I understand where “What?” was coming from, being a decades-long Batman fan myself. You just want to go and enjoy the movie while leaving politics to the TV News. I get it. It was very hard though, considering the times we live in and the movie was just “in your face” with the subjects of torture and revenge.

To Rana, I would ask, who would be the vigilante Batman in the real world, outside of government who stands against those who wish us harm? Do you mean reporters or trial lawyers? Please! These guys are so fouled up on the question of right and wrong, they see the government as the enemy rather than just bumbling and slow to action. For better our worse, our government is a reflection of the population as a whole, and if its screwed up, its up to us to fix it, not just finding someone to blame.

Is nothing sacred?
(If anything should be, it should be Batman.)

Will, I do agree with your assessment here. I would also like to add a couple of points though.

The first in regards to the Joker and Harvey Dent. Harvey Dent being the ‘White Knight’ who batman saw as the face in which he could hang up his cape for good. Again without giving to much away, I thought the conflicts between the Joker and Dent spoke truer towards the fight of Good vs. Evil then Batman vs. the Joker. I also feel Dent himself helped batman in coming to the realization of what need to be done.

The second, revolves around your second point. It was what happened to this lets say ‘Bat Computer’ which caught my attention more so then it’s application in the movie.

“While the movie clearly makes the point that a vigilante is hardly a cure-all, it also makes the point that sometimes the only way to stop evil is to do everything in your power to fight it. Even if you sometimes have to cross the line.”

Again I agree almost entirely with this except for the last line. Batman, the vigilante in question never once crossed the line in which his persona hinges.

As for my personal opinions on the movie, I thought it was brilliant. It was unbelievably realistic to the point where if I didn’t know any better I’d say there could be a batman of New York in the near future. Everything, even down to the offices of Dent, the commissioner, and even the Mayor were as true to life as one would expect. The portals of the Joker, Dent and Batman again, were not of these super villains but of extraordinary people. If Ledger does not receive at minimum an Oscar nod it would mean this summer movie season will be one that will be talked about for decades.

With that being said, I don’t think that the movie meant to make those political points; it was just a good movie that stuck pretty much to the comics.

2) Without giving anything away for people who haven’t seen the movie, Mike mentions that measures outside the law are necessary to stop the Joker. Well, the good guys would not have even FOUND the Joker in time were it not for something Batman did that was analogous to one of the biggest political controversies of the past few years.

LD seems to think the theme of the movie is that vigilantism only adds to more terrorism, yet only a vigilante could stop the Joker: the policy couldn’t, Harvey Dent couldn’t, only Batman could. While the movie clearly makes the point that a vigilante is hardly a cure-all, it also makes the point that sometimes the only way to stop evil is to do everything in your power to fight it. Even if you sometimes have to cross the line.

Boy you are right liberalDream.

I then saw a picture of Cheney and now am compelled to make a profit off of my vigilante ways.

This is fun

have a vigilante day
neocon