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TechnoratiThe important question to ask is whether The Joker is right.
An Inconvenient Morality
"The Dark Knight" does not provide any easy answers. The optimistic viewer will find plenty of examples of people trying to do the right thing, engaging in self-sacrifice, and taking time to examine themselves before acting. But the film balances these with otherwise upright citizens who will try to engage in blackmail if they think they can get away with it, who will shoot an innocent man on orders of The Joker in response to the fear of what The Joker might do if they don’t, who will violate the law and terrorize a person in police custody to get the information they need to prevent another crime, who will democratically vote to slaughter a boatload of prisoners, who will deliver an innocent man to death to save a relative, who will violate the rights of millions of people in order to capture a dangerous man, and who will openly lie to the citizens to maintain their faith in the system.
Is this imagery unfair?
We live in an era in which, for the majority among us, truth and morality do not matter. In 2002, researcher George Barna revealed some startling statistics about public morality. What Barna discovered in his study was that only 4 percent of all teenagers believe in moral absolutes. And only 9% of Christian teens believe in moral absolutes. Startlingly, only 32% of Christian adults believe in moral absolutes. Study after study shows us to be a nation of liars and opportunists. When people say that there are no moral absolutes, they reveal something about their character. Rules apply when convenient, and can be discarded when the cost of following them appears to exceed the temporal benefits of adhering.
Of course, living in a chaotic world of moral anarchy presents many dangers. The quickest way to expose the false nature of nihilists is make them victims of crime. Lie to them, steal from them, and like everyone else they will cry, “Foul!” But in a culture taught that morality is subjective and relative, and that truth is nothing more than a social construct, how often can we go to our collective historical moral well and expect to find anything there to draw from? How can a culture that abandons morality replenish that well? And once we draw too deeply, exhausting the reserves created by our forebears, who will be there to champion our cause?
Seeking Heroes in a Post-Heroic Culture
Batman, as currently conceived, is the only help in the time of post-moral need. Bruce Wayne admits to his butler, Alfred, and his former girlfriend, Rachel Dawes, that Batman is an unusual sort of hero. Wayne recognizes that a vigilante hero might be the only thing standing between Gotham and bedlam for now, but that kind of order cannot be maintained. Trying to do right, while engaging in illegal activities, is a tightrope act. Gotham City needs a moral leader who can do the right thing while living his life out in the open (what used to be called “character”) - a man like Harvey Dent.
The connection between these two strangely complimentary heroes reveals the ultimate agenda of The Joker. Motivated by chaos and anarchy, The Joker sets his sights on destroying all bastions of morality, public or private. As he continues to ratchet up the price that needs to be paid for following the rules, Dent begins to crack. Ultimately, as all followers of the comic book story (or viewers of the pre-Christopher Nolan films) know, Dent is overwhelmed, and is transformed into the villain Two Face.
Batman is not a public figure, but his rule-based morality is a constant challenge to The Joker’s ascendant immorality. The Joker wants to break Batman, even at the cost of his own life. In response to the Joker, Batman says that he only has one rule (it is implied that he tries very hard not to kill people), and The Joker replies that this is the one that Batman will have to violate in order to save one of his friends. When Batman acts virtuously in the face of immense temptation to do otherwise, The Joker accuses him of a “misplaced sense of self-righteousness.” In the end, Batman is forced to take upon himself the sins of another, and perform the services of a scapegoat, an outcast, in order to save the city that rejects him. Continue »
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