Banter Voices

Occupy Wall Street & The Batman

By Oliver Willis · July 22,2012

SPOILERS. I AM GOING TO DISCUSS PLOT DETAILS FOR THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. YOU WERE WARNED.

So I finally saw The Dark Knight Rises, and it was awesome. One of the better superhero movies ever made, and a fitting end to an excellent trilogy from Chris Nolan, who has left a giant shadow over the entire genre.

Ok, so the Occupy Wall Street thing.

A lot of this is — as usual — people seeing what they want to see. If you think that the Occupy movement is all about anarchy (and there are some people in the movement with that intent) then yes, the movie will reflect that. But in reality I don’t think the majority of Occupy is about anarchy, but rather wealth inequality, which really isn’t in the movie.

When Bane institutes chaos and mob justice in Gotham, it is all about introducing anarchy which feasts on itself as the ticking time bomb winds down. Anarchy can’t work, at least not in a healthy way. I don’t think that’s an anti-leftist message, but rather just common sense.

Gotham, throughout the trilogy, has had three different choices: The order of old Gotham, where criminals profit and the police are corrupt. The anarchy/nihilism of Bane and the Joker, where everything is just absolute chaos. Or order under Batman, where he and Commissioner Gordon (God, do i love Gary Oldman!) are the sources of real justice and order — fighting against the criminals on the street AND the criminals in charge of Gotham, including those in political office.

Of the three, the Batman/Gordon world is the one the citizens ultimately choose. It is the best one for them.

Batman as a character is far more complex than left/right, in my opinion. He’s got a moral code against guns and killing, but he also is willing to violate civil liberties and go beyond what is allowable under the law in pursuit of justice. He is willing to call out evil, but is able to see redemption in those where the light hasn’t yet been snuffed out.

He is a fictional character, but Batman is no simple minded cartoon.

Also, he kicked ass.

Plunket

The Occupy Gothamers expected their fair share, the same thing Obama is telling you. ‘Those guys that built those businesses, you and Obama built that, not them.’

Tell me how great that must’ve been for you in that scene where the exiled 1%-ers fell through the ice to their deaths, dweebee. Awesome beyond words?
- Christopher Foxx
  
  Plunket: ‘Those guys that built those businesses, you and Obama built that, not them.’
  
  When you have to rely on an obvious lie to make your point, Plunket, you really only show that you don’t have a case.
db

Was it Jesus, Thomas Wayne,or Peter Parker, who said, “To whom much is given, much is expected”?
- Plunket
  
  Was it Jesus, Thomas Wayne,or Peter Parker, who said, “To whom much is given, much is expected”?
  
  It was Luke, dweeb. And sorry, for you and Obama, he wasn’t talking about eating the rich.
  - db
    
    Nah it couldn’t have been Luke. He was too short to be a Storm Trooper.
    
    I do remember Jesus mentioning something about rich men & camels & needles.
Plunket

I kept thinking during the Occupy Gotham Trials against the big fat cats and police chief Gordon and his crew, that before The Scarecrow handed down the ‘Death or Exile’ choice, that Chris Nolan would replay the clip of Obama’s collectivist “You didn’t build that’ speech, just before the judge sentenced the 1%-ers and law enforcers to die.

Or maybe a clip of his frank admission with Joe Wurzelbacher that “when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”

The roar of approval from the Gotham Occupiers in that movie would’ve been deafening.

Banter Voices

Occupy Wall Street & The Batman

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