I am curious as to the opinions here on whether The Joker is a super-villian origin story, or just Beautiful Mind meets Taxi Driver with face paint. Don't get me wrong, I think the movie is great and deserving of all the attention it is getting, I'm just wondering if this will impact the future of super hero movies in general.

I like it too but it's not a super-villain/hero origin in any way IMHO...

But I also think it's a good thing all the attention is getting and no one can deny that it's a refreshing look at the character, although the "real" Joker is insane, completely bananas without the need to justify why he does what he does.
We just know he's the Jokes and no other explaination is required.
And that's one thing that made not beleive the movie Jokes is the real deal. And I hope they keep it as it is and due to the sucess of the Joker, don't start bringing Batman and the rest of the comics universe into it...
We already have a internet theory about Bruce running around that I hope no director think about it... no matter how interesting could be in a movie...

But that's me and my 2cents...