QUOTE OF THE DAY

"This is my art and it is dangerous!"
- Delia Deetz, Beetlejuice

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Untitled Joker Thought


"Wait till they get a load of me!"

I honestly have no idea where this fear of mine originated. In the summer of 1989, a movie by the name of Batman was released and became a hit with moviegoers of all ages. All except one. Somewhere along the line I developed a confusing love/hate relationship with this film. Jack Nicholson's performance as The Joker is what perturbed me the most.

Spanning over two decades now, my heart still stops dead when I accidently stumble across an image or clip from the film. [I'm writing about this now as it has just happened to me and I can still feel my heart in my throat.] I have come a long way since childhood however. When I was a kid, I would have nothing to do with his face. The cover of our VHS was eventually torn to pieces as I did not trust it in the house. I couldn't so much as watch a frame of the film. It soon became the complex my peers used to make me squirm. If they had that movie in the house, they would put it in my face.

Twenty one years later, I am now able to enjoy a viewing of this film. It actually stands as one of my favorite films of all time, perhaps because of this intense relationship. However, I am only at peace with this fear when I know it's coming. It's fine when I choose to watch the movie or google Jack Nicholson because I know what I'm getting myself into. But if I'm channel surfing or looking at movie related images and I see that face, I'm reverted to a child-like state. It's actually amazing how this has stuck with me all these years. I have no idea what the root of the fear is because it's not clowns [though I don't trust them or their smile] but a very specific thing related to this movie.

I may never understand why this happens to me but it is interesting to analyze.

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