The Dark Knight, A Sacrifice for Law and Order
I followed the Batman comic books when I was a kid and have seen the Batman movies. I am impressed by The Dark Knight, the latest release in the series of Batman movies, as it seems to go beyond the usual cat-and-mouse, catch-me-if-you-can theme of the comic books and the other Batman movies and tackles the theme of personal and mass terrorism and murder that we have seen more and more of in today's news.
Gotham City is enamored with a young, zealous, and aggressive prosecutor, Harvey Dent, who is determined to put an end to organized crime using all available legal resources at his disposal. Meanwhile, Batman contemplates "retirement" as vigilante copycats try to emulate Batman but only succeed in giving Batman a bad name by their bungling idiotic crime fighting exploits. Batman's arch-enemy, "The Joker," appears on the scene, seizes control of the mob and murders the Batman copycats to implement a personal agenda of unprecedented evil in the history of Gotham city.
The Joker is not the power-driven criminal of gangster genre. The Joker is a fanatical ideologue, uninterested in money, whose personal agenda is the seduction of individuals, institutions, and society into evil, anarchy and chaos. He is the serial killer, genocidal maniac, and vengeful terrorist all rolled into one. The movie ascribes to The Joker incredible power and cunning as he effortlessly and flamboyantly executes a series of crises which places Batman, the police, and Gotham's citizens in ethical and moral quandaries that force them to choose between two evils either of which result in death, destruction, mass murder, and escalating anarchy and chaos.
Batman and the authorities try to stay on top of the situation but The Joker always seems to have the edge. Right up to the end Batman plays catch-up. The Joker unfolds one evil scheme after another appearing to succeed in his goal of destroying law and order on a personal and social scale. Batman fails to save his girlfriend Rachel Dawes while the Joker succeeds in seducing Harvey Dent to commit murder. Batman succeeds in tracking down the Joker using technology and a willingness to operate outside privacy laws. The Joker fails in his scheme of mass destruction and anarchy as the people vote on the Joker's terms, extolling the triumph of the democratic process. Batman has the Joker in his grasp but doesn't kill him, but Harvey Dent commits murder and gets himself killed in the process. To preserve Harvey Dent's reputation, Batman convinces Commissioner Gordon to lay Harvey Dent's crimes on Batman to preserve the people's faith in law and order and Batman becomes a hunted man. Harvey Dent is remembered as the white knight crusader for law and order.
Not bad for a comic book character.
Some analysis to follow.
Gotham City is enamored with a young, zealous, and aggressive prosecutor, Harvey Dent, who is determined to put an end to organized crime using all available legal resources at his disposal. Meanwhile, Batman contemplates "retirement" as vigilante copycats try to emulate Batman but only succeed in giving Batman a bad name by their bungling idiotic crime fighting exploits. Batman's arch-enemy, "The Joker," appears on the scene, seizes control of the mob and murders the Batman copycats to implement a personal agenda of unprecedented evil in the history of Gotham city.
The Joker is not the power-driven criminal of gangster genre. The Joker is a fanatical ideologue, uninterested in money, whose personal agenda is the seduction of individuals, institutions, and society into evil, anarchy and chaos. He is the serial killer, genocidal maniac, and vengeful terrorist all rolled into one. The movie ascribes to The Joker incredible power and cunning as he effortlessly and flamboyantly executes a series of crises which places Batman, the police, and Gotham's citizens in ethical and moral quandaries that force them to choose between two evils either of which result in death, destruction, mass murder, and escalating anarchy and chaos.
Batman and the authorities try to stay on top of the situation but The Joker always seems to have the edge. Right up to the end Batman plays catch-up. The Joker unfolds one evil scheme after another appearing to succeed in his goal of destroying law and order on a personal and social scale. Batman fails to save his girlfriend Rachel Dawes while the Joker succeeds in seducing Harvey Dent to commit murder. Batman succeeds in tracking down the Joker using technology and a willingness to operate outside privacy laws. The Joker fails in his scheme of mass destruction and anarchy as the people vote on the Joker's terms, extolling the triumph of the democratic process. Batman has the Joker in his grasp but doesn't kill him, but Harvey Dent commits murder and gets himself killed in the process. To preserve Harvey Dent's reputation, Batman convinces Commissioner Gordon to lay Harvey Dent's crimes on Batman to preserve the people's faith in law and order and Batman becomes a hunted man. Harvey Dent is remembered as the white knight crusader for law and order.
Not bad for a comic book character.
Some analysis to follow.
posted at 6:51 PM PermaLink
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