My beautiful wife took me to see The Dark Knight on my birthday, and I really enjoyed it and she only enjoyed it a little bit. I found it to be a rich and deep narrative with three dimensional characters, and with high philosophical and moral tones.
A Metaphor for the U.S.A.
In May 2002 when the first Spider-man movie was released I heard that it was a metaphor for how America viewed itself after the terrorists attacks of 2001. Before 2001, they said, America looked in the mirror and saw Superman; indestructible, powerful and resolutely good. Then we were not so powerful, we could be hurt, we were bound by gravity, but we were still good. I thought that was insightful, and now wish I could give credit where it is due. We have the Dark Knight now, I propose we are the Dark Knight.
Batman, in this movie, does a few things which might sound familiar. First, he violates international law by kidnapping a criminal in China and leaving him in Gotham for police to find. He acts as if he is above all law, in order to accomplish his ends. Batman illegally uses cell phones to locate the Joker. He acts alone, without the informed consent of would be allies. Bruce Wayne is rich, and it is only from this he is powerful. His motives are a mix of justice and revenge. Batman’s foe is a product of his vigilance. In the end, for the good of the people and the cause of goodness, Batman willfully becomes the hated villain to the mistaken population.
I don’t mean to say these actions are all necessary or all abusive, only that Batman fits America right now.
A Deceiver, A Dragon
I wrote an earlier post about Dragons as a literary archetype. They remain my favorite villains. The Joker (aptly played by the late Heath Ledger) is such a character in this movie. The Joker manipulates the people around him by deception, sugary words, and false moral responsibilities. He bends the gangsters to be more evil and the good to be worse. The worst villain is the one who can make more villains.
False Moral Responsibilities
This is really just my own philosophical opinion, because there are so many others. Through out the movie good people are told to choose who lives and who dies. These circumstances are all generated by the Joker who says the victims blood is on the choosers hands. To say that a person who does not give in to such demands has killed the victim is a fallacy. The Joker wanted Batman to turn himself in, if Batman didn’t the Joker would blow-up a hospital. When the hospital blew-up, the Joker (and the people) said it was Batman’s fault. It was never in Batman’s hands, the Joker and only the Joker was in control of that event. Therefore the Joker, and only the Joker, are responsible for those deaths.
I would not dare to say that makes the choice easy for the chooser; neither would I claim this to be consolation for the grieving.
This is similar to those who fight wars using terrorist tactics. The use of non-combatants as human shields, followed by a propaganda charge of women and children being murdered by U.S. forces. I say, if a freedom fighter/partisan fighter wishes to show his concern for the innocents, then he should never place himself in a way that put non-combatants in the field of fire.
Two Face
If Batman is America as a whole, then this character, Harvey Dent, is us as individuals. We are not all so bold as he was as a district attorney, or as honest and incorruptible. But we all think of ourselves as basically good and passably able. I don’t think we are all able to become Jokers, that takes some skill and evil bestowed over time. We can all be hurt in such a way that we blindly lash out against all that we think hurt us. I think this is why the movie treated him so kindly.
