The Dark Knight: A Question of Redemption in a Godless World

As with the majority of Americans, I have seen “The Dark Knight”.  In fact, I am quite possibly in the minority of those who’ve only seen it once, based on some conversations I’ve had.  This movie has made serious waves at not only the box office in the present scheme of things, but in culture as well perhaps on a larger scale.  I wanted to offer my analysis of the ideas and philosophies underlying the film but before I commence doing that, I must offer a disclaimer.  Please do not read this article if you have not yet seen the film; I’d hate to be the one who spoils it for you for I will not even attempt to be general and vague for the sake of those who haven’t seen it.  This is for those who have watched the film so that further thought on it can perhaps be generated.

As with all hero/villain films, ideas of good and evil and their relationship are always involved to some extent or another.  But “The Dark Knight” takes a very different path and approach to the portrayal of evil than its other super-hero predessecors (beyond a mere quantitative path i.e. there’s just simply more evil!). We witness this from the moment the Joker enters the screen.  Pause for a moment to consider how the “typical” hero vs. villain story progresses (my good friend Nathan helped me see this point).  There is always a back story on the villain that often starts with him being a decent guy, even moral, but due to some tragic event, has been pushed over the edge and now has one diabolical end whether it’s revenge or money to fund his “today the city, tomorrow THE WORLD!!” plan.  The point is that villains always have an objective and a reason why they turn to evil to achieve it and it usually involves bitterness towards the system.  

However, as we quickly realize while viewing “The Dark Knight”, the Joker has no story, no self-serving goal per se in terms of power, money, etc.  He comes in wreaking havoc from the start.  He is a complete personification of anarchy, evil, and chaos.  In the words of Alfred the Butler “…some men just want to watch the world burn.”  And burn it does while the Joker is at large.  

An interesting point to note is the way in which he tells the stories regarding his grinning scars.  He never tells the same story twice; what could’ve been a window into his madness is not granted to us for we are left wondering if it’s the first story or any of the stories that’s actually true.  There is nothing objective about the Joker.  Even what could be called his “plan” is ultimately to show that it is only the perception of order and goodness that keeps people living their lives as if there’s order and goodness.  He is anarchy.  He truly believes, and even declares that after someone like him succeeds, “people will eat each other”.  And he seeks to prove that hypothesis with an experiment of the most brutal forms.  He rigs two ferries with bombs giving each boat the detonator to the bomb on the other ship.  The choice is simple: at midnight I, the Joker, will blow both of you up, but if one of you pushes the button and explodes the other before then, I will spare you.  Of course, the citizens won’t do it and the Joker soon after gets arrested, not killed, but arrested… again.  There is no closure, no dramatic demise of the villain (compare the “end” of the Joker to the end of Sauron in Lord of the Rings).  He leaves the movie hanging upside down, cackling with delight. He would be arrested, but again, what kind of closure is that?  What’s to stop him from slipping another cell phone bomb into a neighbor and blowing himself free again?  Nothing.  My friend Nathan had more insight when he said that the implication was that evil doesn’t have a really have a good reason to be here, it just is.  The most good can do against evil is win a temporary battle against it, but not the war.  

With the Joker at least out of the way in person, the film moves on to the redemption.  And this is where a less-than-hopeful and fulfilling redemption is seen.  Previously, I noted the “typical” portrayal of villains. Harvey Dent, who later becomes Two Face, embodies this story.  He was the gleaming knight of Gotham that was going to be the “hero with a face” according to Batman.  But when the fifty-fifty chance of salvation coming to him or Rachel as they sit among wired oil cans falls in his favor, and Rachel, his love, perishes, he concludes once and for all that the universe is amoral and the only morality is chance.  For the remainder of his life, he lives under this pretense as he seeks revenge for Rachel’s death.  He ultimately falls physically soon after he falls morally (somewhat a picture of us in terms of our nature).  The moments following Harvey/Two Face’s death can be likened to the moments after the Fall of Adam and Eve.  Were the truth to be let out, that the seemingly perfect Harvey Dent himself fell to the madness and evil of the Joker, what hope would be left in humanity?  Similarly, what hope in humanity was left after the Fall of Man? None.  The Biblical Story of Redemption is one that proclaims that all hope put in man either individually or collectively, is void.  It is only through the external grace of God in his Son Jesus Christ that any of that former hope can be restored.  

Unfortunately for the characters in “The Dark Knight”, this is not the redemption that is in store, for this is largely a Godless story.  No, the redemption that finally emerges is fundamentally a lie.  Batman takes on the sins and responsibility of Two Face in order that the citizens of Gotham may continue to believe that Harvey Dent died a martyr for the cause of justice and morality.  In the closing words of Batman, he says something to the effect of, “Sometimes, the truth isn’t enough, and people need to have their faith rewarded.”  I won’t go into the issue of the faith and reason exclusivity here, for that is another issue entirely and would break off my point in this post, but ponder the redemption put forth here.  This is the closest thing to a Christ figure one in a Godless world can acquire.  Evil is real, too real at times, and the only way to redeem it is to ensure that good wins, even it involves making up a complete scam.  Sometimes, a few people must work outside the rules in order to maintain them.  People must have their faith in the goodness of man rewarded at all costs, even if their depravity is blatant. 

I loved this movie because it so masterfully put forth redemption from the lens of the Godless.  There will always be a passion for good to conquer evil; it is the eschatological yearning that all humans, craving the ultimate resolution of the universe, possess.  The Dark Knight tries to portray this resolution, and unfortunately, leaves one hanging upside down next to the Joker.

Sources of Thought:  Conversations with Sean Hails and Nathan Knapp