Batman the Dark Knight and Religious Views - Essay Example

? Dark Knight Religious Issues Introduction The Dark Knight directed by Christopher Nolen, is the sequel ofthe movie “Batman Begins”. The movie introduces Christian Bale once again as the Batman, along with his maniac and irrepressible enemy the Joker, played by Heath Ledger. Taking the cue from Batman begins the movie by introducing the audience to the deteriorating condition of the Falcone crime family. The family is so scared about the present situation of the Gotham city that they plan to launder their illegal money off shore by the assistance of a Chinese crook named Lau (Chin Han). Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) the District Attorney is threatened by this action. Going by the situation he approaches Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and the Batman. As there are very little that could had been done by being within the boundary of law, Batman is asked to bring back Lau from Hong Kong. The Joker brings in a series of terrorism in the city and Batman again had to don in his black cloak and fight against the terror. Instead of following the league and reprocessing the super hero cliche, Nolan tries to depict his two archetypal characters that are the Joker and the Batman with an emphasis on religious relevance. Religious Aspect The directorial aspect of Nolan resemble with the Buddhist understanding, where the evil deeds of the movie have been shown as an effect of various adverse causes and situation. Unlike other superhero movie evil is not created out of vacuum here. In fact the joker has been portrayed as a victim of severe emotional and physical child abuse. The District attorney who is the protector of law also breaks the law of the city when he asks the Batman to do something which remains unresolved by law. The absence of good has been constructed through actions in the movie. The emergence of Two-Face in the movie reveals the dichotomy in the human nature and that no single human being is either a white character-full of virtues or a black character-full of vices, they represent shades of grey. Two-Face has also been symbolized by the fact that despite the economic crisis in the city of Gotham, the mafias and the Joker are able to keep small army of people. The movie depicts the joker as the most non- religious person and the Batman is the religious person who thinks for the good of the human kind. Respecting humanity is the essence of any religion in the world and hence Batman can be regarded as the religious character despite some controversies which does not acknowledge him as a Catholic and denotes him rather, as a Catholic who has drifted away. A religious person is expected to follow certain rituals like paying a visit to the church. The Batman does not seem to follow these rituals and hence might lead to a controversy when regarded as a religious character. However while diffusing the bomb the Batman says, “If I had the time or the right – I’d say a prayer”. Again, the character of Two-Face is regarded as non religious in traditional sense. Even this has been projected as a villainous character as a result of severe psychosis. The movie reveals how human beings are vulnerable and get more influenced by Satan than by God despite the religious beliefs of some characters. Also the importance of rituals and good deeds or actions can be controversial at times while commenting on a character’s religiosity. Analysis of the ritualistic aspect of the movie The three main characters can be analyzed in the context of rituals and religious beliefs. Harvey Dent or Two-Face who was initially white turns black in the end when he is killed. Batman is represented in shades of gray while the Joker is depicted in black shade. The Joker does not believe in ethics or religion. On the other hand, the Batman, through his actions symbolizes godly deeds but he does not believe in rituals. When the Two-Face is cured from his psychosis state, he is seen to wear the Taoist symbol on his belt. This might give an impression of ritual which according to Nye, is more related to symbols than anything else. Nye also points out that such ideas and symbols are often determined by culture (Nye 135). Two-Face is not conventionally moralistic in actions as he commits the dual crimes. He does not pursue any set ethical principles of the society. The basic assumption that has been made with ritual is that it is a means by which some meaning is tried to be conveyed, that is, the rituals have some purpose which might not relate directly. However, one may not find it immediately obvious; they act in a subtle way (Nye, 129-135). In the movie Batman is the symbol of hope and justice. When the movie shows the destruction by the Joker, he is not only bringing about death but he is working on deliberately destroying the philosophical and ethical base of the society. The despairing “Harvey Two face” conveys an Augustinian view of things where the evil has been defined as the pervasive absence of the good in the society. The film in a way depicts Buddhism, the harbinger of peace and harmony in the society. The victory over the ill which has been depicted by the character of joker in the movie by the Batman the symbol of justice definitely is the common saying and a common message of all the religion. USA is a country which is familiar with the biblical stories which has been conveyed through the medium of films, TV programs or popular literature and the nation has witnessed many Christian narratives in Hollywood films (Nye, 159). In the same way the movie Dark Knight has been able to depict the religious sense through its screening. In Dark Knight the work has been beautifully projected through his examination of the Dark Knight (The Batman) who has been portrayed as the hero in the hearts and minds of the people of Gotham. The essential message reveals the lack of ritualistic practices in the Batman who actually fights for moral concerns and the good of all. Harvey Dent is not the Two-Face villain as he turns out eventually after he is saved by the Batman. The Batman is under the dilemma of choosing who to save over whom. He has two choices – either to save Rachel or Harvey. He saves Harvey despite his plea to save his girlfriend. The Joker who has been spreading destruction throughout, now convinces Harvey or Two-Face that Batman is responsible for the death of his girlfriend. He is also seen to threaten the city of Gotham with the spread of destruction unless Batman’s identity is revealed. This character is completely full of vices and wins his way everywhere. In contrast Rachael, whose life is sacrificed for that of her love, depicts the ethical perfection and strong morals which ultimately decides her fate. Here the evil wins over the good or the unreligious is victorious over the religious entity. Also all that seem ethically correct or religious in nature might not in the end turn into a desired consequence. The Batman made the ethically correct decision of saving Dent but the Two-Face later became the evil with one side of his face burnt. The latter performs the ritual of flipping coins and deciding the fate of others. The religious entity wins over the unreligious as the Batman kills Two-Face, but has to sacrifice his social life and become a fugitive after the killing of Two-Face. The outcome also shows that despite good deeds, rituals like praying and going to the church or reading the Bible also have significant roles and the Batman does not have a socially acceptable religious identity which makes his fate poor despite the good deeds. Conclusion The movie no doubt worked on conveying a message to its audiences. But the movie does not distinguish its protagonist and his deeds as perfectly white or perfectly black; it is a gray shade where both the evil and the good are present. While capturing Lau, Batman does engage himself in rule breaking and off course viewers gets the evidence of the hero’s frivolous nature throughout the movie. Similarly in the movie the character of Joker who has been depicted as an evil incarnate here cannot be blamed totally as he suffers from internal psychological turmoil. The movie depicts the character of the batman as the real life human of blood and flesh who himself stands at the cross roads like all other human being does. The biggest triumph of the Dark Knight is that it for the first time administers the art properly by transplanting the comic book theatrics into the real world. Batman is not just a man who is donned up in the black suit but he is a symbol of peace and harmony for the society who eradicates and eliminates the evils of the community. The movie off course conveys a social and a religious message of the power of truth and what is right. References: 1. Nye, Malory, Religion: the basics, Routledge, 2003 2. The Dark Knight. Nolan, Christopher (director), Christian Bale and Heath Ledger (performance). Warner Bros, US. Read More