Sunday, July 20, 2008

BATMAN THOUGHTS

I thought the movie was good, but I saw it just after going through something very personal, so I was in a darker place than most people seeing the movie.

Here's my thoughts... and there's no spoiler:

1. I disliked Christian Bale as Batman's VOICE. His performance was great, but his voice really threw me off totally. I also didn't feel like his character was developed enough. I guess it was really well developed in the first movie, so there's no need to tread on it, but some background would've been nice.

2. The depth of the Joker's psychosis really wasn't explored enough. Sure, he's got no real motives other than destruction, which makes him the ultimate socio/psychopath. However, I really think that his character would've truly benefited from having a hopelessly devoted sidekick or girlfriend. Someone who would do absolutely anything for him, and loved him and was just 100% trapped in his spell. Someone who the Joker would ultimately sacrifice, showing how deeply fucked up he really is. Killing a bunch of people you don't know and don't care about is easy in theory. Regular people do it every day. But killing someone that shows nothing but forgiving, non-judgmental, and hopeless devotion to you is truly the act of someone extremely fucked up. Like, killing the family dog -- it takes someone of a different caliber to do something as messed up like that, but those people exist. With any socio/psychopath, you have people that follow them and are devoted to them. That's what allows them to have power. It's almost impossible to understand their magnetism, but showing it, explaining it, would've really given Heath Ledger's role a lot more substance.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the comics and cartoons, the Joker has a sidekick/girlfriend, Harley Quinn, but apparently the director thought the character wasn't a good fit with his Batman universe or whatever. I think it would have been awesome if they'd included her, but it might have totally ruined the movie. We'll never know. :(

Anonymous said...

Well, I hear a lot of people saying exactly what you both have written here. I haven't seen it yet, so I'll have to hold my thoughts until then. My own problem was they didn't give Val Kilmer and George Clooney at least one other film to prove their wares. The VK Batman was a depthy, almost neurotic criminologists fantasy, while the GC Batman was a super glorious comic book opera, like a giant stage spectacle. The Michael Keaton Batman movies were psychological horror comedies. They've all had their place.

Cc [Denial] said...

As someone else said, in the original comics/cartoons he did have a sidekick and girlfriend named Harley Quinn. In the comics, it really got into their fucked up relationship and how his moods would swing at the turn of a dime and he'd randomly try to kill her and such, and while he never did (they theorize it might have been because of legitimate feelings for her), she still always forgave him and came back every time. They were going to include her in a batman sequel a while back, after the one with robin and batgirl, but since that movie did so horribly, they scrapped it.

however, i think there was a really serious lack of female ties in this movie, and having harley quinn in it would have been AMAZING. It could have had awesome potential for another future sequel. Unfortunately, due to the things that happened with Heath...that will probably never happen. Sad.

/rant

Anonymous said...

You don't have to have everything spoonfed to you - do you?

Anonymous said...

"Killing a bunch of people you don't know and don't care about is easy in theory. Soldiers do it every day."

Wow. Soldiers? Might have been more accurate, albeit, politically incorrect to go with "Inner City Thug Sociopaths".

Speak to a soldier who has just returned from war about his feelings about killing for his country. Then speak to someone in prison who just killed someone because they spilled hot sauce on thier Bubblegoose.

Something to consider next time you want to verbally piss on our military.

Tankboy said...

Dude, you are dead wrong on the Joker needing a loved one thing. I liked the fact that he has no grounding ... even his origin story keeps changing.

An old fan-boy like me finally got to see the Joker on-screen the way I imagined him. Totally and completely devoid of any humanity.

Anonymous said...

congrats to the makers of Dark Knight for their record breaking opening weekend... it's no wonder there's talk of another one coming out ASAP

Lawrence said...

I'm in full agreement with 5:23pm. Soldiers NEVER find it easy to do what they do. Knowing as many people as I do who have served in combat, I can say that not one of them would ever agree with that statement. They don't wantonly kill for the sake of killing unless they're in the Janjiweed or the SS or something. Most professional soldiers aren't about ethnic cleasing or killing for the sake of sport. Rather, they are sent into a combat position by their commanders and are fired at by the other side. If they disobey, they can get court martialed and the penalties are severe. As they are attacked from the other side, they're thinking about saving their own lives as well as the lives of their comrades. They're NOT thinking, "Gee, this is fun".

Sarah, you really owe the soldiers who read your blog -- and whom you know personally -- a big apology for what you wrote. It was a horrible thing to say and shows complete foolishness and immaturity on your part. You should be ashamed of yourself.

In the meantime, maybe this will shed some light in just how hard it is psychologically to be a soldier:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-marlboroman11nov11-blurb,1,2556213.blurb

Watch all three parts in their entirety (the music is by the soldier himself). Then I dare you to say what you said.

Anonymous said...

Lawrence, thank you. Our favorite 4 foot LES spokeshipster's ill-informed, hateful and psuedo-elitist type of latte-fueled political thinking (and now public writing) about our US Military should chill us all to the fucking core. Unfortunately, this is what a majority of the misguided, ADD and hype engorged Obamassiac twentytweens truly feel about our nations great defense. It's a true shame and pretty much heartbreaking.

Basically, Ultragrrl, it is poor form as a grown ass adult to speak as loosely about the men and women who protect your freedom to spew such nonsense as you would an Olsen twin sharting themselves after a large huff at Spa.

Just put forth a digital mea culpa and wrap it up.

Mia said...

I agree. Christian Bale's voice makes the whole thing extremely cheesy. It sounds like he's trying too hard.

Lawrence said...

Yo, 11:15pm... chill.

First off, she wasn't an Obama supporter but (worse, perhaps?) a Clintonite. As someone who will be voting for Ford instead of Carter this summer (take a guess at who's who in that analogy), I can clearly distinguish between someone drinking the Obama Kool-Aid and someone who just has it wrong on a whole bunch of issues. She falls in the latter category.

That said, the moment I saw what she wrote, I posted a comment. Then I immediately AIMed her. She didn't argue at all and agreed that what she said was wrong and took down the offending sentence. That was the right thing to do. Her defence was that she emphasised the "in theory" part of the preceding sentence. Nonetheless, it came across as saying our soldiers are killers and -- I hope to dear G-d -- that was something she didn't mean.

I've spent more than my share of nights awake worrying about someone I love in Iraq, not to mention other friends, too. What my sister said was wrong to be sure and it upset me a lot. However, to her credit, when it was pointed out to her, she immediately recognized it as a mistake -- in thought, perhaps but in phrasing, definitely -- and immediately corrected it. I doubt she'll make that mistake again, though if she does, she knows full well, she'll get an earful of screaming from me.

Ultragrrrl said...

i've got friends fighting abroad as well, so i realized the errors of my ways/words.

Unfortunately, what i failed to imply was that ALL governments ask soldiers to do things like that daily without really considering how it might affect people. Our country isn't the only country putting people out to war and fucking them up for life, you know. Sometimes people forget that I think.

But regardless, I did not mean to imply that soldiers willingly chose to go into the army so they could kill or be heroic or anything of that nature. In fact, I've argued about that for hours with people who never knew people who went to war and who never really could comprehend that not everyone gets to grow in an affluent suburb near a metropolitan... even if your parents are blue collared workers, you can't really relate.

Can I relate? No. But I can have empathy to what would make someone choose to go away. The people I know are all very lucky to have grown up with access to things that others could only dream of -- and they try to make those dreams come true by joining what seems to be their only out: the Army.

Anonymous said...

"the men and women who protect your freedom "

HA!


I believe SOME soldiers do enjoy killing. Not all, obviously. But SOME, definitely.

Even in England there are politicians who believe kids who stab each other to death for fun should be forced into the army so that they can get paid for doing what they enjoy (obviously not with knives though).

Anonymous said...

There was a sequence in Batman Begins where Lucious Fox (Morgan Freeman) gave Christian Bale a tool to disguise his voice. That's why Bale sounded the way he did.

C'mon guys.

As for the other thing, trouble in Paradise Sarah?

Anonymous said...

I knew you were a Harley Quinn girl.

Matthew Libassi said...

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My name is Matt and I manage the band. I want you at the show.

If you come and don’t dig it, I will refund you the cover. Stay the entire set and if you still aren’t a fan, you can get your money from me: I’m easy to spot and the band will introduce me during the set.

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With love,
Matt

Pale Nimbus/Werewolves/The Meltdowns @ Southpaw
Thursday, July 31 / 8:30PM
$8 / 18+
125 Fifth Ave. (Park Slope), Brooklyn
R train to Union St.

Facebook Invite: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=30201260489
Pale Nimbus: http://www.thepalenimbus.com

Anonymous said...

hey lawrence,
did you forget that we've killed over 1 million iraqs so far...i think we do a lot of killing without thinking or caring about it. we press buttons and thousands die...you were lucky to be born into a nice life..if you were in iraq and a made in USA bomb fell and killed yr family maybe you'd be on the other side fighting right now.
you need more compassion.
a vote for mccain is a vote for an old fuck that cant use the internet. get a brain.

Phil Villarreal said...

Batman was definitely forcing it with the Vin Diesel voice.

Gregg Lewis said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jimmy said...

how they screwed up batman's voice:

http://us.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/04/mondaymoviebuzz.darkknight.ap/index.html

Lawrence said...

Anon:

I just saw your comment now.

I was born about 15 years after my parents left Egypt (on account of a war). I know damn well what a Mideast war or two can do. It made refugees out of my family and political prisoners out of both my grandfathers.

Your "1 million" casualties number was pulled straight out of your ass. I've seen that figure bantied about before. It has no basis on actual fact but based on surveys. Surveys? Are you fucking kidding? That's where that number came from? For real, don't come at me with a figure unless you can back it up. Otherwise, you're full of shit (which, of course, you are).

The UN -- no fan of the war -- has that number at around 35,000. Iraqi Body Count has the civilian portion at 24,000. Mind you, that's not just from the US invasion but the aftermath caused by other Iraqis. How 'bout that. To say US soldiers caused the most damage is completely stupid and false.

So, fucktard, do you think life was better under Saddam Hussein? Really? 'Cause even wtih a civil war, it's still less than the deaths he caused between sending his people off to die in a war with Iran (that number was about 1,000,000 dead; both sides claim it) and the gassing of civilians he did several times during his regime.

Lemme see... 1 million actual dead from Saddam versus 24,000 civilian deaths due to a US invasion AND a civil war.... I think I know which I'd take.

As for McCain, he's still more qualified than that Chicago bullshit artist.

Please stop commenting before you get your head out of your ass.