More Batman Meta

[meddow]

I saw The Dark Knight again.

I pick up quite a few things on the second viewing. Biggest thing I noticed surrounded the death of Harvey Dent. You have to admit, it's both a bit lame that Harvey fell to his death and convenient that Batman couldn't save him since imagine how damaging it would be if Harvey were to live. The White Knight of Gotham grotesque, insane and on trial for murder would be the end of the city.

Harvey living would undo all the good that had been achieved and so, to save Gotham, I think Batman deliberately killed Harvey. It wasn't a failure to save him, but rather a deliberate letting of gravity do its work (as the Joker suggests he does to him). An ongoing theme of the movie was Batman's inability to kill. The tragedy is that he doesn't kill the Joker or a mob boss. He kills the hero he fought so hard to protect.

Feel free to say "duh Meddow, of course he killed Harvey, I can't believe you didn't notice that first time around" at this point, but I think it's rather deliberately ambiguous what happens in that scene and it's left open for interpretation.

The question is: when did Batman conceive the cover up Harvey's insanity plan? Before or after the fall? Interestingly, when Batman's down having been shot by Harvey, we get no reaction shots of him even though everybody knows the bullet didn't kill Batman. Also, how many characters in this movie fell to their supposed death? Rachel, the Joker and at least four SWAT agents to name a few. Every single time Batman saved them. We're supposed to believe that this time he couldn't? Falls are not an issue for Batman.

Even more interestingly, Batman lets himself fall. Again, we're supposed to believe that he couldn't save himself if he wanted to? No, I think it was Batman momentarily subscribing to Harvey's concept of justice and applying it to himself as punishment for the action he had just undertaken and letting chance being the judge of whether he lives of dies (and, two people fall from that building, one gets up and the other doesn’t. It's sort of a 50/50 chance).

I also think that at the same time as killing Harvey, Batman killed Bruce. We see a lot in this movie of Bruce doing his Batman out of the mask and as Bruce. They're not two separate entities, they're the same, which causes many problems.

Which leads on to the address swap the Joker did. Alfred told Bruce he can't make it personal, the Joker counted on Batman making it personal and the whole mess with Harvey was a result. Clearly Harvey would be the person a cold rational Batman would have gone for. If he had gone for Harvey, he would have found Rachel, Rachel would have lived and although she would have probably been very pissed and would have mourned for a good long while, she probably would not have gone on a rampage like Harvey did. Harvey, meanwhile, would have been martyred for the cause and the Joker would have lost Harvey as his backup city destruction plan.

Instead he made the decision as Bruce Wayne and went after Rachel, found Harvey, lost Rachel and Harvey eventually ended up being a martyr for the cause anyway, but not before five people died as the result of his hunt for justice. If Batman had chosen Harvey, six people including Rachel would still be alive, and he would have never had to breach his cardinal rule and kill. Making it personal only results in more loss. Batman can't afford to be Bruce Wayne, and in those final few moments of the film we don't get to see Bruce Wayne. All we see is Batman, the guardian and I think that's because by this point, Bruce Wayne has died a metaphorical death. Batman is now truly in control. Bruce Wayne is just a cover.

Which I suppose goes back to the Bruce-Harvey parallels. By the end, both of them have become symbols at the expense of their lives, one hope and the other fear.

Okay, enough meta for today. In light of the fact that I'm reviewing Aaron Eckhart movies and that I also fangirl Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine (I define 'fangirl' as will rent a movie solely because they are in it with no thought given to how low it's rated on imdb) it's getting rated on them as well. This whole movie rating thing has become sort of a pet project to keep me occupied while there's no new Doctor Who.

The Dark Knight (2008, dr. Christopher Nolan)
Assets: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, Nestor Carbonell
Warnings: None, the casting is perfect. There is a nasty incident involving a pencil though.

Cillian Murphy's only got a cameo and spends the vast majority of it in a mask but gets a bonus half point because he's got great lines. Michael Caine gets three because what this movie sorely needed was more Alfred.

Film Rating: 5
Aaron Eckhart Fangirl Rating: 4½
Cillian Murphy Fangirl Rating: 1½
Michael Caine Fangirl Rating: 3

Comments

[artic-fox.livejournal.com]

As I've said before, I LOVE that you can meta this movie and it withstands it. EPICCC.

Bruce Wayne has died a metaphorical death. Batman is now truly in control. Bruce Wayne is just a cover.

That's the one. This was touched on at the end of Batman Begins. Katie Holmes' Rachel says that Bruce Wayne is now the mask for Batman, so I think The Dark Knight and everything with Dent just reinforced the fact that Batman's thoughts are Wayne's thoughts - he is channeling that same rage, and destructive streak while trying to be altruistic about it.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

It's such a perfect epic movie. People are going to be debating the finer points of if for years to come, I believe.

It was touched on by Rachel, but I think she was a bit ahead of events at that point. At the end of the second movie her words are true.

[artic-fox.livejournal.com]

For all people's complains about Rachel not being an especially strong female character, I think she is the most perceptive - or at least the mouthpiece for the audience on the workings of the Batman/Bruce Wayne dilemma.

I'm still not sure if Batman purposefully through Dent off the roof. I mean, deep down I think despite everything Batman still wants to believe he can save Dent. He needs Dent to be saved for his own sake, even if he knows it is too late. I don't know. I just see Bruce as kind of that sick sort of optimist.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

She's pretty sensible about it too, in the sense that she choose the guy who could commit over the guy that dresses up like a bat.

Ah, see, I think what happened with Dent killed that optimistic streak and he realised what he now really needed was for Dent to die since there was no longer a way to save him without destroying Dent's reputation. But also I think Nolan deliberately left that scene open to interpretation by the viewer since we get no clues as to what Batman's thinking in the moment before it occurs.

[artic-fox.livejournal.com]

Hahaa, too true. Even Bruce Wayne said it himself: "a guy who dresses up as a bat, clearly has issues."

Well, from what we know Batman has come directly from battling the Joker which is enough to play havoc with anyones willpower and logic. It is all that unstoppable force/unmovable object stuff. Some men just want to watch the world burn, etc.

I don't think he needed Dent to *die*. I mean, there is no confirmation that he is actually dead, right? We saw him lying there and a funeral service, but nothing that really said "oh, he broke his neck". Possible that he was just unconcious and they have locked him up in Arkam. Again, deliberate ambiguity I think. I would *love* for Two Face to come back - there is a real grudge match right there, especially if Harvey/Two Face finds out more about Batman and his identity. Batman doesn't need Harvey *dead*, just incapacitated enough to get him locked away.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

I would think that it would be hard to fake Harvey's death since there's paramedics, police and Arkam staff to be silenced and it would be bound to get out somehow. But he might not be dead and it would be cool to open a third movie with revealing Batman and Gordon are keeping Harvey's institutionalization in the depths of Arkam a secret and Aaron Eckhart's said he would like to return to the role.

But, there's not that many places to take the character besides a redemptive arc or make him even more insane (a split personality developing could be interesting, Harvey vs. Two Face). I'd be pretty hard to top Harvey's fall, although if anyone can, it's Chris Nolan.

[artic-fox.livejournal.com]

Yea, I read Eckhart's comments about returning and I was like "ooh, don't TEASE!". I think they could do a lot with his character - in conjunction with another villian perhaps (these things always have to have two villians to really put the pressure on poor Batman). I think, as you said, a split personality could potentially be really cool, and Nolan is an expert with the study of duplicity (see The Prestige). But then again, maybe it is best if we all move and get something entirely new. Who knows. I just really want more in this franchise!

[melengro.livejournal.com]

This was probably the best superhero movie of all time. A superhero movie that withstands this sort of meta has to be doing something right!

Shameful fact: I don't remember what scene Cillian Murphy was in. Which one was it?

[meddow.livejournal.com]

He was in an early (the third, I think) scene of the movie in the scarecrow mask as part of the drug sale interrupted by Batman and copycats.

[julioangelortiz.livejournal.com]

Great movie. I think what made it work so well (aside from the great acting, especially from Heath Ledger) was that it played more like an urban crime drama / thriller that happened to have Batman, as opposed to a super-hero movie trying to be an urban crime drama. All around just awesome.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

Yes, it really wasn't a superhero movie at all (and not just because it went out of its way saying Batman wasn't a hero) and the realism really worked in its favour.