What The Dark Knight Can Teach Us

Fallen: I disagree with you due to a lot of fine detailing and inconsistent writing but this is an analysis of The Dark Knight and not of Smallville. That would a completely different topic.

Chaos: Oh, The Dark Knight isn't realistic. It stopped being realistic the moment a vigilante decided dressing up as a bat would work. What people usually mean is that the film resonated with them in a way that appealed to real life... or they thought it was because it had high rises and gloomy motifs.

Cygan:

Okay, let's see if I can knock these out.

Batman/Dent: There is a two-sided coin aspect here, what with Dark Knight and White Knight. They're obviously the night and the day. They both want the same things, but they go about doing it in extremely different ways. In many ways, Dent's actions are the mark of privilege. To the world of Gotham he's the hero and not Batman. He loves being the hero and thinks he can deal with it all, which obviously he can't. There's also the unknown conflict Bruce Wayne has with Dent over Rachel. There's the short bit in the movie where Bruce is planning Dent as his successor with the logic that when Dent has his hands full with being Batman then he won't be there for Rachel and Bruce can be. It's a crazy schoolboy logic that fails to account that Rachel does actually love Dent. The primary thing that separates the two for me, though, is dedication. Batman is born of dedication while Dent is born of glory.

Batman/Raz'z: Once again, these two people ultimately have the same goal: eradicate crime. With these two, their methodologies clash. Bruce isn't willing to let innocent people die for what Raz'z sees as the greater good and Raz'z won't let a few million people stand in his way of fixing the world. Fitting their mentor/student relationship is based on lies. Raz'z spouts lies with the truth, much like the Joker does though to a much more 'constructive' bent. "The criminal is not complicated" he says, even though Batman Begins goes out of the way to show us people stealing to eat, scared and beaten, or as off-the-rails as the Joker.

Batman/Scarecrow: One needs to mention how great Murphy's portrayal of the Scarecrow is. I seriously think its the best use of the character ever. Looking back, there are so many hammy moments, but they're built up so perfectly that it works. I especially love how he just embraces the supervillain kitsch at the end of Batman Begins and beginning of The Dark Knight. "I never said those drugs wouldn't make you think your own shadow was going to kill you!" He employs the same primary tool as Batman (fear) but to a completely different end. While Batman uses it to keep criminals down, Scarecrow uses it to terrorize people and gain a powerbase. For Batman, fear is a screwdriver. For Scarecrow, it's lube.

Batman/Joker: I think I've already stated a lot of their dynamic already, but one thing I haven't stated that I like is how Joker views the Batman. The Joker treats Batman like his best friend. He loves this guy. He keeps the worlds spinning and makes it so much fun. When The Joker says 'We're destined to do this forever' he says it like it's the best thing that a man could ever hope for.

Joke Bat mountain indeed.

Gordon/Batman: As I've said Dent and Joker are the polar opposite of order and chaos in this film (rather Moorcockian actually) with Gordon and Batman being in the middle. Gordon is more towards the law and Batman is more towards chaos, but they can see the use and need of each other's individual abilities. Gordon's trust in Batman is also initially out of desperation. At first, Gordon is completely despondent because there seems to be no other good cop in town, and this Batman guy got results. Batman Begins is all about their trust being built up between the two, and Batman's declaration that Gordon will never have to thank him shows the level of trust Batman puts in Gordon.

Bruce/Gordon: I'm not sure there's that much going on here, actually. The only interaction they have without the mask on is when Bruce crashes his Ferrari (it was a Ferrari, right?) to save the snitch's life. Bruce is a bit too focused on making himself seem like the last person to be Batman to start having a rapport with the commissioner.

Batman, then, is the shadowy protector of the world- like the MI 5; a covert operative who may necessarily have to go ooutside the bounds of the law, but it's all done to protect his country. He will never receive praise for it, and may even be reviled for it, but he does it because it needs to be done. He is cold, impersonal- nobody knows him except by reputation. He is known as The Batman, not Batman.

Dent, on the other hand, is a police officer. He is bound to work within the law, working under a set of rules the nation agreed on. He actively promotes what he sees as good. He's a public figure- he's Constable Dent, somebody people can get to know, a welcome figure within the community.

It's all to do with their methods and how people view them. Batman does what he does not to inspire people to follow him, but to remove those who may inspire people to follow their example (see his descouraging of the Batmen at the start of The Dark Knight). Dent, on the other hand, does what he does to inspire people below him to aspire to be good, to reach the upper echelons and actually make things good.

Batman is the cure for the symptoms, Dent could have been the cure for the disease.

I agree with you on Raz'z, Scarecrow and Joker.

I was talking more... from a character point of view- how Batman and Gordon compare to each other when viewed on their own merits.

The same as here, actually. I was comparing the characters- Batman, Bruce, and Gordon, three people who are portrayed differently enough within the film to warrant different views.

Batman is a very chaotic person. He ignores the rules as much as he needs to in order to get the job done.

I hate reducing people to concepts, but Batman would be very much a Neutral Good type person. He follows a set of rules- the laws where he can, his own set of ehics- but plays fast and loose with them when required to finish his job.

Bruce Wayne as a person, not a figure or a persona to distract from Batman, is interesting, though.

His parents died when he was a child. Then, suddenly, he arrives out of nowhere- handsome, suave, charismatic- and angles to take back over his father's business. He makes himself seem like nothing more than a lecherous fool, but if you spend much time with him, there's hints that there's more to him, but you can never be certain.

Compare Bruce's backstory to Gordon's current situation. They're both dedicated to doing good, both are motivated by a desire to protect, and both have a complicated relationship with their families. Bruce's is dead, and he's trying to get justice for them. Gordon's is alive, but in trying to protect the citizens of the city, he's endangering them- but he also has to try, or else the city they live in will contnue to suck, and that affects his family, too.

Also, what are your thoughts on the scene in The Dark Knight where Batman activates that sonar thing, and his marketing-buddy leaves his side?

I thought that was an interesting scene, but I'm nearly out of time.