Spanish Shadow Puppet Batman Stars In The Killing Joke

[Earnest Cavalli]

Spanish Shadow Puppet Batman Stars In The Killing Joke


By all rights it shouldn't work, yet somehow this Spanish-language, shadow puppet adaptation of Alan Moore's classic comic The Killing Joke is spot-on.

Fair warning, if you haven't read The Killing Joke you may want to do that before you watch this clip. Even en español the video will likely spoil some pretty huge events in the Batman canon, and like Moore's Watchmen, this comic is essentially required reading for any fans of Bruce Wayne.

That aside, I'm really, really impressed by how well this whole thing works (and doubly so given that it was a student project). When I read the description on Comics Alliance, I had no faith that a comic book as steeped in atmosphere and subtlety as The Killing Joke could translate to a medium based on grandiose, suggestive movements, and yet here I am, now convinced that the only thing that could possibly make this better is the addition of Kevin Conroy's non-union Mexican equivalent.

As for what this has to do with videogames, well, um ... Batman: Arkham City just came out. So, that's a thing, right? Tangential!

Straight up, it was either this or an editorial counterpoint to the whole "please don't swear at fictional ladies [http://kotaku.com/5851358/batman-arkham-citys-weird-*****-fixation]" debacle. Papercraft Dark Knight beats overt token feminism. You can't argue the math.

Source: Comics Alliance [http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/10/20/the-killing-joke-adapted-for-shadow-puppets-is-as-creepy-as-it/]



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[Sparrow]

I can't see the fuss. I think the overly-strained Spanish voice actors got a little on my nerves, though.

And, unsurprisingly, it wasn't reduced to "lol, some people annoyed", he didn't attempt to create a straw man character on the side of those offended by summarising their issue as "overt token feminism".

As much as I agree the 'Pist SHOULD have done an article on that topic, surely we can't say they're not allowed to make jokes about it.

 

[Earnest Cavalli]

As much as I agree the 'Pist SHOULD have done an article on that topic, surely we can't say they're not allowed to make jokes about it.

This is one of the best comments I've ever seen on here. Sparrow, you win a gold star for defusing a possible firestorm of silly controversy with level-headed rationality. Nice job.

 

[Prof. Monkeypox]

-snip-

I agree. While I don't see the Arkham City controversy as being that big of a deal, it's irritating to see it being so casually dismissed by such a large portion of the community.

I know it's meant as a joke, but it's unfortunate that this seems to be the extent of the amount of credence anyone wants to give to the issue.

 

[Beautiful End]

The voice actors resemble the original Spanish voice actors from the 90's Batman, the cartoon one. I'd know, I grew up watching those. :/

It's probably because I'm not into Batman as much as I would want to, but I missed the point of the whole thing. Mind you, I understood every single word, but it was most the Joker philosophizing about stuff and then Batman laughs at the end. Oh, and the Oracle becomes the Oracle.

Like I said, it must be because I never really got into the whole Batman saga, but I never pictured the Joker as the one giving life lessons to everyone in such a dramatic way:

Joker: "Come, sit. Let's have a talk about the world and the crummy state it's in. While we're at it, I'll tell you my life story. Don't mind the ropes around your wrists binding you to the chair. That's just to make sure you pay attention."

Batman: "Y U FIGHT ME, JOKER? Y CAN'T WE B FRIENDZ?"

It's well done, yes. But...uhh...I probably didn't get the point of it.

 

[inkblood]

-snip-

I agree. While I don't see the Arkham City controversy as being that big of a deal, it's irritating to see it being so casually dismissed by such a large portion of the community.

I know it's meant as a joke, but it's unfortunate that this seems to be the extent of the amount of credence anyone wants to give to the issue.

Thats because it is overblown albeit not for the reasons evryone has been putting forward but due to the fact that they are treating it as the only insult directed at women in the game when in fact they don't get called a ***** all that often. Go watch a catwomen gameplay video and count the number of times they call her that