This article is for Nolan's trilogy, not just this one.
1. Poverty and sickness
The problem in Gotham is crime, and the essence of crime is poverty. Who would want to be a thief and a robber on the streets if everyone could find a decent job? The precondition for all kinds of criminals to make trouble is the general poverty of Gotham. Poverty means that the government does not have the money to support the huge police force and cannot maintain the income of the police. Collusion between the police and the bandits is a natural thing. This is the root cause of Gotham.
But Gotham has another side. The big bourgeoisie represented by Bruce Wayne has a lot of wealth. They hold charity dinners, carnival parties, and they completely ignore the life and death of the poor. The extreme division between rich and poor, this is the complete Gotham, and also the background of this fable.
Bruce Wayne - after his parents were killed by robbers (actually in extreme poverty in Gotham's underworld) - decided to change that. He traveled thousands of miles to learn art from a teacher, and returned to Gotham to become a masked guest whose mission was to fight criminals. Rely on violent intimidation to stop criminal activity.
This corresponds exactly to the main production country of the film - the United States. In pursuit of higher profits, capitalists moved manufacturing to areas with lower labor costs, and a large number of local people lost their jobs, fell into poverty, and increased crime rates. The rich have moved out of the city center where the poor are concentrated and built new neighborhoods in the suburbs, leaving the poor to rot slowly in the city. (Think of Batman's suburban estate. Can you imagine Bruce Wayne's home in the city, huddled with the poor -- in the form of criminals in the film?)
Batman solves the crime problem by increasing investment in violent institutions (Batman's expensive equipment), which represents a way of thinking for the capitalist class to deal with the crisis of capitalism. But poor criminals will lose their ultimate means of earning a living - crime, and their poverty remains unresolved.
The real solutions to capitalist crises in history are far superior to this, and I mean the Great Depression and Roosevelt's New Deal. Improve the living standards of the poor in an all-round way, reduce crime and improve people's livelihood and restore market demand.
Just blocking and not shunning like Batman will only expand the crisis and cause more contradictions. A Bruce Wayne who runs a factory to hire workers can solve Gotham's problems better than a Batman in a black cape. There is only one disease in the world, the disease of poverty.
2. Materialism or idealism?
In The Dark Knight, the Joker hopes to use two ships full of dynamite to prove that Gotham (or the world) is incurable, because the people of Gotham (the world) are morally corrupt hypocrites. As a result, the two ships did not blow up, but let Batman prove that Gotham (the world) can still be saved, because people still have kind hearts.
The Joker claimed that he had not lost the "Gotham Soul Battle", claiming that he still had an ace, Harvey Dent. He made the dignified knight a criminal, so the people of Gotham will lose faith and Gotham will continue to fall, hahahaha
In the end, Batman sacrificed his life for justice, resisted the crime on himself, kept people's confidence, and fulfilled Gotham. . .
The reason why the bourgeoisie adopts the idealistic view of history is that if they seek truth from facts, they will discover their hypocrisy, and they will find that this class, the social form they represent, has been overthrown in the past, is now slowly decaying, and is bound to fail in the future. perish. A small number of the bourgeoisie join the historical trend (they will be expelled by the bourgeoisie and become traitors to the bourgeoisie), while the vast majority of the bourgeoisie can only find comfort in the idealistic view of history.
Social presence determines social awareness, and people's confidence depends on their living conditions. Bruce Wayne, who lives in a large suburban manor and can afford a good housekeeper, of course hopes to cultivate himself and manage the country and the world; while the children in the downtown slums deal with criminals every day and cannot receive a good education, so they will naturally become criminals when they grow up. a member of .
This is the funniest scene of the three in my opinion, the orphanage kids adore Batman. Capital, represented by Batman, makes the poor lose their jobs for self-proliferation, makes men join gangs, and women become prostitutes. Putting their kid on the street and into an orphanage (maybe it was Batman who took his parents) would the kid worship the culprit behind it all?
People's confidence doesn't change their status quo. The poor have no jobs and remain criminals. On the contrary, historical idealism has always been a tool for capitalism to justify their opposition to rule, "The poor are poor because they are too lazy" "I work hard so I can exploit these lazy people" "No whip, these lazy people How can you work so hard?".
The real solution must adhere to historical materialism, see poverty as the root cause of the problem, and improve the living standards of the people at the bottom.
3. Hero or Mass?
This is a superhero movie with scenes of Batman fighting dozens or hundreds of people everywhere. Ordinary people are just a spectator / cheerleader / rescued in it. In the film, the organizations of the low-level people are all in the form of criminal organizations. It seems that the poor can no longer produce other organizations except the underworld (such as the Boxer, the Brotherhood, etc.), and the movement to seize power in "The Dark Knight Rises" has caused Lots of chaos and horror.
Baine adheres to the concept of the "League of Shadow Dancers", and his program (to restore "balance") is almost incomprehensible. The campaign then turned into an illogical act of sabotage. That's the mass and movement in this film.
Any ideology will claim that it will be good for all, so what is the way to tell if an ideology is actually good for the masses? Depends on who is the subject. If the masses just sit there and wait for a hero to give them a good life, then this ideology must ultimately benefit the "hero"; on the contrary, only when the masses declare their rights and claim the fruits of their labor can truly represent the ideology of the people.
The humble are the wisest, and the noble the most foolish. It is not that the poor in history have not launched a great movement. There is no evidence to prove that the poor will only form triads, only destroy but not build. Batman used his "heroic" actions to cover up Gotham's huge scars, allowing people to sit at home and wait for his rescue, forgetting that they - the people - are the deciders of social history.
4. A ghost
The Joker's Recollections appear several times in The Dark Knight and each time is different, and I personally think he made up each one. But in the comics, there is a full narrative of his past.
But neither his job nor his dream of becoming a comedian, the clown was a success. So much so that he needs to raise a sum of money to take care of his pregnant wife. This makes Joker desperate to get the money, even promising the two criminals to sneak into the chemical plant. While they were discussing their criminal plan, Joker received news from the police that his wife had died from a leak in the breast warmer. The Joker, who was all about to quit the plan, was forced by the two criminals to put on a mask and a red hood to continue the criminal plan. At this time, Batman appeared, stopped the two criminals, and at the same time caused the Joker to accidentally fall into a bucket of chemicals. So an innocent little person became the most dangerous person in the entire DC universe. --Baidu Encyclopedia
A typical proletarian regards the social problems of capitalism as the inherent absurdity of the world, so he adopts the attitude of playing life, and is determined to expose people's hypocrisy. He represents the helplessness of the proletarians in the face of the crisis of capitalism, symbolizing the degeneration of the proletarians after their efforts in the capitalist society still fail (I think of "Camel Xiangzi") But he could not have to do this, he could form a relationship with other proletarians Allies, organize trade unions, establish political parties, and express their demands. I believe that if the generous Lord Bruce heard his voice, he would have opened a few hospitals for the poor (Rachel would not have been betrayed to death). The proletarians will find their strength in these activities, and even if they fail in the end, they can improve everyone's living standards.
Too bad he didn't. Ghosts are still wandering in the sky.
5. Summary
Watching European and American movies and TV shows, you always have to tell the poor: it is still possible for you to get out of the sea of misery
But this Batman trilogy is a strange thing, and Batman protects only a little bit above the bourgeoisie and petty bourgeoisie. Criminals pursue other people's wealth. Of course, when Gotham has a huge gap between the rich and the poor, of course, it will only damage the interests of the bourgeoisie. Robin Hood also knows how to rob the rich to help the poor. How does Batman rob the rich and help the poor? Robber himself? (It's something Catwoman means in this regard)
Completely abandon the proletariat and please the middle and upper classes of society. Of course, how can the real proletariat afford movie tickets?
Superheroes, nothing like that.
There has never been a savior,
Don't rely on the fairy emperor!
To create human happiness,
It's all up to us!
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