Anarchic Analogy

This isn’t a review. This article is not about the film either. In fact, this film is not yet another Superhero film. The Dark Knight is not about Batman and exploits against his nemesis...it’s just a facade. It’s a facade that writer/director Christopher Nolan uses to question the dichotomy between good & evil...between hero and villain... between light and darkness.

Let’s start with the name – The Dark Knight. Does anything strike you? The name in itself is an oxymoron...well... not in the truest sense, but it does question the hegemonic beliefs about Knights/night. The pun on ‘night’ is obvious instantly. So the Knight is as dark as the night. Or is the night as dark as the Knight? Night has traditionally been associated with evil/Satan, and Knights with good deeds, and they are always in shining Armour (light). So, is our perception, correctly placed? And then who is the knight? The Batman in his dark costume, or the Joker with a technicolor face? Does this seem baffling? Well, it’s just the beginning.

This film speaks to the audience on various levels. The most apparent is the clash between Batman and the evil Joker. But even at this level, Nolan, seems to mock at the notion of such a struggle. And through Harvey Dent, he ties to convey the message. The two faced Harvey, is in fact, a perfect alter ego, of both the Batman and the Joker. In the first half, Wayne sees Harvey, as the man who can guarantee a retirement plan for the Batman, and in the second, Dent, becomes the Joker’s successor. Nolan uses the age-old theatrical device of the mask, to show two sides of a coin (Harvey’s coin is yet another device) and yes, the coin reminds me of yet another old debate between free will and pre destination, and man’s obsession with it. Dent thought that he could create his destiny, but then was he successful? Through the two faced Harvey, Nolan, tries to say that the battle is not being waged outside, but the struggle is inside us. Even in the climax of the film, it is not Batman vs The Joker, but the battle is raging inside the people stuck on the two barges.

The Dark Knight also brings to fore the question of identity. In a perfectly shot jail room sequence, the Joker asks the Batman, “What are you without me, and what am I without you?” The existence of the self is based on the construction of the other. The self cannot exist without the Other. God would not have existed if there were no Satan. How can there be a Heaven, if there is no Hell? And does Black have any meaning without the existence of White? For the preservation of Self, man constantly creates and re-creates the Other. So when Joker asks the poignant question, he is not only questioning the Batman, but the entire theology and tradition that gives birth to such ideas/heroes/superheroes. Imagine there was no dichotomy between good and bad, between God and Satan, between Man and Woman...Do you think there would have been any conflict? Look at any conflict raging around, and you can reduce all those struggles to the basic dichotomies. If there was no difference between Man and Woman, do you think the society would have been as it is now? If there was no Self and the Other, between God and Satan, do you think religions would have existed....and if there were no religion, then would have terrorism cropped up? If there was no God, then there would not have been Feudalism, and without Feudalism neither Fascism nor Capitalism would have cropped up. No Capitalism means no Communism, that means no Cold War would have had happened. No Cold War, means no Afghanistan. No Afghanistan means no Taliban and Al Qaeda. Can it be simpler than this? No matter how complex a situation is, everything derives its legitimacy from the basic dichotomy between God and Satan, between good and evil. Thus, a seemingly innocuous question by Joker has the potential to change the entire world order.

And this is the power of this film.

It does not matter whether you have seen the film or not, go and watch it again. You’ll probably unveil yet another layer beneath the apparent.