Saw Batman on Sunday. What a piece of reactionary tripe! (spoilers inside)

[redgreenandblue]

Look, I got to admit, when I was watching the movie I did not pick up on the political subtext. It was a decently entertaining movie with fast paced action, the kind of thing that makes you shut off your brain and enjoy the „crash boom bang“ visuals. Only after digesting it for a few days did I realize what a staunch piece of right-wing propaganda it is.

The message of the movie is pretty clear: Rugged individualism is good. Working together for the common good is bad. Law enforcement can never work if it is obstructed by pesky civil liberties and constitutional rights. And liberals are out to steal all your money, throw the country into anarchy and then finally kill everyone.

And of course, the only people holding society together are the millionaires. It is almost if Ayn Rand had co-authored the script.

The villians target Wall street and make an anti-capitalistic speech that could almost get one to sympathise with them, if they weren't in fact taking hostages and killing people at the same time. Then they go and let all the criminals out of the indefinite detention center and give them guns, commenting on the immorality of indefinite detention without due-process. Of course it is all just a secret plot to create anarchy and mob-rule and finally kill everyone, because, you know, that is what liberals do (social justice means let the terrorists out and give them AK47s, kill all rich people and take their homes and finally detonate a hydrogen bomb, to punish society for its „decadence“).

And behind it all is, guess who, the only one of the millionaires who actually spent some of her fortune on social projects (that should have been a dead giveaway, because which person in their right mind would do that?).

Of course all the good guys, even commisioner Gordon, are on board for indefinite detention without due process, because otherwise the criminals win.

Then there is the scene that prompts „Robin“ to realize that he can no longer be a cop that follows orders and acts within the rules. He is trying to drive a truck full of kids over a bridge to save them, but those idiot cops on the other side won't let them cross. No mention of the fact that those cops are operating under the assumption that if the bus crosses the hydrogen bomb will go off. How could they be so shameless and brainless and place the lives of everyone in Gotham over the lives of one bus full of people. And how dare they get in the way of one man's rugged individualistic heroism.

I could go on, but you get the picture. The political message of that movie is not very subtle.

[Ter]

1. I beg to differ

Bane and his boys were right-wing anti-government Timothy McVeigh types. Batman, while no liberal, was someone who brought his city back together.

[Drale]

27. Not only that but (spoiler)

He was a pawn as well, to Talia Al Ghul

[hedgehog]

2. Maybe that's why I've always preferred Marvel to DC!

[fascisthunter]

4. Interesting, because I felt and still feel that way

[RoccoRyg]

19. I don't know....

Marvel's Civil War had Tony Stark's pro-registration side winning, and Captain America's civil rights-supporting rebellion losing. Of course, I did like Norman Osborn taking over SHIELD and turning it fascist.

[flamingdem]

3. I think the writer is a repuke n/t

[FSogol]

5. IMO, it is a waste of time to look for a message in that film.

It pseudo-intellectually touches on themes popular in the mass consciousness such as Wall Street, the rich, terrorism, protests, torture, to make the Batman character seem more realistic and gritty. Compare the earliest Batman stuff with the recent.

Any statement found in the movie is only a muddled half conceived thought. The people who cheer its message are saying, "That's exactly right, whatever they were talking about"

[cynatnite]

6. It fit the narrative from the previous movies...

It's always to read what we want to see in movies.

The message you saw in the movie just is not there. Batman and Catwoman wound up working together in the end for the common good. The same goes a number of others such as Gordon and "Robin".

As far as the bridge scene goes...I've heard it compared to what happened on the bridge when Katrina hit in NOLA and the cops shot at civilians.

I don't think the political message is as cut and dry as you believe.

[catbyte]

7. Are you lost?

[redgreenandblue]

14. Why would I be?

[MyshkinCommaPrince]

8. Bring back Adam West, I say.

I can't stand recent treatments of Batman and Gotham City. Batman used to remind us of the value of being a good citizen, back when we were still "citizens" and not "consumers". Now he's just another revenge fantasy ninja wannabe, with toys developed for the military. Batman has become a jerk. Does he even do any proper detective work any longer?

Grumble, murgle. Ooh, it makes me so mad!

[LongTomH]

9. Movies, most movies, are a Rorsach test!

You can read into them whatever you like. There are a relative few with a clear political message: To Kill A Mockingbird had a clearly Liberal message.

[redgreenandblue]

12. I have to disagree.

I think a writer, whether intentionally or unintentionally, always has an agenda.

[sharp_stick]

10. It's just a fucking movie n/t

[redgreenandblue]

13. I wouldn't dismiss movies.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-you-dont-realize-movies-are-controlling-your-brain/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=080912

Has been posted here earlier. Interesting read.

[Hydra]

25. Thanks for the link

And while some of the conclusions were crazy, the author was entirely right that people tell stories, write and make movies to change minds...and to spread their particular neuroses.

Thoughts are viral as it is, but to add an "easing" element to it? Talk about "selling" an idea.

[Wednesdays]

15. So is "The Birth of a Nation"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_of_a_Nation

"The movie is also credited as one of the events that inspired the formation of the "second era" Ku Klux Klan at Stone Mountain, Georgia in the same year. The Birth of a Nation was used as a recruiting tool for the KKK."

Not saying this Batman film is anything like The Birth of a Nation, but movies do affect public opinion.

[Drale]

28. The Civil War scenes in that movie are good

but its such a raciest and politically motivated movie, its not even funny.

[Jennicut]

11. Chris Nolan has said the movies are not meant to be

about today's politics. Though the creators of Bane in the Batman comics have said they are conservatives. They also said Bane was more an "Occupy Wall St." type.
"Bane was created by me and Graham Nolan and we are lifelong conservatives and as far from left-wing mouthpieces as you are likely to find in comics,” he told ComicBook.com. "He’s far more akin to an Occupy Wall Street type if you’re looking to cast him politically.

http://movieline.com/2012/07/19/bane-dark-knight-rises-bain-rush-limbaugh/#utm_source=copypaste&utm_campaign=referral

Who the hell knows? I just watch movies and see a lot of them as fantasy about a different time and place.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

16. I haven't seen it yet....

I debated going today, but I'm not up for 2 and a half hours.

Quite frankly give me The Avengers 10 times over....comic book movies shouldn't be making me question the writer's motives.

[HopeHoops]

17. I avoided the body of the OP to avoid the spoilers (haven't seen it yet) - it was written 2 yrs ago.

And as for any reference to Bane/Bain, the Bane character was introduced somewhere in the 90's and is unrelated in all ways to rMoney.

[Alduin]

18. Wait, what?

I didn't get that at all.

[4th law of robotics]

20. If you're trying to get a bunch of people on your side in a time of crises

then faux-populism (such as what Bane practiced) is a pretty good way to do it.

[cemaphonic]

21. I don't know - I think the movie is simultaneously too complex and too shallow to be political.

I noticed a lot of the things that you did too, but keep in mind:

- Bane wasn't actually a left-wing terrorist. He was a mass murderer with a personal motive that used vaguely leftist (radical leftist at that, not liberal) propaganda. And he was established in the very first scene as both brutal and manipulative. I never felt like the audience was expected to take him at face value once he started making political speeches.

- The looting and Reign of Terror wasn't done by regular citizens for the most part - they were cowering in their homes. It was Bane's crew, and the released prisoners that were doing most of that. And again they were never made out to be genuine social crusaders

-Gordon at least is very conflicted about the harsh criminal laws. It's compromised his credibility in his career and wrecked his marriage.

-As for Batman, one of the recurring themes in all three movies is the question of whether his methods are making things better or worse.

Plus, it's pretty shallow. It touches on a number of political themes, but haphazardly and not very deeply. I don't think the filmmakers were trying to argue for any particular point, but to make an action movie that would give the audience something to think about other than "what will explode next."

And finally, yeah, the whole concept of Batman is kinda rightwing (especially post Dark Knight Returns, which this movie heavily references). I think part of the appeal is that he's this extremely violent vigilante but the stakes are always fairly high and he is unfailingly correct about who needs a beating. So if this stuff bothers you, maybe stay away from Batman.

[SomethingFishy]

22. I thought the movie sucked and it had nothing to do with politics.

It was rehashed cliche'd tripe and I expected way more from Nolan. The fight scenes were lame, the action predictable, the whole superhero gets hurt or loses his powers for the second act is pointless. Not to mention the incredibly stupid "bomb" that spent all that time deteriorating to the point where it was so weak it was going to blow up all by itself in 11 minutes. At which point the fucking thing fell off a bridge and continued to roll down the street. Just dumb.

Avengers was way better.

[DerekG]

23. The stupidest scene in an unfathomably stupid movie

Bane holds up a picture of Harvey Dent, reads Gordon's confessional, and all hell breaks loose.



Now, if I were a Gothamite, I'd be asking Bane two questions...

1. "Um, Mr. Psychotic Lunatic: How about you prove Gordon wrote that letter?"

2. "Um, Mr. Psychotic Lunatic: Even if Gordon wrote that letter, and Harvey Dent did indeed snap, why should I care? You just blew up the football team, broke a guy's neck, turned the city into a disaster zone, and happen to be threatening every one of us with nuclear destruction. Go fuck yourself"

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

24. LOL! That and "Could you repeat that? No seriously I can't

understand what the fuck you're saying!"

[Bluenorthwest]

26. Go see 'Red Hook Summer', come back and we can talk about that.

Dark Knight is not worth the typing.

[RandySF]

29. It was similar to the No Man's Land story line from a number of years ago.

In it, Gotham residents became dependent on the good will of criminals instead of fending for themselves. It also portrayed welfare recipients of incapable of telling the difference between the good guys and bad guys so long as someone gave them a handout.