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!@#$%! · 08.20.2012, 09:12 AM

here's how the dark knight tries to be serious but fails:

1) in the 2nd movie the batman has the power to listen to every cellphone, right? but does he ever struggle with the temptation to become a fascist? does he spy on his girlfriend, jerk off to the neighbor's conversations, look at girls in the toilet? no he doesn't-- he just tells his loyal servant to turn off the system, which the loyal servant faithfully does. the goodies and the baddies are always predictable. yes, there's the scene at the boat, with the bombs, and that was okay, and memorable, but funny thing that wasn't batman the character making a difficult decision. he's one-dimensional, just misunderstood. okay maybe nolan made him two-dimensional but he's still not human.

2) in the more recent one, there are some 99 percenter allusions, they even manage to "occupy" wall street, but the heroes are the millionaires with their charities-- funny thing about hollywood liberals, they feel sorry for the poor but think only they can save them.

3) same thing with the subtext that bane and his lady master are some sort of al-qaeda who only want to destroy new york, i mean gotham. (i had forgotten how well choreographed this airplane hijacking was by the way). but is there any question again of who are the baddies? no. worst off, while al qaeda want western forces out of islam's holy sites, this "league of shadows" only wants some sort of twisted revenge for the fuck of it.

3a) And again it's not Batman who doubts about the use of the energy source-- oh no, he always knows right and wrong. IT's jus the other people who betray him. Black/white superhero morality = adolescent.

I really enjoyed the Batmans, but my point is-- serious art asks serious questions about human life. Batman does not ask serious questions except for that boat scene with his version of the well-known "prisoner's dilemma". Wish the rest of the movie plus the other movies had more been like that, but no, we got cartoons, and the usual black & white morality while letting go of the big questions because blockbuster audiences would get headaches.

compare this to a history of violence, where you look at someone who can be a good nice family man and also a brutal killer, and you wonder if you can ever come back from war, where you look at the strained dynamic in a marriage (both sex scenes were added by cronenberg), and the movie doesn't end in some happy hollywood ending when everybody is happy, the man just gets a plate of food and it just opens the doors to a whole new set of questions-- yes, you who were a stranger are now one of us again, but what happens next?

this is the kind of shit that makes a difference between an action blockbuster and film as art.

for some reason, todd field's "in the bedroom" has been popping into my head, and i don't know what this means but i'll put it out there in case someone feels like watching it.

okay i gotta go to work but yeah. character and depth make for good stories, and ambiguity is good for art.

08.20.2012, 09:12 AM	#88
!@#$%! invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: mars attacks Posts: 42,731	here's how the dark knight tries to be serious but fails: 1) in the 2nd movie the batman has the power to listen to every cellphone, right? but does he ever struggle with the temptation to become a fascist? does he spy on his girlfriend, jerk off to the neighbor's conversations, look at girls in the toilet? no he doesn't-- he just tells his loyal servant to turn off the system, which the loyal servant faithfully does. the goodies and the baddies are always predictable. yes, there's the scene at the boat, with the bombs, and that was okay, and memorable, but funny thing that wasn't batman the character making a difficult decision. he's one-dimensional, just misunderstood. okay maybe nolan made him two-dimensional but he's still not human. 2) in the more recent one, there are some 99 percenter allusions, they even manage to "occupy" wall street, but the heroes are the millionaires with their charities-- funny thing about hollywood liberals, they feel sorry for the poor but think only they can save them. 3) same thing with the subtext that bane and his lady master are some sort of al-qaeda who only want to destroy new york, i mean gotham. (i had forgotten how well choreographed this airplane hijacking was by the way). but is there any question again of who are the baddies? no. worst off, while al qaeda want western forces out of islam's holy sites, this "league of shadows" only wants some sort of twisted revenge for the fuck of it. 3a) And again it's not Batman who doubts about the use of the energy source-- oh no, he always knows right and wrong. IT's jus the other people who betray him. Black/white superhero morality = adolescent. I really enjoyed the Batmans, but my point is-- serious art asks serious questions about human life. Batman does not ask serious questions except for that boat scene with his version of the well-known "prisoner's dilemma". Wish the rest of the movie plus the other movies had more been like that, but no, we got cartoons, and the usual black & white morality while letting go of the big questions because blockbuster audiences would get headaches. compare this to a history of violence, where you look at someone who can be a good nice family man and also a brutal killer, and you wonder if you can ever come back from war, where you look at the strained dynamic in a marriage (both sex scenes were added by cronenberg), and the movie doesn't end in some happy hollywood ending when everybody is happy, the man just gets a plate of food and it just opens the doors to a whole new set of questions-- yes, you who were a stranger are now one of us again, but what happens next? this is the kind of shit that makes a difference between an action blockbuster and film as art. for some reason, todd field's "in the bedroom" has been popping into my head, and i don't know what this means but i'll put it out there in case someone feels like watching it. okay i gotta go to work but yeah. character and depth make for good stories, and ambiguity is good for art.
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