How Would You Fix the Animated Adaptation of The Killing Joke

[Winter]

The Brave and The Bold #33 was a story that told about some of the events leading into the Killing Joke. Long story short, Zatanna has a dream/vision of Barbra getting shot but has no idea when or where it will happen but knows that it can't be changed so she called in Diana aka Wonder Woman to find Barb and pick her up because their going for a girls knight out. The issue is a nice slice of life that let's us breath and see Barbra have fun before the events of TKJ with a lot of great comedy and drama that helps to emphasis the tragedy of what happened to Barbra. The final panel Barbra wakes up and we learn that the comic was a flashback/dream and her final words in that issue are just heartbreaking.

"I was having my favorite dream. I have it all the time. I was dancing. It was beautiful... I was dancing."

Imagine if THIS was the first half of The Killing Joke with a few extra scenes of Barbra like her getting into contract with her father via cell phone that Bat's gives him so she's not missing for half an hour and you end the movie with that bit I just mentioned where Barbra mentions her dream to whomever she is talking to.

Sure, that would give us very little action but NO ONE likes TKJ for the action scenes. It's a story about CHARACTER so have the first half be about Barbra and let the TRAGEDY of what happen to her be contrasted with what seeing her happy. You don't even need it to be Zatanna and Wonder Woman or include the vision stuff and have it be Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown who leave town and the scene with Barbra part in TKJ takes place a week or so later.

It's not perfect because the problems with Fridging Barbra are still there BUT with this new first half it's a tragedy that leads into The Killing Joke and by ending it on Barbra final word and showing how even though she has excepted what happened to her it doesn't mean she can't be hurt by it.

The Killing Joke Adaptation is one of those stories where you just have to wonder what, or even IF, anyone was thinking when they came up that Prologue. It's a bad story that paints Barbra as an unlikable idiot who shouldn't be a superhero and is just a slog to get through.

So, thus we come to the real meat of this post, you have been offered the chance to adapt the Killing Joke which has one of the most infamous examples of "Woman in Refrigerators" and have been told to find a way to improve that part of the story, what do you do?

[Rocketboy1313]

The easiest fix would be having Barbara use her mind to solve where the Joker is so that Batman can go get him.

Maybe keep her in contact with Batman thru an ear piece and help him by finding some kind of blueprint of the amusement park?

You know, make it clear that she is still capable of being a hero. She becomes Oracle, just have that happen in the story.

[CharlesPhipps]

I feel like the easiest fix for the Killing Joke?

Make a Batgirl or Birds of Prey movie that comes with The Killing Joke.

The Killing Joke is terrible in its treatment of Barbara but you can't just lather on an extra subplot to ALAN MOORE not written by him and not look or sound ridiculous.

Don't try and make more material for the Killing Joke.

[McAvoy]

I think just doing a straight adaption of the Killing Joke itself. That's it.

[stryke]

I know it's a copout answer to some extent, but I just don't think it needs an adaptation. The comic is already the best version of the story in the art, the way one panel flows into another, and the writing. Making it animated or live action breaks the story as it invites too much lingering or emphasis on the parts that Alan Moore is on record as not liking much himself.

Then the attitude of not everything needing an adaptation be it a comic, video game, book, or whatever has one that has long been a lost battle I'm afraid. There's more money to be extracted from those properties, and so regardless of whether anything is added, that attitude is always going to prevail.

[clearspira]

I really don't understand the hate for this film. The biggest problem anyone seems to have with it is that Barbara has sex with Batman?
So what? Young nubile woman has sex with rugged heroic billionaire. Gee, that's unlikely.

[CharlesPhipps]

I really don't understand the hate for this film. The biggest problem anyone seems to have with it is that Barbara has sex with Batman?
So what? Young nubile woman has sex with rugged heroic billionaire. Gee, that's unlikely.

I mean, it's a little creepy in the context that Batman is sleeping with his sidekick. That's a pretty big power imbalance there.

It's also that it's supposed to be about Barbara Gordon getting a fair shake but it instead indicates she's just there for some hot Bat loving than fighting crime.

[Winter]

I really don't understand the hate for this film. The biggest problem anyone seems to have with it is that Barbara has sex with Batman?
So what? Young nubile woman has sex with rugged heroic billionaire. Gee, that's unlikely.

I mean, it's a little creepy in the context that Batman is sleeping with his sidekick. That's a pretty big power imbalance there.

Not to mention the fact that this the daughter of one of Batman's best friends, the MASSIVE age gap, the uncle/niece relationship they have in most other series, and the overall treatment of Barb in the story that makes it clear that she only wanted to be a superhero to get Batman's attention.

Not helping matters is the Bruce Timm had been pushing for this relationship for a long time while KEEPING the Uncle/Niece angle, along with the power imbalance and the age gap (which is even worse in the Original series as it comes off like Bat's is grooming Barb and just waiting for her to get older (the FUCK TIMM?!?!)). There's just a LOT of squick to this relationship that comes off like the writers just wanted to be as controversial as possible... which is exactly what they wanted which is not the best mindset to go into with a story that the original writer ended up regretting, which given Alan Moore's track record with writing women... that's saying something.

To put it another way, it was said that part of the mandate for this adaptation was to fix the problems with Barb which got a lot of fans onboard for this. Only for the film itself to make her this whiny twat who got into superheroing for the wrong reasons and couldn't stand Batman Ghosting her after a one night stand.

Again, going to my idea, of just adapting The Brave and The Bold #33, that allows the focus to be on Barbara for a good chunk of the movie, is a nice lighthearted story to contrast with the Darker Elements of TKJ and puts the emphasis on character over stupidity.

When Zack Snyder changed the ending of Watchmen he did so because he thought the Squid was to silly which can be understandable, when the makers of TKJ Adaptation made the prologue to the film it was because they wanted to make the story more controversial, explore a relationship dynamic no one asked for or wanted besides Timm and because they thought this would make Barbara look stronger by making her insufferable.

[Draco Dracul]

The biggest one is the animation. It doesn't matter what changes you make to the script if the animation cannot capture the mood of the comic.

[Winter]

The biggest one is the animation. It doesn't matter what changes you make to the script if the animation cannot capture the mood of the comic.

I don't agree, even if the animation was amazing a bad story is a bad story. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power has some pretty weak animation but the story is so good that most are willing to overlook the shortcomings of said animation because the rest of the show is so good. By contrast, James Cameron's Avatar has AMAZING animation but a subpar story that no one really talks about. Sure, people are interested in the upcoming sequel but I don't know anyone who's exited for it as most seem to just want to watch it for the awesome animation.