Heroes And Villains: Interpreting The Dark Knight (Essay Sample)

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31st July, 2018
Heroes and Villains: Interpreting the dark knight
The dark knight is a film by Christopher Nolan bringing out heroism and vigilantism as depicted through Batman who, as the hero keeps Gotham City free of crime until a criminal known as the Joker who is the main villain, brings chaos to the town. Batman presents a “befitting super hero: a corporate magnate, dedicated citizen and vigilante crime fighter of Gotham who disclaims heroism and seems virtually incorruptible Baum (267).” Dent is also presented as a hero of a kind as it emerges towards the end of the film that he is the ideal hero. Evil in the film is introduced through seven different kinds of villains right at the beginning of the film in the gang of clowns that the Joker hires who do not escape from the bank alive, the Joker himself, the bank manager who launders money and protects the gang that robs the bank, the drug dealer, corrupt cops, the drug supplier and the organized crimes Boscaljon (51). This paper will be discussing the film’s idea of heroes and villains through the amount of evil that takes place throughout the whole film as opposed to the good.
As the movie begins, we see the extent of evil through the characters like the clowns that rob a bank, the bank manager who does not protect the money belonging to the mob as well as the scenes with the drug dealers and the Chechen thugs. The bank manager, who is presented to be morally and financially bankrupt, brings out the Joker’s villain nature when the Joker places a grenade in his mouth. This scene between the Joker and the bank manager contrasts the evil presented by the Joker as opposed to the other characters.
Evil is portrayed on all levels through the Joker whose viciousness “reaches levels of wild lawlessness that continually threaten to undermine even the good of his own self-preservation” Boscaljon (55). The joker is seen to enjoy the suffering of others, pushing others into evil, preying on the frail hearts of others and bringing out the character of people choosing self over what is good for all. The Joker is presented as “a force of chaos, a purposes criminal who is not out for anything, and so can’t be understood.” The pervasive nature of the Joker’s evil is seen in his turning people against each other through greed (the gang of clowns) or threat of force (the mobsters, people on the boats) and forcing people to sacrifice their own interests (52).
On the flip side, Batman portrays good through his sacrifices so that other people can have their freedom by risking his life and sacrificing the relationship that he desires. Batman goes against the law in some instances when he engages in violence and kidnapping but he does this to secure the law especially when working against the mobsters as opposed to the Joker who uses public property to serve his own needs (55). We also see Batman going against the law when Lucius tells him that “spying on 30 million people is not part of my job description.” This character can also be explored well trough Batman’s relationship with the other characters in the film. As the film begins, we see a conversation between the Joker and the bank manager which largely contrasts the evil represented by the joker as compared to that displayed by the other characters as we will see.
The relationship between Batman and the Joker who are the two dominant figures in the film shows the Joker as a representation of everything that Batman is fighting against. The Joker’s representation of evil in this relationship is seen in that while Batman’s goal is to make the people make the right choices, the Joker’s idea is to lead them to do wrong to show them that between a choice of good and evil, they should choose evil. The Joker threatens Batman to reveal his identity or be killed to choose between Harvey Dent and the woman he loves where he forces Batman to choose the woman over the man who could save the city. While the Joker is seen as the Villain in the film, he personally does not cause majority of the violence blamed on him as his role is seen to be exposing fault lines in the human society. His role is seen to be as creating an opportunity for carrying out evil as opposed to carrying out evil himself Boscaljon (57).
Batman and Two-Face presents a villain who provides hope while allowing the viewer to escape the pain of the “rat hole of evil.” It can be revealed later that Two-Face is the true hero as opposed to the villain he was presented to be a she manifest “spirit and desire to pursue justice- outside the world that he once lived by (60).” Batman and Dent’s relationship presents a more complex vision of the good than what the Joker and Batman have. Dent later emerges as the central figure of the film as his character is emphasized in the movie to make it the movie’s grandest moral statement. Dent represents the film maker’s idea of a justice and heroism. The movie reveals a side that was previously hidden from the viewers through Batman’s lies that he is the one who had committed murders that were otherwise committed by Dent when he prosecuted the mob. Dent is the District Attorney in charge of representing Gotham’s best chance at wholeness within the confines of the law. In his own words in the film, Dent states that “you either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself ...