Abstract
Many understand Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy by placing it in contemporary historical context, rendering it a commentary on life in the post-September 11 world where terror is an ever-present possibility and security proves at best elusive. Life can end without warning, and democratic institutions find themselves at a disadvantage vis-à-vis fanatical adversaries that respect no rules or norms of any kind. Under such circumstances, what can—what must—a democratic society do to defend itself?
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Notes
- 1.
See Steven Johnston, American Dionysia: Violence, Tragedy, and Democratic Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015), 41–53.
- 2.
See David M. Halbfinger, “Batman’s Burden: A Director Confronts Darkness and Death,” The New York Times, March 9, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/movies/09halb.html
- 3.
Manohla Dargis, “Showdown in Gotham Town,” The New York Times, July 18, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/movies/18knig.html
- 4.
In addition to the urban military hardware that Wayne Enterprises develops for Batman, Bruce Wayne engineers a totalitarian surveillance system enabling him to locate the Joker. He could pinpoint his (anyone’s) whereabouts by turning his mobile phone against him. Lucius Fox destroys this system at the end of the film (after it has fulfilled its purpose), but the technology still exists.
- 5.
See Elisabeth R. Anker, Orgies of Feeling: Melodrama and the Politics of Freedom (Durham: Duke University Press, 2014), chapter five.
- 6.
Dargis, “Showdown in Gotham Town.”
- 7.
In the third installment, The Dark Knight Rises, the so-called Dent Act enhanced state power and was subsequently unleashed against organized crime, thereby eradicating it.
- 8.
Max Weber, “Politics as a Vocation,” From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, eds. H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1958).
- 9.
The Joker gave Batman a choice: save Harvey or save Rachel. He could not do both. Batman (thought he) chose Rachel, effectively condemning Harvey to death. Gordon was never going to make it to either destination in time, which Batman knew. The Joker’s ruse saved Harvey, which was the Joker’s plan all along, a prelude to his later destruction.
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Johnston, S. (2019). The Dark Knight: Toward a Democratic Tragedy. In: Picariello, D. (eds) Politics in Gotham. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05776-3_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05776-3_3
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