(1/3/10)
The title Make ‘Em Laugh at once recalls Donald O’Connor’s marvelous sing-and-dance number from Stanley Donen’s Singin’ in the Rain at the same time it prepares us for what is obviously going to be a Joker spotlight. The cue to what is undoubtedly to be a lighthearted, comedic episode of the Dini variety immediately makes me expect the joyous vitality of aforementioned dance sequence set to the tune of Batman’s more farcical masterpieces. The episode’s shtick gets old, however, and we are treated instead to an intriguing surface exploration of the Joker as comedian.
Dini begins with fiendishly subverting expectations not only by having a crackpot villain known as the Condiment King commit a crime worthy of the Penguin, but also by having Batman pull no punches upon arriving to apprehend him. We find that for whatever reason, the Joker has been brainwashing famous comics to flaunt themselves as bizarre Silver Age monstrosities. Many criticize Make ‘Em Laugh for its over-the-top parade of cartoon villains, but I find these fans stubborn in their unwillingness to concede that this is the kind of wacko cornball scheme that befits the Joker. That Batman responds to every threat with seriousness and tenacity is enough to remove it from the margins of camp.
To go further, their inability to recognize that the more outlandish elements stand out so much because the rest of the Batman universe is kept perfectly intact is their fundamental flaw in criticizing it for not being dark enough, one of those pop criticisms rooted in arbitrary standards or realism that are flung about carelessly. No, the problem is that Dini loves to indulge the corny joke too often, and he keeps his clever ones running a bit too long. Every villain shows up equipped with a repertoire of puns the length of a shopping list, and the Pack Rat’s amusing running gag of discarding valuables for their significantly less valuable containers is repeated throughout a sequence spanning two separate instances of crosscutting.
As a comic script, Make ‘Em Laugh is deeply flawed, so the interest shifts to the Joker’s vying for the title of funniest man in Gotham. As comedy is one of Joker’s specialties that, removed from its source, can be enjoyed by the common man, he has descended a year prior to the level of the cheap entertainer in the hope of wowing the masses with his standup. This rarely glimpsed desperation and the presence of an actual motivation render him uncomfortably human. One’s enjoyment of Make ‘Em Laugh rests on one’s belief or lack thereof that the Joker may overstep his conceptual anarchic existence and possess his own personal passions and aspirations. In its portrait of manic show-biz desperation that quickly turns to nihilistic violence, Make 'Em Laugh finds its roots in Martin Scorsese's masterpiece The King of Comedy.
The Laugh-Off as it is so called is held at a lavish, gold, art deco construct, the kind of glamorous locale one could insert somewhere into 1930s Hollywood. The Joker finally makes his debut, no longer disguised as a commoner. The last of his creations, Mighty Mom, is also the least notable and the biggest throwaway, making unsatisfactory use of Andrea Martin’s comedic voice talents. The big focus here is on a Joker hungry for stardom and notoriety. He is already known for his unpredictable mayhem, but here he yearns for a title that might give him a more unique, distinguished status.
So like Rupert Pupkin, the Joker is afforded his long-awaited stab at mass exhibitionism, but it diverges from Scorsese's subversive text when the mechanics of television kick in to prohibit his success. However, Make 'Em Laugh has its own ironic aplomb that paints an uncharacteristic picture of our favorite nihilistic clown. As Batman often defeats his arch-nemesis with the added kick of an ironic comeuppance, the suited up Joker with golden cup in hand must be inevitably shamed, subject to having his pants dropped and his head stuck in the cavity of his trophy. The question then becomes a matter of our acceptance of such a degraded Joker who claims not even a slight personal victory. If we respect the comic purpose of Dini’s script, then we can relish the conclusion, but if we prefer the Joker to retain his maniacal otherworldliness, then it conversely become an unworthy, cringe-worthy finale.
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