“..the truth is that Ledger’s Joker is really as close to a hero as one can find in the film: why is Batman so serious about cure and not prevention,”

A Reply:
A triumph of style over substance, with the Joker recast as subversive saviour encouraging social synergy and Batman an empty platitude isolated and irrelevant..hmmm..I humbly beg to differ.

The Dark Knight is not only a true classics of the comic book and any other film genere and despite its big budget stunts this is not just one for the fanboy sect, but neither is it your standard comic book tale of heroism and absolutes. The story focuses on the question of what justice is while also (perhaps more importantly) criticizing the destructive materialism, untempered indulgence and superficiality, of Gothams criminals and citizens alike issues which are very much still afflicting our society today as we deal with the wake of renewed imperialism and corruption.

Ultimately The Dark Knight is about the proper conduct of a human being: explored through the dichotomy between Bale’s Batman and Ledger’s Joker.

There is Bale’s Batman, uncorruptable and implaccable in his pursuit of justice even though the people around him may be corrupt and morally bankrupt, and even though they may have surrendered their faith in community and one another to denial and apathy – he does not. While Bale in his role as Bruce Wayne at times in his conversations with Alfred expresses that he feels his efforts to bring order to the lawless and miserable Gotham City are at best misguided and at worst futile – still he presses on and continues to do what is just and good, in the face of all possible rejection and criticism.

Then there is Heath Ledger’s brilliantly portrayed Joker; Batman is stretched to the point of surrender by the Joker’s all-too-knowing manipulation of the media’s pathology and American theme-park culture. the Joker may be a de-centered whirlwind of morbid indulgence who essentially chooses his own past and therefore has no normative restraints on his future behaviour, but this is also apart of his attration as he pointedly tells Batman “..the only sensible way to live is without rules.” This unpredictable ‘devil may care’ attitude makes Heath Ledger’s Joker far more chilling, far more suggestive, and thus dangerously appealing since without the social conscience that informs our actions, who are we really? In the ferry scene, the Joker is seeking to prove the answer is that there’s no difference between him and everyone else! Since as he tells Batman ” ..madness is like gravity all it takes is a little push” All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That’s how far the world is from where he is!

The duality between this harlequin in toxic greasepaint and the billionaire-playboy who dresses up like a flying bat reminds me of a certain line from Cervante’s Don Quixote:- “Don Quixote is a madman and we are sane, yet he goes away sound and laughing while your Grace is left here, battered and sorrowful. I wish you would tell me now who is the crazier: the one who is so because he cannot help it, or he who turns crazy of his own free will?” – Batman risks the very core of his being to put himself on the wavelength of the Joker as he tracks and combats him, and the consequences for him (and those he loves) are real and immediate.

Here is the main point I differ with the writer about; The Dark Knight succeeds because Nolan’s Batman heroically serves an ideal of justice in hope of restoring reason and truth to a diseased, collapsing society, all while expecting no reward and never abusing his power, no matter the personal sacrifice. Thus making him not just a superhero and a good man – but whats more an idea – an idea of JUSTICE – Batman portrays this paradigm unswervingly throughout the film ensuring that the people that are left in his wake have been treated fairly, so maybe, just maybe, they would so be inspired to treat others with respect,thus breeding a juster culture.

So unlike your article I believe the true success of The Dark Knight is to be able to cloak this message of social justice among other ideological themes in a commercial format, allowing us to put our guards down just long enough for Nolan to hit us in between our eyes and wake up our minds. Nolan has produced a work that truly prods the mind and astounds the senses at the same time. What more can one ask for from Hollywood in these days of compromise and duplicity?