The two most dramatic events in the public consciousness this summer were always predetermined. On the one hand, there's the overwhelming force of seeing one of the age's most talented directors tackle beloved lore and conclude a trilogy that has renewed countless childhood obsessions. On the other, there's the utter spectacle of election histrionics.
These two events share more than a ubiquity of public discourse. Rest assured, I won't be comparing either candidate to either Batman or Bane--our politicians aren't realistic enough for that. Rather, there's a certain thematic element in The Dark Knight Rises that discloses a social condition brought to light in election season.
The issue can be seen clearly in the film's presentation of Bane's attempted Gotham take-over. (Consider this you spoiler warning.) Bane--that mysterious and brutal figure with voice altered, speech inhuman--begins a revolt from Gotham's core. With rhetoric of equality and brotherhood, he plays on social unrest to overthrow the city and break its people. The rhetoric is a farce, of course--he maintains control of the all-powerful bomb that powers his plot (or, indeed, the mastermind behind him does). To put it frankly, the masses are confused by his Communist ideas that they should have known were lies.
One of the film's most climatic scenes is the fall of Gotham--the aristocrats de-robed, innocents trounced, and the Scarecrow masquerading as judge in place of Robespierre and Saint-Just. It's a thinly veiled rehash of the French Revolution in its worst form. Bane's revolution shows mass movements to be inherently flawed, somehow fated to equal the Terror.
Opposing Bane and the mob alongside the Bat is John Blake. A blue-collar beat cop, Blake sees Bane's evil plainly but is constrained by the legal system he serves. Bureaucrats inhibit his early efforts to search out Bane before it's too late. The National Guard ignores his pleas at the final moments before Bane's bomb detonates, opting to destroy the only possible escape route for Blake and the busload of orphans he has in tow. The hero must fight both the evil mob and the intractable, incompetent government.
The film shows a distrust of both government and mass democratic action. The one is incapable, the other is inherently false. This does not mean Nolan is a secret Objectivist, asking us to rely on lone billionaires with unnatural ability and ingenuity. Rather, Nolan's Batman dives into the psychology of Bruce Wayne to demonstrate the stringent limits on any one individual's power. Batman even goes so far as to explain to Blake his reliance on others. The solution is mythic: The Dark Knight ends with the need for symbols and The Dark Knight Rises centers around that notion, tracing out the need for Batman in Gotham's collective unconscious.
So where does that leave us during this election? Batman succeeds because he's a universal symbol that inspires trust and belief--that's something we lack. Obama is our one true hope to some, but the harbinger of doom to others. Mitt Romney is the least bad alternative at best and the Ayn Rand right is simultaneously the bastion of reason and the downfall of all social bonds. In a world that lived through the 20th Century and can no longer trust in mass democratic movements, where do we turn for systemic change when our government fails?
Our dilemma is bridging the gap in political rhetoric and fixing the worst Congress in history amidst social discontent at a time when all of our symbols have been taken apart, adapted to one group or another. John Blake quit the force to inherit a Batcave--but what do we do without Batman?
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