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Originally Posted by PepsiFree
Agree on everything. Your second point is one I’ve been thinking about a lot since. If you sever all connections to the Batman universe from the film, you lose nothing, and I feel like you would actually gain a little more freedom to explore.
That said, I think it would also cause the movie to be held accountable for the issues inside of it. The direction isn’t great and they handle the mental illness and “incel/shooter” angles with remarkable weakness. I think a lot of that is excused because “it’s a comic book movie” or “it’s the Joker, what do you expect.” I already find those excuses kind of weak, especially considering as far as I can tell this character isn’t “The Joker” at all, but more the inspiration behind the character we know.
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The connection to an established comic book universe allows the audience to suspend their disbelief and play by the rules of the Batman universe. Reality gets thrown out the window in many parts of the film, and the audience can still ponder whether those things are really happening.
It also adds to the ending of the movie, where the audience is unsure if any of it happened or if it's all in the Joker's mind.
You could pull the concept outside of the Batman universe, but then you'd be a lot more limited on where you could go. You would end up with a movie more like the Machinist, Momento, or the American Psycho.