Obedience In The Dark Knight

On every birth certificate in the United States it is quite clearly documented where the infant was born and when. Even if the child only lives for moments or not at all, the place of origin is still met with mechanical efficiency and then held for an undetermined amount of time within the bowels of the government. For those born who survive the transition, that birthplace is, for some, never left again. After a lifetime within the borders of a society where existences are conditioned around the betterment of that population, the laws enforced by that community become not just words to hear by disgruntled officers scowling at their papers but the very life-force that is recognized by the common citizen. Socrates, easily identified as being …show more content…
It is with an underlying understanding that he will act only until the government, or at least a sliver of it, can act in his stead. Batman does not want to be in the position of law-enforcer for the rest of his life and is quite adamant about finding a replacement in the legal channels. Harvey Dent in “The Dark Knight” states that vigilantes, although useful in times of history to make changes in the government quickly, have to be careful or else they would “die a hero or live long enough to see themselves become the villain”. Batman understands this paradigm and does not want to end up slipping into the second contingency stated by Dent. Taylor Marvin, on the discussion of Batman and his position within his society, claims that “if Gotham’s legitimate institutions could guarantee stability, Batman would have no reason to exist” (ordinary-gentlemen.com, Anarchy, State, and Batman). This is a solid case, as Batman only becomes Batman due to Gotham’s poor performance in legal and behavioral actions. It is the death of his parents that brutally open Bruce Wayne’s eyes to the transgressions infesting his city of origin, and it is the continued uncontrollable festering that keeps Batman active even when Gotham itself wants his head on a pike. Similar to other films that …show more content…
It is filling our media and in turn much of our understandings and beliefs of our own societies with the idea that pure change can only be brought about by vigilantes beyond average enactment. It is placing the average citizen in a position of futile sheep-ness, enforcing that there is only one man with the skills necessary to make any change in the society and that that citizen is not the one. Who is, then? The truth is that there is no one skilled and encouraged enough to even attempt to fill Batman’s metaphorical shoes, a vicious cycle that the many forms of popular culture reinstate almost constantly. It brings to bare the belief that even if as a citizen, they can’t do anything very powerful to fix their government, at least someone else can and will. If everyone experiences this belief, however, there will never be anyone who attempts anything beyond looking out for the real-life