I could remember some of the worst short-term fears I had as a child was with clowns. I remembered how I would easily get scared of people in masks or by the Joker. Some people do get scared of mascots too when they were younger. Somebody might be crying while sitting on the lap of a Santa Claus mascot or being greeted by a Mickey Mouse mascot. Parents may have had a hard time trying to convince them that it's just a man in a suit. It would be weird (really) if a child enjoyed watching Mickey Mouse on television and getting scared of a Mickey Mouse mascot. In my case, it seems my initial fear of clowns was because of one portrayal of the Joker - the Batman (1989) film.
Joker is known to be Batman's fiercest enemy, a fan-favorite villain, and may have inspired the Marvel villain Arcade. One thing worth noting is that it was the JOKER who killed Bruce Wayne's parents in this movie. It makes Joker old enough to Batman's father even if it seems that Joker is not that old in the other continuities. I wonder if this was intentionally done to make it as personal as Conan wanting to kill the Movie!Thulsa Doom from Conan the Barbarian (1982).
I don't want to deny how chilling the Joker really was. I hid in the blanket while the movie was on-screen. The Joker was a truly terrifying foe that made me scared of clowns as a child. However, meeting a friendly clown at a children's party started to make me feel at ease. I wasn't scared of the late Cesar Romero's portrayal of the Joker in the Batman (1966) television series. It's because Romero's portrayal of the Joker was more of a comic cartoon villain in that one. Not even Batman The Animated Series (BTAS) had a Joker as terrifying as Jack Nicholson. I guess it's because BTAS was aimed for a much younger audience so they couldn't make their Joker as terrifying.
Regardless, I could say that my being initially scared of the Joker proves this - the old-school actor is one terrific actor. I think Nicholson's portrayal of the Joker was truly terrifying. It just felt so satisfying to see him drop to his death. It's still more satisfying to rewind back and forth than the Joker's death in a flashback of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. The fear factor just added up as to why this is still one of the best portrayals of the Clown Prince of Crime.
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