The Dark Knight

Word of the day: Fester means “to generate puss” or “to become worse as time passes.” Source: Merriam-Webster dictionary

A lot has been happening in the world before our eyes these last couple of weeks like the conflict in Ukraine. I never thought it would get this bad, and I hope this conflict is resolved by some type of resolution. I’m sick and tired of seeing people’s lives being messed with, their livelihoods being destroyed and planting more and more fear. The people of Ukraine need more hope and less fear. I believe that within the spirit of the Ukrainian people, they will become resilient and accomplish in liberating itself from its oppressors. I remember that this is a spiritual battle not necessarily a physical one although it may seem like it. It is systems and principalities versus other types of systems and principalities. What I’m saying is that the oppressor isn’t Russia or some other country; it is the leadership (government system) in those countries that are pushing this type of agenda to divide and conquer. Most people do not want any type of bloodshed or war. May all this conflict only end in love and peace as well as two countries understanding one another in a more brotherly fashion.

Let’s skip the politics and world current affairs, I’ve said enough of my thoughts on it. I would like to share something that I had open up to me through a film I went and saw this weekend. I went out with my brother to the movie theater to watch the latest Batman film starring Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz, two great actors if I would say so myself. We decided to watch it since my birthday is this week and I figured I would treat myself to something exciting. Interesting fact about Zoë Kravitz on her father’s side, she is a descendent of Ukrainian-Jewish heritage. I figured I would bring it up since I was just talking about the Ukraine. Back to the movie and I promise I’m not going to spoil anything major in the film. I’m only going to share the archetype and symbolism in the Batman film that I’ve noticed from my perspective. Although some may disagree, these are my personal insights about the film. If you would like to share your insights, then take the liberty of commenting your point of view on the film. I would like to hear your perspective on the archetype and symbolism within the movie.

In the film, “The Batman”, you have the archetypes of a vigilante, the victim, and the lover. I will uncover each archetype and hidden message insight for each character in the film. When I watched the film, I noticed many attributes of Bruce Wayne, not only is he evidently a vigilante as I have labeled him, he realizes that the system is broken and unbalanced. He is aware that the political officials and law enforcement are pretty much all bought out by the elite and mafia. Rather than just sit and complain as well as having blind faith in a new political official, or police officer to resolve the current affairs of Gotham city, he does something about it through his actions. Instead of waiting for some entity to become the savior, he becomes the savior and puts matters into his own hands. Bruce Wayne (Batman) does a terrific job in portraying what is in being your own personal savior and striving for something better in life. Nothing will change for you unless you do something about it. Although Batman may be somewhat violent, and his methods may be less diplomatic, he nevertheless conveys that he doesn’t wish death on anyone even if the perpetrator deserves it. Some blood might be involved, but he knows better, that he isn’t really fighting with blood and flesh. He fathoms that there is a war between ideologies and principalities. Batman is rather trying to change the ideologies of people than to obliterate a life. In his eyes, killing the perpetrator will only free up a new spot for a criminal to claim. Evil will always exist; life is balanced through good and evil. The only way to change the minds of people is to educate them of their actions whether that be through words or physical/violent means, according to the Batman, or at least in the way he lives. Now on to the victim/villain archetype which is the riddler. This character in the movie is quite brilliant and knowledgeable of words and riddles. He can formulate his own type of quest/mission/puzzle to mess with people. In his eyes, he is liberating people by exposing the leaders. He feels that he has an obligation to do since he was an orphan that had a miserable childhood with barely any food nor heat constantly in hunger and freezing. His mind set has never transitioned away from being an orphan. The mindset has attached anger with it and is forming a type of understanding that even if he has to kill a corrupt politician or crooked police officer, or perhaps even have an innocent person lose its life for his personal mission then it is all worth it in the end. This type of mindset is very dangerous/destructive and teaches us that we cannot recover from our past and that we are a slave to it. The riddler could of abandoned this type of victim mindset and become his own savior to make the world a better place through pushing to finding a solution rather than just killing crooked politicians and causing chaos. The lover archetype in this film would be Cat woman. She demonstrates that she isn’t helping Batman for solely making Gotham a better place: in her mind Gotham will never recover. She is only helping Batman for revenge about her corrupt father. Cat woman even goes far as to offer Batman to abandon Gotham and to be her lover. They evidently kiss a couple of times and have some type of attraction for one another, but they both have different motives. She wants something new, and Batman wants to repair/modify the old, broken city.

Besides the archetype and symbolism that I have shared this far into the blog, I also believe that the film is trying to explain that a good man, or a woman isn’t a person with a flawless past. Actually people with a flawless past aren’t always the good guy or hero in a story. Quite often the good guy in a story has made a series of bad choices in their past, but has decided from now on to make better choices and to make the world a better place surrounding them to the best of their ability in a way redeeming themselves.

Enjoy your week everyone, and don’t be a slave to your past. Just believe in yourself and strive to do your best and keep on going forward. Love you all!