‘The Dark Knight’ is an inspiring film directed by Christopher Nolan. Batman is no longer a comical book because Christopher translated it into a sensational movie that became a captivating tragedy. Due to the best technical quality and direction of this film, the viewer can relate the comical writings and the reality in life situations. The film is not just a simplistic view of what is good and evil but a true indicator of how the world is. For instance, Batman portrays an unusual complex puzzle, a vigilante, who wears a mask being viewed as good, but is also accused of murdering the policeman and others. On the other hand, the Joker is portrayed as evil because his actions cruelly pose dilemmas for his enemies. This film analysis explains the development of the film's main themes, namely the themes of brains and brawn, heroic quest, katabasis, hubris and nemesis.
The theme of brains and brawn is developed in the film using the character Batman (Bruce Wayne) who is portrayed as the hero in the entire film. Throughout the film, Batman shows wittiness in most actions (Boge, 2016). All over the movie, Batman was the only person trying everything possible to do good for Gotham City. For example, he stood for honesty and justice, unlike the Joker who was symbolized as evil and chaotic. For instance, when there was chaos that disrupted the calmness of Gotham City, Batman did not encourage the citizens to take the law into their hands. The vigilante group had own intentions which were not good for the society. They believed that the only way to destabilize Gotham City was through violence. The citizens wanted to take the law into their own hands and deal with these criminals head-on. Through the intervention of Batman who is a superhero, in this case, the law was allowed to take its course (Boge, 2016). The actions by Batman showed that he is an intelligent man who does not believe in wrongdoings. The role of Batman in this film also demonstrates that if committed to doing what is good, we can make the world a better place for all. In the modern world, it is vital to have a superhero like Batman in a country. An individual with both brain and brawn makes proper decisions. A good example is a leader who unites all groups despite the varying differences. Someone without brains and brawn can easily encourage people to repay bad actions with wrong measures.
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Nolan uses Batman's character to develop the theme of heroic quest in ‘The Dark Knight’. Through the film, Batman inspires bravery in others, until the targeted objective was attained, and he was no longer wanted. Firstly, he used his energy and knowledge to defend Gotham City and its citizens. He put his life in danger for the safety of his people. A good revelation of his heroic conduct is verified with his relations with Harvey Dent (Weldon, 2017). He encouraged Harvey to fight the criminals justly using the law. Besides being in a mask and often mistaken for the bad guy, Batman was not afraid to go above and beyond to achieve desirable goals (Weldon, 2017). The society he served hated him but down the line, his intentions were honest, and his objective was to fight for long-term justice. What makes him a superhero is a fact that he does not seek credit from anybody to do what is good unlike many of us who seek acknowledgment to do just and honest work. The other example from the movie which shows that Batman is a superhero is that he lived like a recluse and vigilant protector for Gotham City. He believed justice and peacefulness were the main motives that he struggled for. He fearlessly fought crime and other illegal establishments to attain that objective of justice.
In ‘The Dark Knight’, the term katabasis has been used to illustrate the hardship experiences Batman had to go through for him to achieve his ultimate goal. Firstly, Batman had to put up with the wrong societal perceptions that he was a gangster and murderer. This was a humiliating perception about him. Nevertheless, he soldered on knowing that he did not require the approval of society for him to deliver what he believed to be right (Weldon, 2017). Secondly, Batman made the difficult decision of fighting the Joker who was perceived as a dangerous criminal. Not many people would put have a courageous face to fight with dangerous criminals. He did not fear for his life, but in the course of fight he lost his childhood friend Rachel Dawes to the Joker and even Harvey Dent, who was always supportive of Batman’s ideology.
The theme of hubris and nemesis in ‘The Dark Knight’ is developed using the Joker character. The Joker positioned himself as the mastermind of chaos who rose from the criminal underworld to bring instability to Gotham City. Through his actions, he threw the city into a state of anarchy (Weldon, 2017). The authorities under the influence of Batman tried to ask the Joker to deviate from vigilante activities without success. The Joker with his troops was too proud that nothing could be done to him. Despite being too proud of his actions, at last, the Joker was arrested and was begging of his downfall. If he had followed to the pleas of Batman from the beginning, he would not have ended up in prison. Nevertheless, the film does not reveal what happened to the Joker after his downfall and arrest. It is speculative that he faced the law and got sentenced.
In summation, ‘The Dark Knight’ by Christopher Nolan built significant themes that are of superior morals to the society we live in. For instance, the theme of brain and brawn confirmed by the actions of Batman in the film shows that society can have few people who stand for the truth and honesty. The theme further illustrates that doing good does not require recognition and praise from society. The theme of heroic quest is similarly built around the actions of Batman. Despite the negative criticism from society and being branded as the gangster, he stands firm to bring justice and peace to Gotham City. The theme of hubris and nemesis is built using the Joker who is a proud menace but at last, falls into the hands of the law.
References
- Boge, C. (2016). Suspending Democracy: Vigilante Justice and the Rule of Law in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy. In Crime Fiction and the Law (pp. 115-133). Routledge.
- Weldon, G. (2017). The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture. Simon and Schuster.
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