Metaphorical significances of FEAR

Christopher's 2005 reboot of the Batman franchise that tells the origins of how Bruce Wayne became Batman.
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Had to start a thread on this;

Fear is the main underling theme in BB. It recures throughout: Bruce as a boy aquires a fear of bats, a fear that disturbs while watching opera with his parents forcing them to leave the theatre which leads to their death. Upon dying, Bruce's dad tells him "Don't be afraid Bruce"

Later on, Bruce is forced to confront his fear in the league of shadows, using a hallucinogenic fear toxin that is later developed as a means of destroying Gotham.

Enter Scarecrow: A character who is obsessed with the facets of the mind. As Raz-Al-Guul said about fear: "Feel its power to distort, to control" Scarecrow enlists the use of fear to gain insight and power over the human psyche, which he uses on Falcone - a man who, as Bruce says: "Uses Fear to prey of the fearful".

Bruce then becomes Batman, using his own fears to elicit terror in the criminals of Gotham.

By the end of the film, Bruce has conquered his fear. As in, his fear of bats, but more significantly: His fear of loss personified in the death of his parents which is displayed in the destruction of Wayne manor and of the monorail system - the two great edifices of his father which he both hated and loved; thus going through a symbolic clensing of sorts, letting go of past wrongs and truly rising above his own fear.


Tell me if I left anything out... Or if this has all been covered before. :neutral:

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Very well put, MW715. This is one of the reasons I enjoy revisiting BB a lot more often than TDK. It's that journey of how Bruce confronts his fear and takes ownership of it and turns it into a symbol of something else entirely.

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jcvargas09 wrote:Very well put, MW715. This is one of the reasons I enjoy revisiting BB a lot more often than TDK. It's that journey of how Bruce confronts his fear and takes ownership of it and turns it into a symbol of something else entirely.
The writing in BB is beautiful! I think it gives it a leg up on TDK, to be honest. Name any other superhero film that that kind of analytical depth to it...there is none. Props to Nolan :clap:

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The Dark Knight is an extraordinarily deep film, it just analzyes topics more relevent to the real world as well as the characters. TDK is significantly more grounded and less abstract, which is both its greatest strength and weakness.

-Vader

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Vader182 wrote:The Dark Knight is an extraordinarily deep film, it just analzyes topics more relevent to the real world as well as the characters. TDK is significantly more grounded and less abstract, which is both its greatest strength and weakness.

-Vader
I liked BB's abstract qualities. TDK was incredibly deep, and I agree that it's topics are much relevent to the world than those BB; such as the use of Dent - he's basically the personifacation of the film's philosophy. I tend to gravitate towards the philosophical/abstract so I find BB a more interesting film to watch and examine.

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MW715 wrote:
Vader182 wrote:The Dark Knight is an extraordinarily deep film, it just analzyes topics more relevent to the real world as well as the characters. TDK is significantly more grounded and less abstract, which is both its greatest strength and weakness.

-Vader
I liked BB's abstract qualities. TDK was incredibly deep, and I agree that it's topics are much relevent to the world than those BB; such as the use of Dent - he's basically the personifacation of the film's philosophy. I tend to gravitate towards the philosophical/abstract so I find BB a more interesting film to watch and examine.
What about the deep exploration of ethics? Characters potentially compromising yourself for a broader good, or if having a general ethical code is even valid if there's serious real-world negative consequences to that morality? Is it more ethical to kill one man then potentially save thousands? Compelling questions quite a few works have tapped into, but the way they explore it within the context of Batman (an almost accidental allegory for terrorism and the middle east) is nothing less than fascinating. Breaking his own ethical bounds... wire tapping citizens for broader goals. This idea of if you're faced with impossible choices with fallout resulting from either one, and the need to deal with that fallout despite that (another potentially accidental allegory for our view on the world's leaders and maybe heroes) and our tendency to almost ignore our reliance on these heroes and leaders despite very much believing in them symbolically.

The Dark Knight is a commentary on ethical complication and in real-world contexts, situations are rarely close to black and white, likely pushing choices no ordinary man can handle, not to mention this idea that in doing that, things will get worse on every front before they get better, and there's this deep causality involved manifested through the catalyst of The Joker's existence being Batman's war against crime (terror). Again, almost like the political and human fallout our presence has had in the middle east, and often has when we go to war, and I'm just barely scratching the surface here.

God I love this film.

-Vader

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You're exactly right, Vader182. I just prefer what the characters go through in BB. And yes, I'll agree that it's done in a much more abstract way, but that's part of what I enjoy about it and what makes me keep wanting to go back to it.

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This subject plus the combination of seeing GL fail with fear as the same concept is why I began to appreciate Begins' a hell of a lot more than I used to. It's pretty amazing to think of how closely tied the theme of fear was woven throughout Nolan's film while it was erratic and rushed in Green Lantern.

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