Female Joker: Pros & Cons
PROS
1) It hasn't been done before. At least not outside of comic books.
2) Hearing an actresses' interpretation of the character for the first time could be amazing.
3) Making Batman's ultimate archenemy a woman puts a bizarre new spin on their relationship.
4) Evil clowns are bad enough, but evil FEMALE clowns are a whole other level of wrong.
5) Unlike Catwoman, who teases and seduces Batman at the same time, Fem-Joker would just KILL him, then seduce his corpse.
CONS
1) Isn't Harley Quinn already a "female Joker?"
2) It could easily be a pointless gimmick. (See: Ghostbusters 2016)
3) Telltale could be accused of misogyny. By very strange, stupid people, granted.
4) The writers would be too tempted to make Batman & Joker fall in love. Just NO.
5) Most of the fans would probably refuse to accept this interpretation of the character.
Comments
No, I reallyy just don't want this.
The Joker should always be a man.
Harley is supposed to be the female representation of a female Joker. However while Joker has no redeeming moral qualities, Harley has just one her love and care for one person (even if it is Joker). I think a female Joker would be redundant
They could just use Duela Dent instead of "messing" with the OG Joker.
It could technically work.
At his purest, the Joker is supposed to be an amplification of the rebellious, society-hating anarchist that is dormant in each of us.
So there's no reason to prevent the Joker from being a woman, since the Joker's lack of identity is a major part of the character.
But there's always an obsession they both have with each other. Joker's obsessed with Batman and vice versa. You know how people are... They'd take it the complete wrong way if one of them was a woman.
"Harley is supposed to be the female representation of a female Joker"
Personally, I disagree. Harley has her own personality and agendas, to be sure, but in terms of how she compares to the Joker himself, she's basically his enforcer and top hench(wo)man at best. The Joker has ALWAYS been the one true mastermind.
I don't mind the idea of Joker having some type of schoolgirl-y crush on Batman so much, as long as it's the kind of psychotic crush that would end with her lopping off Batman's fingers one-by-one as she sings "He loves me, he loves me not..."
Shiiiit. I don't know why but I really really like that idea.
It does open up a new realm of possibilities, doesn't it? Try to imagine a variation of the Ledger Joker's "scar story" where a Fem-Joker gleefully recounts being molested by a birthday clown when she was eight years old.
As much as I'm against the joker being female, I can't lie the whole "He loves me, he loves me not..." is a pretty cool idea.
Sounds like a bad idea to me. The reasons listed are just really "hasn't been done before" aren't enough for me. No need to have it where it's not needed. Apologies if my comment sounds mean.
I was careful to include other reasons besides "it hasn't been done before," D.J.
I'm thinking about this question after having rewatched The Killing Joke not that long ago. I really enjoy thinking of the Joker as this sort of funhouse mirror version of Batman-- a vision of himself as this distorted reflection. In this context, I'm not really convinced that the point of their relationship would still work if the Joker were female. Certain scenes in TKJ for example might feel a lot creepier, granted. But there's a reason other than his sense of justice why Batman can't bring himself to completely destroy the Joker-- and that reason shouldn't be potentially obscured by the Joker's sex.
I am all for increased representation in popular media, but I'm a bit conflicted by sexswaps because to me it seems...lazy? Like, why go through the trouble of creating an original female character when you can just make Thor female, for example? That's not really what I'm looking for. On that note - and I'm aware of the irony - I actually do think Harley Quinn functions brilliantly as the feminine take on Joker's brand of madness. She, at least, is a separate character, and one who took on a life of her own after being introduced as a minor walk-on. She, too, could be considered an expansion of the funhouse mirror as Batman takes on his own proteges/sidekicks. So Con #1 is totally valid for me
Write the Joker as a guy and make him female; "must be different because female" seems like poor reasoning to me.