In view of the impending release of the Dark Knight, I find myself firmly entrenched in the mass hysteria that the death of Heath Ledger and the brilliant marketing campaign has generated; rarely have I been as disappointed as when I learnt that the only IMAX viewing of TDK in India is to be had in Hyderabad, for the Ad Labs in Mumbai, with its famed largest dome in the world, is more interested in setting cash registers ringing with short educational movies about animal habitats or space exploration. So the fact that I am going to be in Mumbai for the week from 20th will in no way allow me to obtain the IMAX experience. Tragic.
However, delving deeper into the Batman 'history' and watching Sherlock Holmes TV shows, I couldn't help but think about the (un)obvious need for having an equally formidable villain in these works- a worthy nemesis to our superhero. So, the intellectual Sherlock Holmes almost needs a devious Moriarty and the caped crusader called Batman has to face-off with a freak like the Joker.
As Shyamalan demonstrated brilliantly in 'The Unbreakable', that the hero and the villain are inexplicably inter-twined; their strengths, weaknesses and destinies related.
The 'clever' hypothesis, which apparently the movie (TDK) re-inforces and the Graphic Novels (like TDK returns) harp on, is that the very existence of Batman draws adversaries like the Joker ( and Penguin, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow) to Gotham City; that as Justice is meted out by a superhero, the perpetrators of crime must change from ordinary gangsters like Falcone/Maronis to these super-villains. Unfortunately, I fail to see any great philosophy here, for it follows from the convenience of artistic construction.
I am yet to read, though I hope to, Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces- which I believe will shed more light on such matters. Still, I wonder if a subversion of this trend is feasible; can Sherlock Holmes confront the Joker? (Batman v/s Moriarty is much more feasible, given Batman's penchant for Crime Scene Investigation and detection).
Now that I have stopped making sense...
Batman as a character is quite believable, not unlike Super Commando Dhruv. That being the case, introduction of villains like Scarecrow or Croc purposefully push it towards an 'unreal', 'comic-book' existence, which I believe is sad. Indeed, the realistic trilogy that Chris Nolan hopes to create, where characters die once etc, is a commendable effort to gain some respect in that sense.
"I've been thinking lately. About you and me. About what's going to happen to us in the end. We're going to kill each other, aren't we? Perhaps you'll kill me. Perhaps I'll kill you. Perhaps sooner. Perhaps later"
My apologies for an incoherent post. Random ideas, you know.
However, delving deeper into the Batman 'history' and watching Sherlock Holmes TV shows, I couldn't help but think about the (un)obvious need for having an equally formidable villain in these works- a worthy nemesis to our superhero. So, the intellectual Sherlock Holmes almost needs a devious Moriarty and the caped crusader called Batman has to face-off with a freak like the Joker.
As Shyamalan demonstrated brilliantly in 'The Unbreakable', that the hero and the villain are inexplicably inter-twined; their strengths, weaknesses and destinies related.
The 'clever' hypothesis, which apparently the movie (TDK) re-inforces and the Graphic Novels (like TDK returns) harp on, is that the very existence of Batman draws adversaries like the Joker ( and Penguin, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow) to Gotham City; that as Justice is meted out by a superhero, the perpetrators of crime must change from ordinary gangsters like Falcone/Maronis to these super-villains. Unfortunately, I fail to see any great philosophy here, for it follows from the convenience of artistic construction.
I am yet to read, though I hope to, Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces- which I believe will shed more light on such matters. Still, I wonder if a subversion of this trend is feasible; can Sherlock Holmes confront the Joker? (Batman v/s Moriarty is much more feasible, given Batman's penchant for Crime Scene Investigation and detection).
Now that I have stopped making sense...
Batman as a character is quite believable, not unlike Super Commando Dhruv. That being the case, introduction of villains like Scarecrow or Croc purposefully push it towards an 'unreal', 'comic-book' existence, which I believe is sad. Indeed, the realistic trilogy that Chris Nolan hopes to create, where characters die once etc, is a commendable effort to gain some respect in that sense.
"I've been thinking lately. About you and me. About what's going to happen to us in the end. We're going to kill each other, aren't we? Perhaps you'll kill me. Perhaps I'll kill you. Perhaps sooner. Perhaps later"
My apologies for an incoherent post. Random ideas, you know.
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