Saturday 1 August 2009

Spotlight: The Dark Knight




I re-watched my Dark-Knight dvd three days ago, and mehn i still dey gbadu that film. Such a far cry from "the-young-shall-grow" Spiderman (Spidy fans, una sorry o!) and play-boy Ironman; Christopher Nolan's Batman is the truest representation (as far as i'm concerned) of the modern hero we deserve, and the kind of world he'd find himself saving. Not some dashing knight in shining armor who swoops in and saves the day and everyone cheers and the bad guys hang their heads in shame, no. We all know it never happens like that - at least, not in this crazy world we live.

Now, apart from the super-hero angle of things, The Dark Knight also nudges me to think about the good/evil within all of us. I came across a fine blog on the movie today, and i was really struck by what it had to say. Like the Bible says "all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory, the movie highlights the fact that we all have the in-built capacity to be both angelically good and diabolically evil; the dividing line between the good guy and the bad is simply the choice each one makes. Thus, it is this inherent ability to do both good and evil that the character of the Joker (superbly played by Heath Ledger, R.I.P) capitalizes on, his aim being to prove that EVERYONE is as crazy and homicidal as he is, and would kill - just like him - if placed in the right spot. And that spot being a world completely without rules, hence his favorite question: Why so serious?? :D

My friends and i watched Dark Knight when it first premiered last year, and all i kept hearing from 'em was how terrific Heath Ledger was with his potrayal of the Joker. Granted, the Joker was really tight, but what struck me most was the Batman's ultimate sacrifice - accepting to take the blame for Harvey Dent's actions, so that the past good deeds of Gotham's "White Knight" would not be marred by the later murders committed by his grief-deranged mind. And so, Gotham's avenging angel became its most wanted fugitive, cos he took the fall for another man's actions..... dunnit make you wanna weep?!

On a side note, I actually debated whether to call this post "Why So Serious?"; that's how tight the Joker's lines are. But hey, it aint him the spotlight is on. So scratch that.


P.S: This is NOT a diss post! I love Spidy and i think Ironman is the best thing ever since the Incredible Hulk! Just so you know it, teehehehe.

11 comments:

miss.fab said...

am i first??? ahhh *does happy dance*

the dark knight is, without a doubt, the greatest movie EVER made. ok well maybe not the greatest, but i am really in love with the joker. heath ledger deserved every single award he won for that (and more).

interesting perspective though. that was noble of him to take the blame for 2-face's actions. it would've been so easy for him not to, i mean the guy was dead anyway so who cares, right? but it was important for harvey dent's good guy image to be preserved in of gotham. makes you wonder if every great person who ever lived was really as "noble" as people think they were. things like this are the very essence of conspiracy theories

Chari said...

loved this piece brov! keepin it comin man!

kay9 said...

@miss.fab: lol! who dey choreograph ur dance? yes o, all thoz great men n women dem dey us for social studies, who knows wat skeletons n akpati-ochicha's they have in their cuoboards. In fact, e be like say i go do small Batman snoop-work of my own! :D

@chari: thnx man, n thnx 4 stoppin by!

Nice Anon said...

hmmmm kam kuda ume first.

I loved that movie and the way you have written about it makes for a very interesting read. Now I am thinking about the good and bad in us as well.

kay9 said...

@Nice: Yesssss, i've always known you were a good bad gurl. (lol)

Sir Scribbles II said...

Nice one mehn! apart from livng every single scen, line, act and characted in thsi movie i feel what u r saying. The whole angelically good and diabolically evil was was a potrayal of reality yes and I feel u nd batman taking d blame for harvey dent's crimes cos it was really a deep sacrifice. But no lie..Heath Ledger killed d Joker mehn! i love that guy " Why so serious?" " Watch as I make this pencil disappear" awesome

leggy said...

dont kill m but ive never watched d dark knight before...

uNWrItten* said...

batman is the ishhhh nuff said!

kay9 said...

@Scribbles - who'd u bury the pencil inside??

@leggy - havn't watched DK? Damn girl, whr u been hiding? Ok, ok, i understand... (lol) Blogvine has it some really funny ish going down in yo apartment :P

@unwritten - word!

Naughty Eyes said...

Surprise!!! Okay, I just HAD to comment on this one...

Can you imagine I spent almost a week watching DK thanks to NEPA/PHCN diappearance acts? I loved it though I felt the emphasis on Joker was a tad too much. Or maybe my brother had talked about it too much? The pencil-disappearing act? Awesome!

Your review's so well written, I'm impressed. Now I have to go learn how to write like this...

PS: Updated a few of my blogs. Nothing serious or funny I'm afraid... On another hand, if you use Twitter, just search for medianemesis...

chayoma said...

Dark Night na my movie. forget!
Every Month, break out the popcorn,get all cozy (with or without someborri) and enjoy!

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