The Dark Knight

[machine]

So after seeing the movie, I could not help but ... be reminded of something. Like, the idea or message... I can't think of the word that I am going for... but maybe you get the idea? It was just like a feeling that I have seen or lived this entire thing before.

So I went searching for different opinions online about what the movie meant, and as soon as I read this following, I knew exactly of what was stuck in the back of my mind.

A cry for help goes out from a city beleaguered by violence and fear: A beam of light flashed into the night sky, the dark symbol of a bat projected onto the surface of the racing clouds . . .

Oh, wait a minute. That's not a bat, actually. In fact, when you trace the outline with your finger, it looks kind of like . . . a "W."

There seems to me no question that the Batman film "The Dark Knight," currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past.

And like W, Batman understands that there is no moral equivalence between a free society -- in which people sometimes make the wrong choices -- and a criminal sect bent on destruction. The former must be cherished even in its moments of folly; the latter must be hounded to the gates of Hell.

"The Dark Knight," then, is a conservative movie about the war on terror. And like another such film, last year's "300," "The Dark Knight" is making a fortune depicting the values and necessities that the Bush administration cannot seem to articulate for beans.

Conversely, time after time, left-wing films about the war on terror -- films like "In The Valley of Elah," "Rendition" and "Redacted" -- which preach moral equivalence and advocate surrender, that disrespect the military and their mission, that seem unable to distinguish the difference between America and Islamo-fascism, have bombed more spectacularly than Operation Shock and Awe.

In the end, though the citizens now despised Batman, we the viewing audience could see that what he was doing was for the greater good.

Sounds familiar.

[Guest GodfallenPromos]

So after seeing the movie, I could not help but ... be reminded of something. Like, the idea or message... I can't think of the word that I am going for... but maybe you get the idea? It was just like a feeling that I have seen or lived this entire thing before.

So I went searching for different opinions online about what the movie meant, and as soon as I read this following, I knew exactly of what was stuck in the back of my mind.

In the end, though the citizens now despised Batman, we the viewing audience could see that what he was doing was for the greater good.

Sounds familiar.

ummm...honestly...someone is TRYING to read things in this that aren't there....if anything...the movie is closer to coming around to "No-Man's Land" and the "Knightfall" storylines, sans Bane and the introduction of other important characters, like the penguin.

I hate it when ppl read too much into a movie....I read a review where someone tried to turn Pan's Labyrinth into a movie about Bush....

[phee]

I hate it when ppl read too much into a movie....I read a review where someone tried to turn Pan's Labyrinth into a movie about Bush....

Wow really?

*ponders*

I'll bet the Pale Man was Cheney...

[Troy Spiral (13)]

We tend not to see (or just don't want to see, since we are there usually 'for fun') the underlying more serious messages that are being put fourth in our entertainment. The "message" type stuff being somewhat hidden is especially prevalent in sci-fi and fantasy where the more controversial messages can be cloaked in the "oh its just some silly XYZ ..." so it floats past the money guys who would otherwise squash such messages as not being summer blockbuster material.

Most all your higher quality not-totally-popcorn movies have "too much read into them" a.k.a. someone actually sees the message or tries to interpret the message that was intended. Most of the better movies i can think of all have a dual nature to them. That is the surface level and then the deeper meaning aspects.

This is more general commentary about entertainment as I've not specifically seen the dark knight.

And yeah there are plenty of conservatives in Hollywood even though they are in the minority (or at least it seems that way.)

[Guest GodfallenPromos]

Wow really?

*ponders*

I'll bet the Pale Man was Cheney...

ya know...if you put glasses on him.......

anyway....to point out some flaws in the article

"some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war"

Dude...it's BATMAN....Batman has been fighting crime since before your mother was conceived...well...most of us anyway.

"Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past."

*sigh*...it's a guy in a cape with a mask and beating up crooks....even when he is helping the cops, it's still a crime, and therefore an outcast, as much as Gotham needed him.

And...hey...this has been happening, storyline wise, for YEARS as well....Batman also teams up with Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Green Lantern, who I am gonna guess are Dick Cheney, Condoleza Rice, and Colin Powell...to fight crime on an international and intergalactic level....ooo...does that mean that Lex Luthor is Osama Bin Laden and that some North Korean threat is the Joker?

""The Dark Knight" is making a fortune depicting the values and necessities that the Bush administration cannot seem to articulate for beans."

*slaps the guy who wrote this article* NO....Batman is making a fortune at the box office because of the following:

1. It's Batman...and Batman has been a damn good box office draw since Adam West wore the cape.

2. Heath Ledger, a talented actor and a rising star, died during filming because of the mental stress put on him by the Role of the Joker, thus revealing that Hollywood has more then a couple curses, as the role of the Joker has given vivid nightmares to anyone thats played him.

3. It's a damn good cast: Christian Bale, Micheal Caine, Gary Oldman, etc, etc....these are all actors that we appreciate for their talents.

4. Lack of Bat Nipples.

5. No bad villian catchphrases, like "The Iceman Cometh".

6. It's Batman....it's a character that we have long been enamored with because he shows us that, with enough determination and hard work, you can overcome every obstacle....and no...the fact that he has BAGILLIONS of dollars isn't factored into that.

"like W, Batman understands that there is no moral equivalence between a free society -- in which people sometimes make the wrong choices -- and a criminal sect bent on destruction. The former must be cherished even in its moments of folly; the latter must be hounded to the gates of Hell."

I'm sorry....have you read ANYTHING on the Joker?? THIS CLOWN DOESN'T CARE!!!

1. the Joker shoots Barbara Gordon (then known as Batgirl and in later comics as Oracle), paralyzing her. He then kidnaps Commissioner Gordon and taunts him with enlarged photographs of his wounded daughter being undressed, in an attempt to prove that any normal man can go insane after having "one really bad day."

2. Jason discovers that a woman who may be his birth mother is being blackmailed by the Joker. She betrays her son to keep from having her medical supply thefts exposed, leading to Jason's brutal beating by the Joker with a crowbar. The Joker locks Jason and his mother in the warehouse where the assault took place and blows it up just as Batman arrives

3. the Joker murders Sarah Essen Gordon, Commissioner Gordon's second wife, by shooting her in the head as she tries to protect the infants that he has kidnapped. He surrenders to Batman, but continues to taunt Gordon, provoking the Commissioner to shoot him in the kneecap. The Joker laments that he may never walk again, and then collapses with laughter as he "gets the joke" that Gordon has just avenged his daughter's paralysis

he's a fucking loon....it's nto about the money....it's not about revenge....it's not about grief or anything else then crazed power. That seems like something that, should it be criminal, be tracked to the gates of hell...though I think even the JOker would be to crazy for hell.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

GodFallen... have you done a search on Batman and Bush? Did you notice how many other people are drawing parallels between Bush and Batman?

[machine]

I was gonna say the same thing, but I should have put that in my original post... this is not just my opinion, there are ALOT of people posting similar ideas...

[Guest GodfallenPromos]

GodFallen... have you done a search on Batman and Bush? Did you notice how many other people are drawing parallels between Bush and Batman?

yeah...and I've heard similar things about other movies.

Simple fact is that Batman has been a character that has been plagued by moral dilemmas time and again, hence why he has NEVER killed the Joker, and why he no longer carries a gun. He has been like this LONG before Bush's Presidental terms, or even Bush's father as President...and will be long after.

Drawing parallels to the problems of an already established character to a modern day figure has been done for a while now. This is just the newest form. I know ppl that drew parallels between "Big Fish" and Bill Clinton, "Pans Labyrinth" and the Bush Administration, and even "Hancock" and Barrack Obama....doesn't mean that the parrallels are ACTUALLY there, Gaf. If I draw parrallels between "China Town" and Global Warming, it doesn't make it so.

the people writing such articles are just trying to get their personal feelings across by using the most popular movie currently out. I bet you will find people will do this with "Watchmen", and I can't wait for people to start drawing comparisons to our then-current president and the "Dr. Strange" movie coming out in 2010.

[Nightgaunt]

And people insisted that the Lord of the Rings was an allegory for World War II, despite Tolkien's vociferous insistence that this was not the case. When the writers go on record confirming the "parallels", I'll buy into it...

[phee]

they great thing about an argument like this, is if you have enough imagination, you can sound convincing about just about any parallels.... It can be a fun excersise.

[Guest GodfallenPromos]

And people insisted that the Lord of the Rings was an allegory for World War II, despite Tolkien's vociferous insistence that this was not the case. When the writers go on record confirming the "parallels", I'll buy into it...

yeah...well...that one is kinda hard NOT to notice, honestly.

Sauron + Sarumon = SS.....

Isenguard = Italy

Mordor = Germany

Easterlings = Japan

The way that Gondor entered a war when they were gonna sit by and let it happen = America

I'm not saying that Tolkien DID make it to be an allegory for WW2, but it's VERY easy to see that he may have been influeneced by the times.

[phee]

yeah...well...that one is kinda hard NOT to notice, honestly.

Sauron + Sarumon = SS.....

Isenguard = Italy

Mordor = Germany

Easterlings = Japan

The way that Gondor entered a war when they were gonna sit by and let it happen = America

I'm not saying that Tolkien DID make it to be an allegory for WW2, but it's VERY easy to see that he may have been influeneced by the times.

That almost gives me idea for a whole new thread.... something like the "What this movie/book was REALLY about" thread

[Guest GodfallenPromos]

That almost gives me idea for a whole new thread.... something like the "What this movie/book was REALLY about" thread

hmmm...not a bad idea....pick a movie, give what YOU think it means...next person picks another movie if they want...so on and so forth....hmmm

[phee]

hmmm...not a bad idea....pick a movie, give what YOU think it means...next person picks another movie if they want...so on and so forth....hmmm

Sounds good.... although I don't thik it would last too long.

[ttogreh]

Well...

"The Watchmen" is a special case. The series was always meant to have deep political and moral themes. Hopefully, when it is brought to the screen, it can avoid being an allegory for contemporary problems, since such things will pass, but the deeper issues; power and privilege and societal conflict... hopefully those themes can be made somewhat timeless.

[Guest GodfallenPromos]

Well...

"The Watchmen" is a special case. The series was always meant to have deep political and moral themes. Hopefully, when it is brought to the screen, it can avoid being an allegory for contemporary problems, since such things will pass, but the deeper issues; power and privilege and societal conflict... hopefully those themes can be made somewhat timeless.

kinda makes me wish they would go for a "The Authority" movie as well....