I grew up in a household where I was the only sister with four brothers. I always wanted to fit in with them. My brothers had a particular liking for comic books about superman and batman. Eventually I would watch the batman cartoons and movies with my brothers. When I was younger I never looked at batman as someone who could be part of a dark theme, I always looked at him as a super hero who chose to wear black and save people without revealing his identity. When I was younger I watched The Dark Knight, I was in junior high school at the time. As I got older I learned what a vigilante was and that sometimes good people can do bad things for good reasons. At the time it may not have seemed logical but as I grew older and watched the movie several times I started realizing the importance of this movie and its themes of good versus bad, dark human nature, and themes of noir. I chose to do a critical analysis on this movie because even I grew a liking for batman because of his dark and mysterious personality.
The Dark Knight originally aired in 2008. The role of Batman is played by Christian Bale and the Joker is played by Heath Ledger. Since there is a personal ethos to act a certain way, the protagonist of film noir affect morally good results. There is a fine line between heroism and vigilantism. One can see that there is a cynical aspect involved with the law, like the corrupt cops in The Dark Knight and Batman’s interpretation of illegal behavior and how it should be is different than society’s, so he acts outside of the law. He basically breaks minor laws so he can punish bigger crimes. Vigilantes are usually underdogs; nobody really realizes their purpose or their intentions till later on, some people even have divided opinions on them. The Dark Knight however, argues that vigilante justice may be illegal but it is also necessary to deal with unusual criminal acts. For example, in the movie the Joker is involved in many random acts of violence just to terrorize. The joker’s actions create a political purpose, to create fear and mess up social order. The Joker also has inner dark themes or nihilism to his personality such as, attacking innocent people, blowing up buildings; he’s also careless with material things such as currency. He also yearns for death. Even though he is portrayed in the film as a terrorizer, there are instances in the movie when he begs Batman and Harvey Dent to kill him, which is where there is a divergence between law and vigilantism. On one hand Dent and Batman spend their whole time trying to get the joker arrested or bring justice; on the other hand the joker himself asks to get killed more than once.
The joker really brings out a good versus evil theme throughout the film. He puts Batman in many situations where one has to question their own morals to see what is right to them. But what may be right to one person, can be seen aswrong to many others. There is a situation when the joker pressures Batman to reveal his identity or let innocent people die in retaliation and take the fall for it. There is a line Batman also says that really reveals a dark part of him, “I’ve seen what I would have to become to stop men like him.” Batman in this situation does not reveal his identity and he loses any heroic respect he had gained. Another situation that the Joker presents in the film is when he forces Batman to choose between Harvey Dent and the woman he loves. The joker in this situation shows that there is darkness or evil in all men and Batman makes a selfish choice to save the woman he loves rather than choosing Dent who can save the city. Regardless, the joker ends up tricking Batman. When the Joker kills the woman that both Dent and Batman love, Batman makes a hard decision. For me personally this part shows the inner darkness and pain that both men are faced with. I’ve always wondered why Batman couldn’t be straightforward about his intentions instead of being this mysterious vigilante who will go to any extreme including making himself look bad or evil just to protect others. Dent really brings out his dark side when he tries to bring revenge instead of punishment to the joker. He becomes two face and commits murders. An important scene with Batman, Batman rescues Gordon's child from Dent. This is a really emotional scene to me; Dent was pushed and fell to his death. Batman took the blame for Dent's murder to preserve Dent's reputation, which soon led to the creation of the Dent act. The ending is pretty much Gordon the police officer telling an ugly lie which I am personally not a fan of I mean Batman saved his kid, but he actslike Harvey was the white knight for the city even though he knows who Gotham’s true hero is supposed to be. These events brought Harvey down and also make Batman to make a difficult but right choice. In choosing to take the blame for Dent’s death,Batman becomes a true hero. In doing so, he does what he was meant to do, save his Gotham. He becomes the city’s Dark Knight.
When The Dark Knight releases, it was considered one of the first real post-9/11 blockbusters, it dealt with a political landscape where questions of war and security were constantly rising. After 9/11 many people felt that the government and police forces were failing to protect them. This was the same fear felt by the citizens of Gotham during the events of The Dark Knight. In the film The Joker starts a reign of terror in Gotham, delivering on his promise to kill until Batman reveals his true identity. This ties in with how terrorist groups go to extremes, they kill innocent people until the CIA or government gives them what they want or tells them what they want to hear. An incident in the movie, at the police station, Batman brutally interrogates the Joker after the Joker reveals that his men have taken both Dent and Rachel Dawes hostage. Batman can also be seen as a CIA figure in this situation. A lawyer who looked into Batman’s documents threatened to expose him on television if he did not come forward about his identity, many times the media portrays the good as bad and the bad as good, but who is to say what is wrong and what is right. The way Batman dealt with terror can be seen the same as how Bush Administration dealt with the war on terror.
A researcher from another time would have to understand the historical context of 9/11 and the post effects. There have been many conspiracy theories on what really caused 9/11 and who is behind it. Some say that Al Qaeda is behind 9/11, some say Israel and the U.S government covered up and falsified events. Through all the chaos and theories the media is responsible for spreading false propaganda. A researcher from the World War II era or the cold war era would have prior knowledge from Black Propaganda of the Soviet Union. There were many occasions when the Soviet Union used false information on multiple occasions. There was a clear use of black propaganda to make anti-American broadcasts seem as if they were coming from Iranian sources. Just how in The Dark Knight, Gordon the police officer covered up the fact that Batman was a true hero and displayed in the media that Harvey Dent was clean of crimes and was a legend to be remembered, someone from the past would have to understand that events like this occur in society to this day. With the rise of police brutality and protests, people will break some laws to get their point across. For example the 2014 Ferguson attacks, people’s protestswere described in media as violent, they vandalized, looted, rioted and even gun shots were fired. I would explain to a researcher from the past that sometimes good people get involved in bad things for a good cause. Maybe the riots were not the best approach, but getting their point across about the shooting of Michael Brown and Darren Wilson not being indicted were significant in the Black lives matter campaign. Just how in The Dark Knight citizens felt that they needed a vigilante or hero to restore their faith in the government, people lived in fear. In the recent Trump riots, Trump has made many offensive and scary remarks towards Mexicans, Muslims, women, the disabled and the lower class citizens. Trump rallies are causing violent fights and police have to pepper spray the Non-Trump supporters, why because Trump said so. Trump is making people live in fear about what their future holds.
A huge factor is social media. Grazian (2010) describes that audiences draw on social identity and life experiences to make sense of social media and pop culture. It is also mentioned that according to critical approach to pop culture, the rise of certain kinds of pop culture can be explained in terms of their ability to reflect and reinforce the huge economic and cultural power of the media. For example, when The Dark Knight released, it grossed above 500 million dollars and was one of the top grossing movies in the United States. More people would watch this movie to be informed about war against terror rather than reading an article about Bush administration. The movie was a good way to show people what they wanted to see. Social media like facebook, tumblr and yahoo are a big factor in what people communicate to one another. For example yahoo answers can tie in with word of mouth communication. Many people on yahoo answers hold debates and question why The Dark Knight ended the way it did, why it was necessary for Batman to take the fall for Harvey’s death and most of all there are comparisons between Twilight and The Dark Knight and the Titanic. Now understanding that Titanic was a big hit in its time and Twilight was also very popular, people basically talk about what appeals to them more. Many people agree that The Dark Knight is more mysterious and what people want to see compared to just watching a romantic film. The most popular and wide known trend on Facebook pertaining to The Dark Knight is about Heath Ledger. His performance as the Joker was beyond phenomenal, even after his death he left a legacy. People agree that Ledger gave one of the most unforgettable performances in movie history. People also argue that the last movie would’ve been far better if Heath Ledger was around to be filmed in it. Even on tumblr, when searching for The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger GIFS will flood the whole page. We can agree that people find the Joker appealing and even relate to some of his famous quotes like, “it is a funny world we live in.” A big concept about Noir is moral ambiguity of a character, they are not easy to pin down and it is hard to tell if one is really good or bad. In both the 1944 Double Indemnity noir film and The Dark knight there is a spiraling sense of Doom that the characters are under pressure, and we the audience really see how these characters react. Film noir, or “black film,” emerged from the horrors and cultural displacements of World War II, dealt with the role of women in society to the ways in which returning veterans, drug-addicted or shocked, attempted to fit into the postwar world. When I initially watched the film, I thought even though The Dark Knight takes place in Chicago and different parts of the U.S and Hong Kong, the movie is more viewed as a science fiction with a mix of urban fantasy. When I was younger I didn’t think about the fact that Batman doesn’t really have crazy super powers, he can jump off buildings and not go splat. As I learned more about the film and watched it when I was older, I realized that there are concepts of science fiction, urban fantasy and they tie in with post 9/11 war against terror concepts and thrillers.
I asked everyone in my household about what they think of The Dark Knight; all 4 of my brothers have the same response, one of the best movies in its time. My brothers initially have more comic book, cartoon and Batman knowledge so it was pretty typical of them to respond with positive feedback. My parent’s haven’t watched the film but my dad mentioned that when the movie came out many theme parks started creating batman roller coasters due to popular demand. My uncle even rode on one in New Jersey. My 4 year old nephew who knows the difference between the original Batman and the Dark Knight said that it is cool because he has more than one look so he has more than one personality. Now stepping outside of my house, friends of my age and gender agree that The Dark Knight is a really good movie, I asked ten people who are close friends and acquaintances about their opinion on this film and any important themes they took from the film. This group includes Pakistani ‘s, Italians, Hispanic, Bengali and Haitian. 5 of them met me in person for this discussion. 2 out of the 5 females agreed that this movie is important because it deals with a corrupt city and a vigilante who has to break laws to punish bigger law breakers. The rest of the females agreed that this film is a thriller but it is also really emotional, there is Batman avenging his parents death since he was a child, then there is Batman trying to really figure out what is right and wrong and even when he makes choices we may think are wrong, they are right to him. One of the females gave the example of Batman saving Gordon’s son but taking the fall for Dent’s death so the city remembers him as a hero. Batman covered up Dent’s crimes, despite everything he went through he was always giving more to others than himself. I also asked a group of guys through social media like instagramand tumblr on what they think of this film. I got flooded with many positive remarks; the most common one was the amazing performance of Heath Ledger and almost every guy I asked recall the interrogation scene of Batman and the Joker. This group was also diverse, not just one race. 10 out of the 12 guys who helped me with this group discussion all mentioned that the Batman and Joker scene is like the CIA or government interrogating terrorists, they can use all the torture they want but it is up to the villain or terrorist to release information. Though it is a serious topic many of these guys recall the interrogation as a funny scene, again because of Ledger’s performance. 2 of the guys agreed that the whole movie is phenomenal because it takes real courage to act in a movie that deals with real life issues like a corrupt city and war on terror. 3 of the guys mentioned that it is a good film because the audience can relate it to current societal issues, from the time it came out to now. Most of the Pakistani adults I asked did not have much to say about The Dark Knight. Some find Batman to be a provoking figure because it is giving off a message that anyone can be a vigilante and break the law, hence many law breakers trying to get their point across in protests and rallies. When I asked White and Italian adults, they had different opinions. Both agreed that the Dark Knight is really popular and overall a good movie. 3 of my close girl-friends talked about merchandise and how that plays a huge role. I myself have a batman tank top and shorts set that I adore, the original yellow and black colors from the DC comics merchandiser. My mom yelled at me when I initially bought it but I explained to her it is appealing and popular. Especially after seeing more than one batman film, I just had to buy it. My friends own batman t-shirts and key chains one of my friends gets the collectibles from family dollar, so she has the original batman figure and The Dark Knight figure. There are many factors that contribute to the way The Dark Knight is appealing to society, overall I feel that it is an amazing movie that can tie in with current societal, economic and war issues.
Sources:
The Dark Knight Film (2008)
Grazian- Mix it Up
Social media trends, instagram, facebook, tumblr
Media trends
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