Tango With Evil

It’s an original Alex Ross painting, the only artwork I own. Rachel bought for our first anniversary and it adorns our living room wall. Tango With Evil, aptly named, because to even touch him is toxic. He is the Joker, and dare I say, one of the best villains pop culture has to offer. It doesn’t surprise me that so many other antagonists fall short of the mark. They lack panache. In The Dark Knight, Ledger puts it best when he tells Batman, “I don’t want to kill you. You complete me.”

The theater erupted, laughing at the tag line from Jerry Maguire, but to us diehards, we know it’s what lies at the core of the relationship between these two titans. The Joker has no problem admitting, “Its not about money, it’s about sending a message.” Batman and the Joker represent two ends of a spectrum, ideology against ideology. The Joker kills to ridicule Batman’s only rule. “You could’ve saved them if you killed me just once.” Bruce Wayne knows killing The Joker would put an end to his senseless violence but is forced to live with his choices because to kill, "Makes me no better than him."

The Dark Knight lives up to the hype. It satisfies the diehards and entertains those only familiar with the two movies. Jack Nicholson will live in infamy as a different kind of Joker. Ledger’s death only seems sadder now that we’ve seen what he’s capable of, range beyond comprehension.

Go see it.