent, there's no question that Chris Nolan was inspired by Year One, The Long Halloween, and, to a lesser extent, Dark Victory. Anyone who's read those knows that Harvey Dent is not Two-Face. The man that was once Harvey Dent is transformed into Two-Face by some unfortunate events. The character is much more complicated and sympathetic than the Joker. The most important part to remember, too, is that Harvey Dent as Harvey Dent, and not as Two-Face, is a very important character in the comics. He became the DA right before Bruce Wayne became Batman. He worked with Jim Gordon, the last good cop in Gotham City, a city ruled by mob bosses and corrupt police officers (which is actually shown in Batman Begins with Carmine Falcone, and not shown sufficiently in any other Batman film). He wanted the same thing Bruce Wayne wanted, and they became good friends. Then, however, Harvey became Two-Face. After that, Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon were never the same, because they were fighting their friend. Thus, this backstory must be told, or Two-Face doesn't actually make sense. The Joker doesn't need to make sense, but Two-Face does.
So, thankfully, Chris Nolan gets it. Perhaps whoever wrote this article didn't, but it's a pretty good one anyway.
*I must say that a very close second for favorite superhero is Talisman of the Justice Machine. A fairly obscure comic, but a pretty good one. His costume is great (just an expensive black suit and tie, and white gloves), and his superpower is, to my knowledge, unique (super karma power??!).
Posted by Shenlon at July 10, 2008 11:58 PM