Gotham City is one of the most well-known cities to DC comic book readers and to any super hero enthusiast. It is the home of the eminent millionaire Bruce Wayne, otherwise known as his alter ego the Batman. His mission is to rid the many criminals that preside over Gotham and to bring these tyrants to justice. As he says in the Dark Knight film, “I’m going to show the people of Gotham that the city doesn’t belong to the criminals and the corrupt.” In one scene, Wayne speaks to a woman and she asks him how anyone could possibly want to raise children in this horrid city; he responds that he grew up in Gotham and he turned out alright. This statement is ironic because he is anything but alright since he lives a double life when he dresses up …show more content…
The film is set during the substandard and miserable parts of the economic decline. The city is infected with criminality and indigence that emanates from the economic inequality that exists. Over the course of many years, before the setting of the film, the offenders of the metropolis have recruited members from the government and police force by infiltrating them. The Joker identifies the weaknesses of the government and police force; therefore, he uses this inequity to turn the city against itself. Since he is a psychopath and a schizophrenic, he is able to manipulate and force the leaders of the gangs, without choice, to join his cause. With these extra minions, he is capable of executing his plan to wreak havoc and cause extreme distress among Gotham city. However, his main goal is to go head-to-head with the Batman and annihilate him. In The Dark Knight, the plot of the movie reflects the reality of society today; in the modern world, crime and criminal are expounded through capitalism. Today, those who are against this ideology pose a threat to the system are criminals, this is demonstrated in the …show more content…
Through his films, such as The Dark Knight Trilogy, Interstellar, Memento, and The Prestige, he investigates the human mind and the disparate configurations it can exhibit by using sociology. The Joker is a psychotic anarchist and embodies Nolan’s interpretation of the lowest form of a person. Nolan never tells the audience what the Joker’s true background is, however, the Joker reveal various false stories about his childhood. Although his stories are not verifiable, it gives the audience a clear picture that he faced hardships in his childhood and lived according to the lower-class society standards. The Joker’s goal is to force the citizens of Gotham down to his level by abandoning their beliefs about being protected by the Batman and the police force, therefore, they can visualize how no one protects and cares for the lower-class individuals. It is believed that because of the conditions the Joker was raised in, it pushed him to his breaking point and caused him to be a psychopath because he did not receive the proper
Through these symptoms described, the Joker appears to have an Antisocial Personality Disorder along with schizophrenia. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual states that the criteria for APD are exhibiting at least 3 of the following traits: an inability to follow the social normality’s, when it comes to the law especially if said acts lean toward reasons for arrest. When being deceitful i.e.; lying, conning others, using a name rather than your own. Another trait is to be impulsive (Tang, Jiang, Liao, Wang, & Luo, 2013). The Joker tends to be impulsive when he does large scale jobs. For example, in The Dark Knight he blew up the hospital without any sort of real escape plan, he knew he’d escape but he didn’t have any sort of real plan. Aggressiveness
The Dark Knight is a film about Batman’s attempt in Gotham City to raise a traditional hero that follows the law and arrest villains, Harvey Dent. The attempt fails due to the villainous works of the Joker in cooperation with various criminals. The Joker corrupts the heroic Harvey and turns him into a villain who ultimately dies and Batman takes responsibility for Harvey's crimes and ensures the people sees Harvey as a hero.
Smoke billows out from a Manhattan skyscraper, damaged by a fiery explosion. This could easily be a scene from 9/11, however we see Batman looking grimly on as a poster advertises the film will be released soon. Clearly this film plays on the fears of terrorism. As depicted in The Dark Knight, the Joker plays the terrorist, while Gotham’s leadership struggles to contain him. The film departs from the superhero ideals of pure good versus pure evil, showing a murky world where moral decisions have to be made in order to stop evil. Because of this, The Dark Knight seems to be an allegory for the War on Terrorism. This paper will look at how the Joker represents terrorism, while Batman represents George Bush and his administration’s War on
The success of “The Dark Knight” can be attributed to one thing, the Joker. In the past there had been books and movies with psychopathic villains; antagonists with elaborate twisting plans. Heath Ledger’s Joker exhibits the true function of an antagonist in a story and he does many of the same things that Iago does in Othello.
The largest overarching issue in the Dark Knight was the organized crime group in Gotham City as well as the Joker neither of which follow any legal rules or want to help the common good. All they care about is themselves and their money, except the Joker simply causes chaos and anarchy to have fun as we can see when he burns his share of the money from the crime leaders. The Joker and the Batman have a history of battling it out, but the Batman has higher moral standards and will do anything he can to achieve the safest outcome for everyone, whereas the Joker doesn’t care who gets in his way. The Joker will beat the crap out of Batman but he won’t ever kill him because then he wouldn’t have anything to do but rip of mobsters. The Joker also sets up a morality test to see if the perfectly okay common people will blow up the criminals and vice versa. Either boat would have to make a decision
We get our values through subjective truths that can never stand the test of time because of our variable nature (. However, this truth is what makes our values systems and, hence, defines our actions over time. So, essentially, our values, which define our actions, can be variable, but we are punished on a single set of ‘supreme’ values. This is the internal contradiction that the Joker targets throughout ‘The Dark
Easily distinguishable by his scars and distinctive makeup, the Joker draws attention to himself and brings his diabolical intentions to light. He uses the story of his scars to intimidate his victims with the infamous line, “want to know how I got these scars?” (Nolan) His stories change with each new victim, creating an aura of mystery around their origin. He, then, uses cunning
They’re numerous institutions that make Gotham City function the way it does. Some of the institutions have laws that enforce crime, beliefs on good and evil, and kinship that connects the citizens together. In Gotham City, the Joker overruled the institution that enforces laws when he started terrorizing the city. There was a vast amount of crimes that occurred daily that the police enforcement couldn’t handle. This act disrupted the stability of the city and caused the population to go into turmoil.
The Joker is a particular kind of commentary on Batman, one that essentially derives from the characters’ antithetical logics (order vs chaos). The Joker is not only a counter to Batman, but a satirical figure in which a subversive attitude towards contemporary society is realized. In this role, the Joker-figure’s origin and history is clearly referenced. The Jokers a fool, prankster, jester, trickster, clown; the derivations of the fool archetype are many, but joining them together is a sense of mischief and a ridicule of authority. In the many incarnations of the Joker, these characteristics vary considerably in both degree and force, making the character quite versatile.
Gotham is a city struggling with city wide corruption. The cops and city hall are both in the pockets of the Falcon family. The city is overrun by crime. There are more cities like this in America then most would think. Gotham is based off of the city of New york at night but, metropolis the city of Superman is New york during the day. Superman does not hide who he is and abides by a strict moral code. So he is seen as a white knight a hero of the day. Batman hides who he is and only follows one rule no killing. So he is the Dark Knight he hides in the shadows.
Batman: The Dark Knight directed by Christopher Nolan is non-stop action thriller that continually did the unexpected. The film is based off of the original Batman comic book but additionally changes the perception of the everyday world as good to naturally bad. Throughout the movie, Batman stands for honesty and goodness while the Joker is a symbolism of chaos and evil. Both sides are forced to make quick-witted decisions in order to stop the opposing vigilante from doing his desired work. The citizens of Gotham are put in the heart of this circumstance and feel obligated to go against their values to stop the chaos. Numerous people habitually pursue their dreams and values but often become blinded from their
First and foremost, Batman’s motive is what his late parents wanted: to keep Gotham City prosperous and safe. At the conclusion of Batman Begins, Gotham is in a much better place relative to before Batman got there. When The Dark Knight begins, the city’s villains/mobsters are so frightened by Batman’s aurora that they change the way they go about their business. For example, in one of the first scenes the Joker calls out mobsters for meeting underground in broad daylight because they are “afraid of the Batman.” In conjunction to Batman, the newly elected District Attorney, Harvey Dent, makes unprecedented effort to rid the city of its previously crime infested ways. This is a lethal combination because Gotham now has a hero with a face, and not just a perceived vigilantly in a costume. This empowers the public to do better and instills belief into the public that it doesn’t take super powers to get rid of crime. The combination of Batman and Harvey Dent also gives way for a new villain, “The Joker,” to take center stage – being that the previous villains are largely powerless, broke or in jail. The Joker’s motive is to destroy the hope that Harvey Dent instilled into the public. Consequently, the Joker meticulously causes rampage throughout the city that forces Harvey Dent and the Batman to face their morality. The Joker is convinced that if he can get the golden standard, Harvey Dent, to
The Dark Knight (2008), directed by Christopher Nolan, demonstrates the idea of good versus evil. Batman is known as the protagonist, and Joker is known as the ultimate villain. The representation of crime in the film is seen from the actions of both characters. The film essentially depicts the act of deviance meaning, “behaviour that violates social norms, including laws”. In normality the government would have the greatest amount of power, but in the Gotham city, power is complex. There is minimal structure of law and order in Gotham city due to powerful people like Batman and the Joker. Citizens of Gotham city can no longer fight for themselves in a world filled with supernatural powers. Therefore, the only hope that citizens have rest in the hands of Batman. Although Batman attempts to save Gotham city from Joker’s criminal intentions. Batman, however, also plays a role in deviant activity while attempting to catch the Joker. Realistically, Batman violates the moral code due to destructive behaviour, and putting the lives of citizens at harm. He does not care for social norms, nor whether his acts are of legality. He is devoted to combat organized crime with Harvey Dent, a district attorney in Gotham city. Batman is in fact, the definition of crime, he understands but does not abide to individual rights and social contracts which make up the rule of law. In addition, the man behind Batman, Bruce Wayne also portrays a form of deviance by disguising himself as Batman.
Batman is also a huge problem for the government, showing how little power even the government has over it’s people. “Batman only wants to better Gotham, which is why he’s willing to endure the hatred of his home if that’s what it takes to build the city into something durable,” Jamelle Bouie states (Davidson). Batman is a voice for the voiceless and shows the citizens of not only Gotham but for the American citizen as well that they have a voice and that they can take control of an situation they feel that they need to. He makes the government feel as if they are not safe and makes them question everything they have ever done. Without Batman, some would not have the chance to speak up and focus all of their hate onto him instead of putting that hate against something that could harm them.
The Joker’s constant twitching and licking of his lips as possible evidence of an oral fixation and would want to ask the Joker about his relationship with his mother. If we go ahead and believe that the Joker really did have and hate his abusive alcoholic father, then we would explore the conflict between the Joker and his father and as a result, the underdevelopment of a superego. In the second narration of the origins of his scars, the Joker tells Rachel that he once had a wife that was cut up by mobsters and that in an effort to make her feel better, he carves his own face and was devastated when she leaves him. If we believe this version of the story, then his anger from his father