Why does this post have to have a title?

It's probably wrong to believe there can be any limit to the horror which the human mind can experience. Perhaps the most terrifying question of all is just how much horror the human mind can stand and still maintain a wakeful, staring, unrelenting sanity. At some point, it all starts to become rather funny. That may be the point at which sanity begins to either save itself or to buckle and break down; that point at which one's sense of humor begins to reassert itself. -Stephen King

You may have noticed that in my "About Me" section I said that Penguins Like Pi wasn't a one-subject blog. Well, I lied. But then again, I told the truth when I said that I'd write what I want, when I want. It just so happens that at the moment I want to write about The Joker. Give a girl a break, I've got to have somewhere to blab about my current obsessions. I'm sure my sister doesn't what to hear me recite my favorite parts over and over.

Batman: Let her go.
Joker: Very poor choice of words. Ahahaha! *throws chick out window* (though his laugh was more of a "mmmhahaha!" than a "ahahaha!")

The quote by Stephen King that I posted at the beginning of this entry reminded me somewhat of The Joker. His choice was to find humor in horrible things or go crazy. Though I'm sure we can all agree that he kind of is insane, whether he likes it or not.

Gambol: You're crazy.
Joker: I'm not. No, I'm not.

He seemed kind of...upset when he replied to Gambol, apparently he doesn't like being called "crazy".
I like how Alfred describes The Joker:

Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

On the facebook group The Joker (is sexy) the ladies on there seem oddly obsessed with...his tongue.

That, and the part where he's shouting at Batman, "Hit me! HIT ME! I want ya to do it, come on, HIT ME!"

Which is when Batman is roaring towards him on a giant-wheeled motorcycle.
One of my favorite Joker 'bad ass' scenes is the part where he pulls open his suit jacket, revealing a whole army of grenades, and says, "Let's not blow this out of proportion." Not only is he homicidal, he's also suicidal.

I also found a picture of the above photo with the caption: "The only man in a purple suit you'll never make fun of."
I found some interesting information (click here) about the making of The Dark Knight (pertaining to The Joker, of course):

The late actor who tragically died from an accidental prescription drugs overdose in January - was reportedly warned he had become too obsessed with his portrayal of iconic Batman villain The Joker. A source told FOX News: "Heath refused to talk to anyone out of character. If you tried to communicate with him normally instead of The Joker, he would just ignore you.

"He would often come to the set to hang out even on his days off, freaking everyone out..."

Ledger reportedly locked himself in an apartment for an entire month before playing The Joker, who he described as a "psychotic, mass-murdering clown". That's why he played an awesome role!

All I'm saying is that if Heath Leger hadn't died before the movie came out, he would have had a huge fan following!
And you've got to love The Joker in the nurse costume :3 hahaha...

On an ending note:

The Joker

I created a facebook page ("Public Figure") called "The Joker". I originally created it so that I could add him as one of the People Who Inspire Me. Sadly, the only thing that comes is a song called "The Joker". Now, I ask you, is a song a person? No, it is not. So instead, I've been having fun delving for details to add to the page, hence making ti one of the most 'informative' fan pages for The Joker. The details include birth date, affiliates, website, biography, pictures (complete with quotes as captions) and statuses that The Joker might say. No "spam" or "unrelated" statuses allowed.

If you want to "like" it (as the facebook term goes), you can find the page here. I also found what I suppose you could call the website of The Joker: Why So Serious? I suggest you check it out, but some audio starts up when you arrive at the website, so, based on whether you want to hear it or not, turn your volume up or down.

I also found a somewhat fascinating group called The Joker (is sexy). The description explains it: Because it worries people when you think that a psycho, demented killer from a movie, played by a dead guy is sexy. (I may have...switched the words a bit. I suppose you'll have to go to the group to find out the original text.)
Though I must admit I do find The Joker kind of hot, some of the ladies seem to go a bit overboard...just in my opinion. Kind of gets kinky, the things they talk about on the group's wall.

I don't particularly think The Joker is awesome because I think he's sexy, rather, it seems, I'd like to be him. Homicidal tendencies aside.
The Dark Knight is quite a philosophical movie, Batman and The Joker practically equal. It reminds me somewhat of Death Note (an anime and manga), where the characters Light Yagami and "L" (Ryuzaki) match wits with each other, and seem to be ahead of each other...at the same time.
The only difference is that Light and Ryuzaki tend to come up with plans. The Joker? Not so much. As you may recall (either if you've seen The Dark Knight or have read the quotes in my previous entry), The Joker likened himself to a dogs chasing cars, saying that if he caught one, he wouldn't know what to do with it. He clearly points out: "Do I look like a man with a plan?"
Perhaps that's one reason why I find him so fascinating. He so...honest, and yet he lies all the time. Whenever he promises to do something, he does it (quote: "I'm a man of my word."), and yet you doubt the stories he comes up with when he tells people "how he got his scars". He seems to be particularly obsessed with mentioning his scars. Examples: "Oh, you look nervous. Is it the scars? Wanna know how I got them?"
"It's a funny world. Speaking of which, want to know how I got these scars?"

Right now I'm actually in the midst of watching The Dark Knight (for the second time) on Megavideo. Waiting for the 30 minutes to go by (if you've ever used Megavideo, you'll know what I'm talking about.)
It used to be you could watch 72 minutes, and then wait 54 minutes. But now you can watch 72 minutes and wait only 30 minutes.
Just my luck that the movie is two and a half hours long (actually, I love that), it's 3:30 in the morning, and I'm not even half-way through it.
Reading Stephen King during the day and watching The Dark Knight at night...I think I'm getting my full dose of horror.

The Joker is my Guru

A guru (Sanskrit: गुरु) (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ) is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a certain area.

Now, let's not get The Joker mixed up with "Juggalos". I abhor ICP and anything of the sort. But The Joker truly is a masterpiece. He is deliciously psychotic, demented, evil, and hilarious. My sister dubbed him my guru years before I'd even seen the movie (I watched it tonight, and, as we all know, the movie came out in 2008 and, well, this is 2011.)
But I just watched it, and found the character amazing, inspiring (in the least-murderous way possible, mind you), thought-provoking, and, yes, possibly even wise.
I found some of my favorites quotes, or "lines", that he spoke, and have decided to post them here:

I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you... stranger.

Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it. You know, I just... do things. The mob has plans, the cops have plans, Gordon's got plans. You know, they're schemers. Schemers trying to control their little worlds. I'm not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are.

Batman: Let her go.
Joker: Very poor choice of words. Ahahaha! *throws chick out window*

Can't be too careful with all those weirdos around.

I'm a man of my word.

When you find yourself locked onto an unpleasant train of thought, heading for the places in your past where the screaming is unbearable, remember there's always madness. Madness is the emergency exit.

As you know, madness is like gravity...all it needs is a little push!

You can't rely on anybody these days, you gotta do everything yourself, don't we? But that's okay, I came prepared. It's a funny world we live in speaking of which, you know how I got these scars?

Oh, you. You just couldn't let me go, could you? This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You are truly incorruptible, aren't you? Huh? You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won't kill you because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever.

Do you want to know why I use a knife? Guns are too quick. You can't savor all the... little emotions. In... you see, in their last moments, people show you who they really are. So in a way, I know your friends better than you ever did. Would you like to know which of them were cowards? 

Wanna know how I got these scars?

I want... my phone call. I want it. I want it! I want my phone call! 

You have nothing, nothing to threaten me with. Nothing to do with all your strength.

Don't talk like one of them. You're not! Even if you'd like to be. To them, you're just a freak, like me! They need you right now, but when they don't, they'll cast you out, like a leper! You see, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these... these civilized people, they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve. 

You have all these rules and you think they'll save you.

Even to a guy like me, that's cold... 

You and your kind, all you care about is money. This city deserves a better class of criminal. And I'm gonna give it to them!

[Batman slams The Joker's head on a table]
The Joker: Never start with the head, the victim gets all fuzzy.
[Batman slams a fist down on Joker's hand]
The Joker: [pretends not to feel it] See? 


Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I'm an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It's fair! 

All right. So, listen. Why don't you give me a call when you want to start taking things a little more seriously? Here's my card.
[He holds up a Joker card and places it on the table]

 Joker Quotes from Batman (1989)

I've been dead once already. It's very liberating. You should think of it as, uh... therapy.

Vicki Vale: What do you want?
The Joker: My face on the one dollar bill.
Vicki Vale: You must be joking.
The Joker: Do I look like I'm joking? 

My balloons. Those are my balloons. He stole my balloons! Why didn't somebody tell me he had one of those... things? Bob, gun.

I now do what other people only dream. I make art until someone dies. See? I am the world's first fully functioning homicidal artist. 

Sometimes I just kill myself!

Vicki Vale: You're insane!
Joker: I thought I was a Pisces. 

Batman (asking about the Joker): Where is he?!
Dude: I don't know, he found us.
Batman: He must have friends.
Dude: Friends? Have you met this guy?

 

In some parts, The Joker actually reminded me of the mad scientist from Back To The Future.

The Joker was played by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008). Heath Ledger died of an accidental drug overdose (a combination of oxycodone, hydrocodone, alprazolam, diazepam, temazepam, and doxylamine all of which seem to be for anxiety, pain, severe insomnia, and cold symptoms)...ironically before The Dark Knight even came out (He died in January 2008, The Dark Knight came out that summer.)

Go here to see his life story.

Weirdly enough, a lot of celebrities die from drug overdoses. Such as Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland (Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz), Paul Gray (bass guitarist from Slipknot), James Owen Sullivan (musician of Avenged Sevenfold), and many more.