Themes of The Dark Knight

Escalation
The escalation occurs in every area, and is about nothing less than the raising
and felling of knights, men so devoted to the public good that they will risk
anything to protect it, including losing those they love, and becoming
something they didn’t intend or desire to become.
We start carrying semi-automatics, they buy automatics. We start wearing
Kevlar, they buy armor-piercing rounds.
You crossed the line first, sir. You squeezed them, you hammered them to the
point of desperation. And in their desperation they turned to a man they didn't
fully understand
You spat in the faces of Gotham's worse criminals. Did you not expect
casualties? Things were always going to get worse before they got better.
Gotham City is weak and the citizens blame Batman for the city's violence and
corruption as well as the Joker's threats, and it pushes his limits, making him
feel that taking the laws into his own hands is further downgrading the city.
As we looked through the comics, there was this fascinating idea that
Batman's presence in Gotham actually attracts criminals to Gotham, [it]
attracts lunacy. When you're dealing with questionable notions like people
taking the law into their own hands, you have to really ask, where does that
lead? That's what makes the character so dark, because he expresses a
vengeful desire."

With great responsibility comes great sacrifice
that is what it will take for one incorruptible man to stop one unrepentant one.
And therein lies the conflict. A strong man may choose to be a hero, but no
sane man chooses to be a saviour—the cost is too high, for of every saviour
is required one thing, a horrific personal sacrifice, nothing less than a man’s
soul.
When the Joker makes his ascension to the top of the city’s crime bosses, it is
clear that Gotham needs something more than a mere hero, it needs a
saviour. This sort of religious terminology is not entirely out of place. The Dark
Knight wrestles with ethical paradoxes which the Jokes designed to push
Batman and the entire population of Gotham City over the edge into utter
chaos. The Joker said, “Madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a
little push.” Sacrifice, however, requires something more; a cross, a nail, and
a willingness to surrender. Batman was winning his physical battles, but in
order to truly triumph over the evil on Gotham, he must be willing to surrender
his internal ones.
In order to save the city, Batman was forced to contemplate and then ride out
a descent toward something he very much didn’t want to be, a career caped
crusader. He pinned his hopes for a normal life on love for a woman, unaware
that the love for a city would be all that was left at the end of the day. It
remains to be seen whether that will be enough.

What does it mean to be a hero
A blessing or a curse?
Heroes become villains if they stick around long enough (Churchill/Julius
Caesar)
If a heroic figure is a real person, someone who the city puts their hopes and
dreams onto, that hero will inevitably disappoint
in a world where there are no clear-cut heroes (which is to say - the real
world), evil manifests itself in often-unpredictable ways, and we all have roles
to play in the outcome.
that no one is innocent, and that we all have choices to make
While Batman is the main protagonist the heroism of his actions are
downplayed by secondary characters who make up Gotham. The people are
the backbone that holds the city together. The ordinary people are the heroes
 Gordon lays down his life for the mayor
 Ferries elect not to blow each other up
 Alfred and Lucius Fox are the two consciences in the movie
 Rachel gives up on a relationship as knows Gotham needs Batman
With Batman, his heroism is related to being the unknown savior. He is almost
a mortal God among men, because he’s mysterious, anonymous, and he
strikes down baddies whenever it’s needed in Gotham.
Bruce Wayne himself is a pretty secretive man, which allows him to take on
his night duties as the Batman with no questions asked from those around
him. There is almost no one to question what he does.
The question is how he accomplishes these feats.
The Dark Knight itself brings into question the actions of Batman when it asks
if Batman really is a hero, or just a helpful criminal.

using violence as a common person in society/taken it upon himself to
save Gotham = vigilante
 using violence to stop criminals/ its not self-defence, how different is it
from criminals, which is why he can’t reveal his identity
 Batman gets away with crime creates conflict within society/where
does it stop – vigilante violence/kidnapping/torture in interrogation/kills
Two-Face
But how much crime would there be without him?
Is Dent a hero?
- DA putting criminals away/cleaning up the streets/the legal, ‘clean’ face
that keeps society from breaking/proclaims himself Batman
- yet he asks Batman to kidnap/forcibly extradite Lau to get justice, he
interrogates a suspect by relying on the chance of a coin toss which
Batman warns him about, he tries 500 at once, uses violence in the
courtroom to reinforce his point
- as Two-Face can’t distinguish between good and evil, the coin toss
now its symbol, killing
- which gives the people a dilemma – how do you view a hero, their faith
in humanity, leadership, the law will fall if Dent is seen to be Two-Face
creating chaotic anarchy which is what The Joker wanted – Batman
failing without being defeated
as humans are limited, and that our capacity to be good is subject to
the vagaries of fate and whatever the hell else decides to destroy what
we love.
Dent is not just a proxy for hope, he’s a proxy for us as well
Batman perpetuates the lie, being anonymous he can run, he is the
dark knight


The Dark Knight holds a mirror up to us as viewers and asks us to
look closely, to examine ourselves as humans and as citizens
In our society, what exactly constitutes cause for alarm? And how much
sense do those standards really make?
What do people do when they are put in the worst of situations? What would
you do if you were given the ultimate power over someone else?
When Batman gives Lucius Fox free reign of the cell phone hackery he has
perpetrated
upon all of Gotham. Fox believes that one person should not
have this power. People are so easily corrupted that even an initial desire to
do good can ultimately lead to evil
We also see it at the very end, when two separate sets of people are given
the ability to destroy each other. With both criminals and everyday citizens
concluding that they won’t take another’s life just to preserve their own.
In fighting monsters, we must be careful not to become monsters
individuals and society must never abandon the rule of law in struggling
against the forces of lawlessness
a society so divided on the issues of terror and how to fight it
extreme measures to combat crime mirroring 9/11 War on Terror
-
rendition
torture
Patriot Act
vigilante justice, electronic eavesdropping, and other extra-legal activities
weak economy, political scandal, chaos in Iraq/Afghanistan, where wars can’t
be won and levees don’t hold

Triumph of Evil over Good/the fine line between Good and Evil
Harvey Dent is seen as Gotham's "White Knight" in the beginning of the film
but ends up becoming seduced to evil.
The Joker, on the other hand, is seen as the representation of anarchy and
chaos. He has no motive, no orders, and no desires but to cause havoc and
"watch the world burn."
society needs to believe in the incorruptibility of good and the relative
remoteness of evil
“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the
villain.”
the inevitable corruptibility of heroes in the Batman universe. At the beginning
of the film, Dent represents absolute good, a goodness that’s so pure, that
has so much potential to change Gotham, that even Batman is thinking of
hanging up his spurs.
Dent is referred to frequently as Gotham’s “White Knight,” a term used
throughout the course of the film.
Each of the major characters hits bottom – some never recover, broken by
evil or by finding it like an infection in themselves

Morality tale about the nature of good and evil and their
relationship
Batman caught between his desire to do the right thing as a force for good
working outside the law, and his hope of living the normal humdrum life of a
Lamborghini-driving billionaire
Throughout the film, [the Joker] devises ingenious situations that force
Batman, Commissioner Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent to make
impossible ethical decisions. By the end, the whole moral foundation of the
Batman legend is threatened

The thin line between anarchy and order
the Joker represents anarchy and chaos, a constant and near-unstoppable
force whose origins are inexplicable (something which is made clear rather
explicitly when the Joker delivers two creepily different monologues as to his
scars’ origins -was not meant to explore the Joker’s backstory because it’s
really not that important to the film
The Joker is unpredictable and can’t be reasoned with, nor does he have any
broader goals except to create chaos and destruction.
the Joker upends the genre conventions of a villain in that he has no
inhibitions and refuses to hew even to the ultra-basic moral code of criminals
(see: the opening scene). When a character has no values that you as a
viewer can relate to and hold on to, the results are extremely disorienting.
This unmoors our basic assumptions of the person’s capabilities.
Joker gives Harvey Dent the “It’s all part of the plan” monologue, a speech
that’s chilling not just for its content and delivery, but also because of its
incisive commentary of Americans.The complacency with which we as
Americans have accepted atrocities and miscarriages of justice committed
around the world as well as right here at home may have consequences
beyond what we can imagine

Society breaking down
The Joker as an agent of change
Law corrupting
Vigilantism