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The Dark Knight And Arendt's Banality Of Evil

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My class, From Pandora to Psychopathy: Evil from Antiquity to the Present, has collectively fine-tuned this definition of evil over the course of 10-weeks: “evil is a human activity in a word or deed that culpably inflicts suffering on other human beings and is that suffering itself.” We came to this definition by incorporating various authors and theories in regards to evil, its origins, and what it entails. We’ve been able to steadily tinker with the definition of evil because the literature we review generates contrasting conceptions of evil. That being said, with the liberty to write about any topic, I chose to focus on evil in modern popular culture through the lens of Stanley Milgram’s experiment and Hannah Arendt’s “banality of evil.” …show more content…

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 …show more content…

Oh and you know the thing about chaos, it’s fair.” The Joker is a proponent of anarchy; he doesn’t believe in the established order that Harvey Dent represents. The Joker isn’t enamored with money or material goods because chaos satisfies his soul. The Joker is important to characterize because he’s the leader of the scene I will be focusing on. The Joker is successful in this movie because he manipulates an entire city to his liking. He blows up hospitals, kills elected officials, and even burns the mob’s money – all to create anarchy. The Joker reminds me of this class’s discussion of morality and evil because he forces people to reveal their true nature – especially in the face of death. The Joker shows that even the most virtuous men can turn evil. The Joker shows that when people are confronted with uncertainty, they are susceptible to immoral actions. For example: the Joker threatened the public that if they didn’t kill a certain person, he would blow up a hospital. This led certain otherwise virtuous people to attempt to kill another man. The Joker reveals some of the nastiness in human nature, but he also inadvertently reveals the goodness in peoples’ heart. The scene where the public inadvertently reveals virtue, in the toughest of times, is the scene I chose to keenly focus

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