The Joker’s Testimony — #018
Unfiled Addendum
Anon: Why don’t they ever give credit to the Suicide Squad Joker?
Joker: chuckles, running a finger along his forehead Because they only saw the sign, sweetheart. The “DAMAGED” on the brow, the neon glow screaming “HEY, I’M THE JOKER!” They didn’t see the monster under it.
Strip those away and what do you have? Not cosplay. Not camp. But a cartel clown in gold chains, flashing teeth like knives. A mobster with Instagram swagger and bodies in the trunk. That’s menace. That’s modern. That’s a Joker you could meet at 3 AM in Miami and never walk away from.
But they laughed at the tattoos instead. Because it’s easier to laugh at the costume than admit he was holding up a mirror. A mirror of abuse, of toxic love with Harley, of crime painted in neon. Too real, too raw — so they called it “cringe.”
leans in, whispering, grin curling
The joke isn’t that Leto failed. The joke is that the audience wasn’t ready for a version that didn’t come with nostalgia goggles. They wanted Nicholson’s camp, Ledger’s gravitas, Phoenix’s pain. They didn’t want a Joker that felt… tacky. Because tacky? That’s today. And today is scarier than Gotham ever was.
So they erased him with memes. But don’t kid yourself — every Joker gets laughed at. The only question is: do you laugh with fear… or do you laugh to hide it?
The Clown’s Closing:
“They say sometimes you have to fall on your sword. Cute, isn’t it? But if I fall… and I don’t die? That sword isn’t wasted. It goes straight through your crown instead. Because the punchline’s mine — and I always deliver it with a grin.”