When they announced that Heath Ledger was playing The Joker in The Dark Knight, I thought it was a terrible idea. The kid from 10 Things I Hate About You as the Clown Prince of Gotham? Nonsense! I wasn’t alone in hating the idea, and I think everyone came around once the movie was out. For me though, it wasn’t his performance that convinced me. It was this photo:
This was the first public image of Ledger as The Joker, and it completely won me over. The scars. The expression. The messiness of it. Everything. I was sold. “They got it,” I thought. We’re supposed to be afraid of Joker, and this picture was scary.
This time around I’m in a different position. I’ve been onboard with Batfleck from the start, but I understand I’m in the minority here. When Affleck was announced as Batman, the Internet went nuts, and not in the good way the Internet sometimes goes nuts. I was so turned off by people’s reactions to the news. Partially because I disagreed with them, but also because I remembered that I reacted the same way when Ledger was cast and that’s not something I like about myself. I thought we all learned a lesson about reserving judgement about casting news from The Dark Knight, but it was clear after Batfleck that the lesson didn’t reach as far and wide as I thought.
I’m just curious if that image of Affleck as Batman had the same effect on anyone as the first Ledger pic did on me. Did it change your mind at all?
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