I watched the Dark Knight for the first time recently (yes, I know it came out last summer, but I was getting my wisdom teeth pulled and missed it). I thought it was very well done, though not the kind of thing I would necessarily watch for pleasure. Many people I’ve talked to didn’t like the movie due to its darkness and, well, gruesomeness. I found it to be thought provoking. It raised some interesting points.
The thing that bothered me was the hopelessness of the message. They came point blank with reality, with evil and human nature, but didn’t present an answer. There was a sort of inspirational moment at the end, but it seemed to contradict itself. They established, in a way, that Gotham City needed a savior, which was Batman, but the fact was he couldn’t adequately take on the job. He was human, with limits and weaknesses, and though he could inspire people, he couldn’t redeem them. Furthermore, Batman couldn’t frighten the Joker, who said to him, “You have nothing, nothing to threaten me with. Nothing to do with all your strength.”
The Joker, on the other hand, didn’t seem human. He seemed invincible, without limits, he couldn’t be stopped, and he didn’t feel fear. He did nothing but spread chaos and terror. He said, “The mob has plans, the cops have plans, Gordon's got plans. You know, they're schemers. Schemers trying to control their little worlds. I'm not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are…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!” He also said, “You see, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke…dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these... these civilized people, they'll eat each other. See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve.” He almost seemed Satanic. “It’s not about money, it’s about sending a message. Everything burns!”
Ledger did a pretty good impersonation of evil, and to be honest, he seemed more powerful than any of the other characters, even Batman. I suppose I found this to be a depressing idea. Throughout the movie, his main goal was to bring “good people” down to his level. He would even place his own life on the line to do this. For instance, he wanted Batman to kill him, for this would be breaking his “one rule.” Batman wouldn’t. The Joker said towards the end, “You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won't kill you because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever.” That seemed to be the flavor of the ending. In one sense, there was a resolution, but in another sense there wasn’t. It was as though the battle between good and evil in Gotham City was never to end, that it was, in fact, to last forever – with no peace.
The “hope” presented in the movie was that humans have an innate sense of good. This was displayed when some of the members of the city chose not to play into one of the Joker’s corruptive schemes. Batman said, “What were you hoping to prove? That, deep down, everyone's as ugly as you? You're alone!” At the conclusion, the fact that this world needs help was stressed, and that some sort of sacrifice was necessary (with the whole Harvey Dent thing at the end.) I thought this was insightful, but then Bruce said, “Because sometimes the truth isn’t good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.” This pretty much destroyed the hope they were trying to present. It’s a nice way of saying that in reality, it’s all bad, but it can be covered up in order to inspire the people. In some ways, this was interesting. The movie displayed the evil side of human nature, as well as this driving force of chaos and terror personified in the Joker, but it removed God from the scene. Without God, without a savior, if we are alone, then truth really isn’t good enough and there’s no hope.
As a Christian, I actually found my faith to be strengthened after watching this movie, strangelly enough. The belief that there’s no such thing as right and wrong seems to be increasingly promoted in our culture. It reminded me that there are, indeed, two parts to this world, things you can see and touch, and things you can’t touch and see, namely: emotions, good and evil, God, the devil. There’s more to our lives than, well, the basics. For instance, in the movie, the Joker’s goal was to bring “good people” down to his level. At the end, he took Harvey Dent, one of the “best of them” and talked him into becoming a monster. He said, “I took Gotham's white knight and I brought him down to our level.” Gordon and Batman said, in response, that “the Joker won,” evil won. On the other hand, when people chose not to respond in a corrupt way, the Joker lost. Batman said, “This city just showed you that it's full of people ready to believe in good.” When you plug God back into the picture, there is hope. Yes, the world has problems, and corruption, but God hasn’t left us alone. We’re not like Gotham city, alone with the Joker, having to solve our own problems and failing. And when a person follows and submits themselves to God, lets him change and sanctify them, a sort of miracle happens, a miracle that shames the devil, that keeps evil from winning. Batman acted as a savior for Gotham city, taking the blame, in the end, for crimes Harvey Dent committed, to keep the citizens from losing heart. We, too, have a savior, but one that isn’t fallen or limited. There is such a thing as good, as redemption and hope, because God has been faithful, and hasn’t abandoned us. In The Dark Knight, no one could stop or contain the Joker, as though he was somehow transcendent, but in reality, God is larger and more powerful than anything. There’s no “force of evil” that is stronger than him. This means that, despite what we do or don’t see, good is in fact the most powerful thing in the universe. It says in the Psalms, “There are many who say, ‘Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!” In reality, evil and pain is a passing thing. In heaven, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” That is why his kingdom on earth is so important, because Satan wasn’t able to win, to steal his creation from him. It’s a miracle. It’s beautiful. And this world, this universe, is far from hopeless.
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2 comments:
marvelous job, my southern girl!!
I've never even seen the movie, but you gave a great depiction of the characters and plot! nicely done :)
Here's a thought: what if the Joker is like Satan, Harvey Dent is like mankind, and Batman is like Christ? Look at it this way: the Joker's purpose, as you say, is to bring the best and brightest of Gotham's citizens to his level, just as it's Satan's purpose to bring the best of God's earthly creation to his. When the Joker succeeds in bringing Dent down, Batman voluntarily takes the guilt and consequences of Dent's sins onto himself in order to preserve Dent's (undeserved) honor and the justice that he had originally represented. In that way the Joker is ultimately defeated, by Batman's willing sacrifice for justice that totally opposes everything the Joker "stands for." And it shows that good is incomperably more powerful than evil, since none of the Joker's plans were equipped to handle an innocent person willingly taking another's guilt. Certainly it's an imperfectly rendered message, but I thought there was more hope in the ending than there seemed to be at first glance.
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