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| Subject: The Dark Knight | |
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Author: Jimmy |
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Date Posted: 05:17:47 08/17/08 Sun Author Host/IP: NoHost/68.43.70.233 "...some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn." Indeed. And that is precisely why the lunatics will always rule; as well as the reason those in the middle are destined to do nothing more...than get in the way. Those who believe, Truly beleive, in what they are doing, like Batman and the Joker, will always have to deal with phoneys like Harvey Dent, whose mendacity is simply waiting to be fleshed out by circumstance. Both Batman and the Joker know this, this human weakness. One fights to exacerbate it; the other to expose it. Director Christopher Nolan has raised the superhero genre to Nietzschian levels. So far, he has given us villains whose motives are not manifest in terms that can be explained to the typical Oprah viewer seeking the comforting turn towards vague relativity. Find that reason so-and-so acts this way. As a result, this counterfeit mentality has taken hold of an entire nation. But what happens when you're faced with men who simply believe in what they are doing? YOU'RE GETTING A CAR!!! YOU'RE GETTING A CAR!!! YOU'RE GETTING A CAR!!! I digress. I don't think that it's a coincidence that Alfred's story about the bandit took place in Burma. Like Bruce hurling himself among the homeless in "Batman Begins", Nolan makes another reference here to George Orwell's work. 60 years later, however, Nolan seems to be suggesting, albeit begrudgingly, that the people need to be lied to; the price of empire is worth the compromise; the cognitive dissonance. Observe the methods Batman employs in bringing down the Joker. He surveils the entire city, he tortures prisoners, and he throws a piece of history into the memory hole. Yet, each time it is for benevolent reasons and the lie Batman thrusts upon the public is altruistic in nature as it forces him to take the wrath of the public by taking the blame for something Harvey Dent did. Why? Because Harvey Dent is a phoney (and that is why he gets the girl--whom I gaurantee watches Oprah?). And like all other phonies, he begs the public for their trust and convinces himself that he possesses the convictions to have the right to do so. He is a false prophet...in the way of two men whose convictions know no limitations. The Joker doesn't give a fuck about anything but exposing this. Everything he does is in the pursuit of exposing Harvey Dent. And expose him he will. So why does Batman win? Because he's willing to show the Joker that he, unlike Dent, does not care about public perception, or even the truth. By covering up Dent's (inevitable) fall, Batman makes a choice that will leave him hunted by the police, hated by the public, and languished for posterity. So perhaps the Joker did win. Among the masses, there is no denying it. Among the two gods battling, however,...he lost. Why? Because he was honest with the people, and Batman was not. The liar won. The liar lied to protect the people. The people scorned him for it. Rachel Dawes rejects this earnest benevolence in favor of imminent fraudalence. That was no coincidence. Keep you in the dark, You know they all... Pretend. Sometimes it's tough not so side with the Joker...and relish in the desire to watch the world burn. "Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just, do things. The mob has plans, the cops have plans, Gordon's got plans. You know, they're schemers. Schemers trying to control their worlds. I'm not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how, pathetic, their attempts to control things really are. So, when I say, ah, come here, when I say that you and your girlfriend was nothing personal, you know that I'm telling the truth. It's the schemers that put you where you are. You were a schemer, you had plans, and uh, look where that got you. I just did what I do best. I took your plan and I turned it on itself. Look what I did, to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. Hm? You know what, you know what I noticed? Nobody panics when things go according to plan. Even if the plan is horrifying. If tomorrow I tell the press that like a gang banger, will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it's all, part of the plan. But when I say that one, little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds! Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I'm an agent of chaos. Oh and you know the thing about chaos, it's fair." This is the best movie I have ever seen. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |