The man regularly outwits far more supposedly cognizant opponents including Batman and Lex Luthor, who are canonically recognized as two of thr smartest people on the entire planet.
Edit: I’m not saying insane people are stupid, I’m saying that Joker’s mental illnesses are pretty obviously behavioral, they don’t affect his perception of reality. He’s perfectly capable of understanding what he’s doing and how it’s wrong, in fact his character almost doesn’t work if he doesn’t, he just thinks that it’s all hilarious anyways. That’s why I said he’s not insane, he just pretends to be, because he’d be fit to stand criminal trial as fully competent and cognizant of his actions.
Depending on the version you’re reading or watching, the Joker is almost always insane and a genius. Sometimes he’s homicidal, and sometimes he’s just mischievous, but his insanity is his superpower. It’s almost like hyper awareness, like he knows he’s in a comic book so he can bend the rules of his reality to fit his whims.
He gets over on Batman, and Luthor, because he is irrational and unpredictable.
Intelligence and sanity are not linked. There are lots and lots of real world examples of very insane people being very very intelligent. There’s also lots and lots of in universe content that shows he really is quite insane. The sheer number of times Joker’s only goal was to get Batman to kill him should be enough proof of that.
My point is that he doesn’t have a warped perception of reality (in the diagnosable sense), being criminally insane would require that he be incapable of understanding what he’s doing and/or the reasons why doing those things are wrong.
Joker not only is perfectly capable of understanding he’s doing wrong and why the things he’s doing are wrong, to him that’s the entire fun of the joke.
He isn’t trying to get batman to kill him because he thinks being murdered sets someone free in any sense like Victor Szazz, he’s trying to get batman to kill him because he believes it’d vindicate his view that all it takes is a single bad day for someone to become the absolute worst humanity has to offer, and because he wants to leave a permanent stain on Batman as a parting FU.
Pretty sure killing yourself to prove a point requires insanity.
There’s this really entertaining forensic psychiatrist named Eric Bender who does multiple analyses videos of pop culture “insane” characters using real scientific/medical knowledge.
- Here he talks about Ledger’s Joker in Dark Knight. Summary = the Joker is psychopathic (violent, doesn’t care about others, others are pawns for his “game”), but not psychotic (experiencing a break from reality, hearing voices, etc). Ledger’s Joker would not qualify for an insanity defense because he knows what he’s doing is “wrong” and experiences the real world as opposed to hallucinations. He’s not mentally healthy or normal though and possibly doesn’t understand how to interact with the world.
- Here he talks about Phoenix’s Joker from “Joker”. Summary = much the same as Ledger, but still interesting to watch. He discusses risk factors (abuse, neglect, genetics) that can be an extremely rare “Pathway to Violence” that could apply to the Joker in this movie.
- Here he talks about various Arkham Asylum inmates, including (briefly) various versions of the Joker. Summary = much the same, but also talks about Anti-Social Personality Disorder. Also, the fact Joker avoids capture means he knows what he’s doing is “wrong” or at least illegal.
So the movie versions of Joker aren’t insane in the sense that they’re lost in hallucinations and unable to discern reality from make-believe. The Joker likely wouldn’t be sent to an asylum in the real world. The Jokers of the movies are psychopathic, evil, uncaring, manipulative, etc. For the most part, to them the world is a game and it’s all about the Joker being the main character with everyone else being pawns to be used for evil amusement.
Joker are psychopath, not dumb.
Insane people can be very clever in other ways. See Hitler, Trump, ted kaczinsky, Ed kemper.
I certainly think the joker uses others perception of him as a tool. He also wants to wwtvh the world burn.
He thinks he can beat Batman. That’s the definition of insanity right there
