George Bush as Batman

Here's hoping that Andrew Klavan never goes to Hollywood:

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.

Cover your eyes if your one of the five people in America yet to see this flick. The Dark Knight is a flawed film that isn't as good as its predecessor--it lacks the same energy and drive of Christopher Nolan's original take. It is very ambitious--the murder of Rachel Dawes is particularly inspired, and Aaron Eckhart is really really good. I thought it was a noble, if highly flawed, effort--and I say this as a fan of virtually every Nolan film. But no matter how problematic the Dark Knight is, the movie doesn't deserve to picked over by people whose politics so overwhelm them, that they see argument in a product that was created to make you buy popcorn. It's worth noting that one of the most poingant moments in the film comes when Batman sees he can no longer terrorize the mob into squealing. But really, I don't want to make an argument for why The Dark Knight is actually a lefty movie and not a right-wing defense of the War On Terror. I want to make an argument against unthoughtful hacks and their need to piggy-back their politics on to virtually anything.

Comments

I was wondering when you'd get around to talking about the Dark Knight. Sorry you didn't seem to like it as much as the first one, but I think you're 100% correct on your assessment of people pigeonholing the film's message with their own political views. Anyone can argue it either way, but to say that a masked vigilante taking on an anarchist in clown makeup is analogous to the war on terror is more than a bit of a stretch and I certainly think Nolan is way too good of a film maker to have meant anything like that.

Posted by N8 | July 25, 2008 11:09 AM

A) Dark Knight is the s--t, American classic, sorry Coates but we're gonna have to disagree on that one.

B) I'm sick of all the people seeing right-wing propaganda in this movie when it blatantly isn't there.

Batman tortures people--and it DOESN'T WORK (Sal laughs at him with broken legs and the Joker gives him false information). Batman does, "wiretapping" to find the Joker--and loses his friend, confidant, and primary businessman because of it (after specifically being told that its too much power for one man and is "wrong"). Batman gets involved with politics by trying to buy/financially support Harvey Dent's rise (remember the fund raiser?) and sees his dreams crushed as Harvey is disfigured and dead. And ultimately, Batman realizes that he CANNOT KILL, so is therefore seconds away from stepping away from the bat mantle before fate intervenes. I simply don't see how one could say that this movie is right-wing propaganda. It doesn't fit with how things actually work out in the film.

Posted by Alexander | July 25, 2008 4:35 PM

While there is a case to be made for Bush as Batman - a wealthy wastrel who dresses in disguises (in Bush's case, as an adult) and has a British servant (aka Tony "Poodle" Blair) - a more convincing analogy would be Bush as Two-Face, whose character flaws end up disfiguring the presidency a la Dorian Gray. Rove is a perfect Joker, running amok as Commissioner Gordon, representing the American people, signals for help from a reluctant, impotent Congress. The main character is the darkness of Gotham in the post-Constitutional, post-habeas corpus reign of the Dementors - Cheney, Addington, Woo, Rumsfeld, et. al. Pray God there be no sequel...

Posted by F. Shoe Fitzwearit | July 25, 2008 4:56 PM

While there is a case to be made for Bush as Batman - a wealthy wastrel who dresses in disguises (in Bush's case, as an adult) and has a British servant (aka Tony "Poodle" Blair) - a more convincing analogy would be Bush as Two-Face, whose character flaws end up disfiguring the presidency a la Dorian Gray. Rove is a perfect Joker, running amok as Commissioner Gordon, representing the American people, signals for help from a reluctant, impotent Congress. The main character is the darkness of Gotham in the post-Constitutional, post-habeas corpus reign of the Dementors - Cheney, Addington, Woo, Rumsfeld, et. al. Pray God there be no sequel...

Posted by F. Shoe Fitzwearit | July 25, 2008 4:58 PM