A New Pop Icon ?
by Niki N. Phaser on Jul.31, 2009, under WTF
Even before the release of The Dark Knight and, if I remember correctly, even before the death of Heath Ledger, there was a lot of buzz about his performance as Batman’s nemesis, The Joker. The shock of his untimely death, mixed with that buzz, created a suited environment for the birth of something… well, mythical, Hollywood style. When the movie came out, there was no disappointment, Ledger’s performance was as cool as everyone expected, even more. He received the entire packag
e of acting awards and a new movie legend was born.
But since then, The Joker’s Glasgow grin has become a bit of a pop culture icon, finding itself on plenty of pop art items. I am not talking about Heath Ledger, who might or might not become the James Dean of our generation, but solely about his Joker, who makes Jack’s Joker a Joke… (some pun intended). Not only do we see his face on T-shirts and other clothing, but it actually became a hip thing to wear Joker-type make-up, on special occasions, like weddings and funerals… just kidding, but you do see plenty of Joker faces at concerts or clubs or whatnot. Youtube is filled with “Joker make-up tutorials”.
This face of evil might just become the next big thing in iconic pop images. Take down your Don Corleone and Scarface posters, replace them with the “Why so serious ?” series. Tatoo artists, start practicing Heath Ledger’s face lines. Pretty soon, it will become one of those images that few will remember where it came from, but they’ll know it’s cool to sport it. And the truth is, it is cool. I’m hesitant in claiming that it will equal the Che mania, but there will be a few bands in the future that will reference some of Joker’s lines, some parodies very soon, Halloween masks, the make-up craze will hit the mainstream and you’ll see a buch of pop stars all looking like pretty sexy versions of The Joker doing machine-gun moves and wetting their lips after every word. Just keep an eye on the process to see it unfolding step by step in front of us… And if I’m wrong I’ll probably delete this post, so no one will know…
July 31st, 2009 on 8:41 pm
“You’ll see a buch of pop stars all looking like pretty sexy versions of The Joker doing machine-gun moves and wetting their lips after every word.”
You’re kidding, right? The Joker IS the sexy version.
August 31st, 2009 on 4:30 am
I agree that he will suffer a pop explosion. This is unfortunate because his character would take some serious offense at being turned into a pop icon. Everything about Heath’s Joker was handmade and organic; like his hand-tailored clothing and hand-wrapped “gifts”.
I was horrified at the inevitable mass-produced t-shirts and plastic garbage they churned out after the movie. Although I confess, I did buy a single poster when I found out the local vendor wouldn’t be carrying them anymore. Other than that, all my movie memorabilia is hand-made. I painted an original design onto a blank t-shirt. Made themed jewelry. I even painstakingly drew his shirt pattern onto blue fabric for a scarf. (I do admit to a bit of obsession.)
I wouldn’t feel so offended by the whole movement if other people would take the less violent of his messages to heart: be authentic. Don’t wear a shirt that two hundred other people have. If you’re going to love a fictional character, use it a vehicle for your own creativity and give something back to the universe.
P.S. You’d have to be some kind of stupid to get what equates to a corporate logo tattooed on your body.
September 14th, 2009 on 11:02 pm
Maybe its just me who gets this feeling but there are a lot of girls and woman dressed in purple and green these days.
Next time you step into a dressshop take a look around. Maybe its all just a happenstance but maybe the designers actually reacted on that customers behaviour. Purple seems to be the color of the season. Out of all….