Andrew Klavan, you are the champion:
Oh, wait a minute. That’s not a bat, actually. In fact, when you trace the outline with your finger, it looks kind of like . . . a "W."
There seems to me no question that the Batman film "The Dark Knight," currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past.
And like W, Batman understands that there is no moral equivalence between a free society — in which people sometimes make the wrong choices — and a criminal sect bent on destruction. The former must be cherished even in its moments of folly; the latter must be hounded to the gates of Hell.
Amazingly, the rest of the article is, largely, just as bad.
Article by Don Pogreba
Don has written 1332 posts for us. He is an English and debate teacher in Helena, MT. When not writing here or working on debate handbooks, he is writing about educational issues at Prairie Pedagogue.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Over the last four trips to see Batman I have greatly enjoyed the Jeffersonian themes – Klavan got it horribly wrong and oversimplified the movie to fit his very odd, perverted conception of the world. What a sad article.
I have been trying to come up with my own description but “dumbest thing I have ever read” about sums it up. Who lives in such delusion about the past 7 years that one must misinterpret a fictional movie based on a comic book to feel vindicated?
that kind of made me vomit in my mouth. just a little bit.
it’s sickening that someone can right that poorly and make such a huge stretch that it doesn’t even make sense.
I actually had this discussion with a few friends a few days ago. And I can sort of see the point. But I think the more important themes in the movie are:
1. The Joker surely represents terrorism of the worst sort: he has one goal, and that is to bring Gotham down to his level. The characters in the movie are actually much better at retaining the moral high ground than real-life America. Both batman and the police effectively made sacrifices, even of lives, in order to avoid giving in to the Joker’s demands or sinking to his level.
2. Self control makes you stronger; breaking boundaries is not a guaranteed way to do better. Although Batman is a vigilante and as such does not face the jurisdictional issues of the police, he also deprives himself of the right to kill, limiting himself much more than the police are limited.
I think Batman certainly addresses in some way many of the legal and ethical questions raised by the existence of criminals who pose challenges to the criminal justice system. But the film does so in such a way that invites thought and discussion, and clearly shows the importance of not sinking to the level of terrorists.