Aug 1, 2008

WILL THE REAL BATMAN PLEASE STAND UP

After having read through some of the reviews on Dark Knight, I came across two posts, where Ledger has been compared with Satan. I wouldn't want to sound like a forceful contrarion, but I would seriously beg to differ.

Satan had an innate desire to attract mortal life towards him, whereas the Joker attracts the viewer's attention.

Within the frames of the movie, Eckhart is the only man who falls prey to the Joker's eloquent wit. The supposed 'white knight' is turned awry. Is Harvey Dent the Batman's Adam in an already lost Paradise? The reviews do not touch this aspect.
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Enter a "mad-man" who is probably driven to the point of extremes because of his loved ones. Or, at least, he tells us so. It evokes sympathy, and it compels us to look beyond his manic mask. So the grey in him is indeed a locked dark past after all! Maybe he is lying. Quite possible.

As far as troubled childhood goes, yes it's chilling to learn the Joker's past life was scarred (no pun intended). What Nolan doesn't do is, bring a kosher Batman. He brings to you a man battling with traits of jealousy, heroism, and humanness. There's a subtle difference between being human, and wanting to be a hero. And, Batman is not deified. People in Gotham City are not his worshippers in the least. The movie ends on a dour note, with Batman talking about living long enough to be the villain.

And, yes, we still want to know what is Joker's fascination with the caped crusader. He wants the mask off Batman's face. Does anyone really care about "will the real Batman please stand up?" because the people of Gotham city are baying for Batman's blood too because they want the violence in the city to end.

Joker uses threats, bombs, and causes deaths to trap the other outlaw vigilante. He uses new-age weaponry to blast the police van with Harvey Dent posing as Batman inside!

I am not certain about Nolan's intentions when he ended up doing the following:
The shot inside M.C.U. where the Joker is held in captivity, albeit for a short while, he tries to draw Batman's attention to the farce of "order", and waxes eloquent about how both are outlaws in their own way. He mocks the people outside, saying, "When the chips are down, these civilised people will eat each other." Little wonder then, he is beaten up by Batman's bare hands.

Yes, the rejoinders, and the wit rests with Joker. But, does he become Satan? He fails to ensare people. The dons, and the thugs call him a freak, and seek his help to get their money back, "because he showed up there."

Coming back to my point, the civilised people, and the not-so civilised people, become a part of Joker's "social experiment" (yes, it's nice to be witty), but end up disappointing his evil intentions. In fact, the not-so civilised, or Dent's scum collection, outdoes the so-called civilised people, in the mysterious experiment. The Joker says, rather sardonically, "you can't trust anyone these days", is something Satan would not be proud of!

Towards the end, the fist fight between Batman and Joker, is almost like a desperate attempt on the Joker's part to figure out how much of a fight does a real hero carry inside? He admits, "you truly are incorruptible," something Satan originally defied. Satan defiled innocence and in a perverse world of masters of evil, he is the Joker's benevolent Godfather.

The immovable force of Batman, as Joker puts it, meets the immovable object in him - this is when he is hanging in mid-air, and is about to be taken into police custody. Nolan does not tell us, what happens to Joker, in "the end", probably he assumed we were wiser.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

A v juvenile statement... its not who joker attracts but what the character is about

Anonymous said...

Unless you think that the viewers are not mortals

Black is back said...

my sentiments about the character are inside the text, of what it is, and what the director has done to it.

Also, isn't it time to read inside the hype and do some real questioning?

Anonymous said...

everything that's hyped cannot be meaningless lady.

Black is back said...

i can see your appreciation dripping for the Joker's character. It amazes me. I am critiquing false linkages made for the Joker with Satan. I am very open about it. I sought satanic linkages but you know what..everyone's gaze is different..so is mine. I believed you when you said what the character is about.. He is a lot of things, true, but Satan?? it's very childish don't you think? jut about any other man with a greay streak cannot be deemed Satan.

Anonymous said...

I appreciate Anamika's comments for this post..