Is THIS beyond redemption?
Jul 30th, 2008 | By Barbara | Category: Insights
Morning!
(spoilers about Batman Dark Knight coming your way – abandon ship if you don’t want to be spoiled!)
Well!
My oh my.
I just returned from taking Honorable Daughter I to see the movie Batman. You see, first off, everyone and their friendly neighborhood coffee cup has rhapsodized about the movie – my friends have, my social networks have, heck, even my senseis have….it was the OMIGOSH THE EPIC EVENT BRIMMING WITH EPICNESS THAT I JUST HAAAAAAD TO SEE!
Enough caps for you? 
Now, keep in my a bit of my background here – I live for Star Wars and find the epic themes prevalent in that series to be worthy of utter blinding adoration (how can you improve on the last scene of Padme holding Anakin’s charm to her heart?).
And Batman the Dark Knight?
Well, perhaps it’s that my 40+ years of living experience has left me a weeeee bit jaded. Fact is, I already KNOW:
- Psychos exist in this world (heck, I dated one at age 15 – such things tend to stay with you)
- Ordinary people are capable of extraordinary acts of courage when their loved ones are threatened
- There are people for whom mass, utter destruction for the sole purpose of destruction is enough reason to torch the world
- People like finding scapegoats (gosh that was pounded into me during many abusive years in grammar school)
So for me, yawn, no new message there. And the part about Batman willing to be reviled for the greater good?
I’ve lived 20+ years of my life with the same notion. It’s part of my personal code – I would willingly lose the love and affection of my loved ones and friends if I knew it would save their lives in the end.
One always sacrifices for those whom one loves. It’s just the norm. It’s expected.
Thus, my overall reaction to the movie – it will be forgotten by next year. The epic of Star Wars, however, defined a culture and set of beliefs that will last for decades on end.
But that’s not the point of my post. You know the ferry scene, the one in which one ferry was filled with criminals who had murdered, and other other filled with "good citizens"? I idly commented to my daughter that I believed if someone willingly in cold blood murders another person (or rapes them, or engages in domestic violence etc.), they have surrendered any claims to humanity they might have had.
Oh, the shock on her face. I had forgotten that she lacks my life’s experiences and hasn’t seen 1/10th of what I have myself.
Which brings me to the following idea -
When are people BEYOND redemption?
Hmmm?
I have a very set black and white view on the whole matter.
I firmly believe in treating others as you’d like to be treated yourself….and an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
If you’re going to be part of a community, you need to be a benefit (or at the very least, not destructive). If you cross the line into cold-blooded murder (or rape, or domestic violence, or what have you), you’ve willingly given up your rights as a member of that community.
What do you think?
Pondering,
Barbara Ling
ps – speaking about the Dark Knight, have you seen:
COOL 2 DISC SET BATMAN MASK CONTAINS THE DARK KNIGHT|
Dark Knight Batman Bruce Wayne 12″ RAH MediCom SEALED!|
Batman Dark Knight Skin Cover for Nintendo DSL DS Lite|
MOVIE POSTER ~ BATMAN DARK KNIGHT JOKER TOWN H Ledger|
Batman Dark Knight Skin Cover for Nintendo DSi Console|
BATMAN The Dark Knight Movie Gotham Police SWAT PATCH|
Batman Dark Knight Skin Cover for Nintendo DSi Console|
Batman Private Casebook Hardcover Dark Knight |Packaged w Care in Shipping Box w Delivery Confirm #
Replica Batman Dark Knight Harvey’s Two Face Coins Copy|
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You have to remember though..Batman and his vigilantism has been around far longer than Star Wars.
Batman was and is popular because he was a ‘merely’ human hero…and stood for many things that his pal Superman abhors.
There have been decades of reimaginings of the comic Batman…us comic fans LOVE these movies because they place the concept of a superhero into the real dark yucky world.
Yes..The Joker in our world would be just another scary nutbar…another psycho.
This issues may be not new…but making an archetype deal with them on the big screen realistically is.
The question is…would REAL people support an anti hero like Batman or someone alien like Superman…a man whose values don’t seem to have evolved or shifted with changing times.
So sorry…these movies WILL hold true..they won’t launch a franchise like Star Wars because the movies are part of an old franchise already.
You bring up excellent points! I’ve never been a fan of comic books (adore sword fantasies/science fiction, mind you, but never comic books) so perhaps I’m operating at a disadvantage.
I like your question about “would REAL people support an anti hero like Batman or someone alien like Superman…a man whose values don’t seem to have evolved or shifted with changing times.”
But why is Batman considered an anti-hero? That’s a part that truly confuses me…..
Enjoy, Barbara
Batman is an anti hero because in the later books he has no issues with killing those beyond redemption.
he also plays by his own code and flouts the law.
Big sci fi and fantasty fan here too but grew up with comics and married a comic geek
crunchy carpets’s last blog post..Nintendo and a Rainy Afternoon (and why I can’t see late movies anymore)
Hmmmm, I wouldn’t see killing those beyond redemption to be ‘anti-hero’ like. Interesting.
It’s great to share interests with one’s spouse, isn’t it? Enjoy, Barbara