critique
The Dark Knight
08/06/2008 06:42 Past Posts &
ThoughtsPersonal
There was a nearly tangible feel to the air, an electricity of anticipation by the crowd, just waiting for the show’s beginning. All kinds of people were there: young & old, parents with children (one father in front of us had, what appeared to be, a 5-year-old boy, along with three of the dad’s buddies), high schoolers and college-aged students. All were talking, in none too hushed tones, about the film. Jonathan and I were also genuinely excited for it. We’d probably bought into the hype.
My overall impressions of The Dark Knight: dark, sad, cynical, yet with a faint glimmer of hope near the end. I hink I can easily believe that Heath Ledger’s death in real life has played a part in the tremendous fascination, not only with the movie overall, but with the Joker in particular. Several people I’ve spoken with have remarked how totally “into” the part he seemed to be. I think he did “get into” the part well - he played a person who truly cared for no one (I’m not sure he even cared for himself or was afraid of death - perhaps this was his real life oozing over into the part?). The Joker believed there was no good left in the human heart, mind or will; that each person would seek to survive, doing what was necessary to live, no matter how morally repugnant the act appeared to be. There is one blogger’s review of the Joker in The Dark Night, who felt this was the only honest character portrayal due to the biblical notion of man’s total depravity (although I highly doubt the screenwriters intended this perspective to be seen as anything but “a dak blot on a vast minority of humanity”).
Did I see any redeeming value in The Dark Knight? Perhaps. Police Chief (soon to become Commissioner) Gordon and Batman engage in a dialogue at the end that, at least for this viewer, helped pull the whole thing off the sludge heap of despair entirely. I’ll attempt to re-crete it to the best of my memory:
Gordon: You can’t take Dent’s crimes upon you. This city needs a hero.
Batman: Sometimes we don’t always get the the hero we want. We have to get the hero we need.
Again, I’m sure this is a terrible rendering of the actual dialogue, but it captures a hint of the redemption offered. Batman’s right: the hero we need is seldom the hero we want. After all, who would want a non-descript son of a non-descript carpenter from a backwater town who came talking about being last, not first; about being the servant of all rather than the leader of all; of losing your life in order to gain it; and other such “drivel”. I mean, really, who would want a hero that announces, at every key moment when he could have risen to command and power, “I’ve come to die.” So, yes, I think it’s accurate: the hero we need is not always the hero we want.
In him, we have redemption, through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ...
Ephesians 1.7-9, ESV
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