I’ve never been one of those guys who thought Talia/Marion was a cheap trick , a little twist to break the audience. I also didn’t felt she was this very developed character that i should care very much. I remember the first time I watched the movie , all I cared , when she was on screen , was looking for clues for the twist (because I had been spoiled , like many people , during the production) , and they weren’t very subtle. I didn’t thought a lot about her during my repeated viewings , until yesterday.
I was rewatching the movie , and i noticed how similar she is to Bruce/Batman ? I know that almost every villain in Bat’s history represents a facet of himself. The authors reflect some of his characteristics (extreme ones , or twisting them) to others. They mirror something from him , and represent a side of this very conflicted character.For this movie we all heard Nolan talking about how Bane shared similarities to our character. But I felt Talia is much more similar. She shares characteristics , but her progress follows another route. The one Bruce didn’t covered because he always had someone to help him. We know Bruce Wayne is a good person. But he is very conflicted , and anger dominates him. His mother and father affect him deeply. Alfred aids him , just like Rachel did.
The mirror aspects are very salient. She his the granddaughter of a warlord. A wealthy person i suppose. Almost royalty. Bruce comes from a prominent family of Gotham . But they end up growing in completely different conditions. He’s the prince of Gotham. She’s born in hell. Both of them get stuck in holes , wells. Psychically but also mentally (Bruce especially in Rises). How they overcome that ? Little Bruce is helped by his father and learns why failure is some sort of progress. She ? Although aided by Bane , she climbs on her own and succeeds. The same sort of parallel we see with parents being killed (and again it’s the reaction that sets them apart). After Ra’s death , she is filled with rage and no one to support her (or at least not the best kind). She seeks revenge. To the men who killed her father. What she ends up doing ? She creates a fake personality , Miranda Tate , to achieve her goals. Wow that’s pretty similar to Bruce , but he channels that anger to inspire good. We know he wanted to kill Joe Chill , but he’s able to confront that darkness upon him (or some of it). What he ends up doing , with all the emotion he’s filled with ? Creates a fake personality , Batman , to achieve his goals. She wants vengeance. He wants to bring criminals to justice. She wants to destroy Gotham. He wants to help the citizens of Gotham. They are mirrored. They both share a lot of similarities , they are confronted by the same problems , yet they respond differently , because of the environment that surrounds them, and the morals they end up to rely.
So I think Nolan presents us , once again , another face of the same coin. And he doesn’t spend so much unnecessary time with her , because she’s very much a distorted Bruce. We , as audience , know that Bruce might have gone a different path…but he didn’t. Talia never had that choice.
Now maybe this was something that everyone noticed by the first time , but it took a little longer to me. She felt like a great character yesterday
