The soul of "The Dark Knight"
Tuesday July 22, 2008
Categories: Pop Culture
It is a dark soul indeed, and that is what makes the movie--which I saw last (k)night--so powerful. I can't qualify as a comic-book or action-hero or sci-fi geek (though my geekiness is evident in other areas), and I...
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David Gibson is an award-winning religion writer who specializes in writing about the Catholic Church, which he joined as a convert at the age of 30. He is the author The Rule of Benedict: Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World. He also wrote The Coming Catholic Church: How the Faithful are Shaping a New American Catholicism. He has written about Catholicism for leading newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, New York magazine, Boston magazine, Fortune, Commonweal, and America. Gibson worked in Rome for Vatican Radio for several years and traveled frequently with Pope John Paul II. He later covered religion for The Star-Ledger of New Jersey. He has co-written several recent documentaries on Christianity for CNN. For further information check out his website at dgibson.com.Search This Blog
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Given the choice of dying a hero or living a long and happy life as a villain, I'll take villain. Besides, you get all the good lines.
We desperately need priests who are in a teaching capacity to see this movie...soon...so they can explain to parents the need to BE parents and not to get talked into letting their children see this morally and psychologically harmful movie. Some parents just don't care. They say they do and priests say they do, too, but is anyone investing the time in finding out about these kinds of movies? There is at least one priest I know who does care, and God bless him.
Dark knight is a poisonous movie, bad for the soul. See more at
www.moviesintofilm.com/dark_knight.htm
Florence H. & Jurgen Adams:
I'm not completely sure about your trick; but, just in case, there's better ways to spend our time than condemning movies.
I grew up in the 80s and my parents did prevent me from seeing "Temple of Doom" and "Gremlins", the much hyped and violent movies of '84. *Actually, "Temple of Doom" was a big part of the reason for PG-13 and should serve as a hint for what passes for PG-13.*
I don't think it's that hard for parents to prevent there young kids from going to the multi-plex. Kids under 13 should be accompanied by an adult.
To boot, there's also several other more family friendly versions of BATMAN... like 4 other BATMAN movies since Michael Keaton donned the costume and countless direct to video BATMAN cartoons.
If you find something offensive, we live in a free country - simply ignore it or shut it off.
Example: After enough BS and lies with the Iraq war, I simply stopped watching our lousy president on the television. If he came on, I simply changed the channel.
The live long enough to see yourself become the villain quote was said by Harvey Dent to Bruce not Alfred and Katie Holmes is not in the Dark Knight.Maggie Gylenhal took over her role. Other than that good article. I thoroughly enjoyed Dark Knight for its duality and exploration of humanity. While its too violent for real young kids,its no more "poisonous"for teens than some schools,neighborhoods,and people their exposed to on a daily basis. Parents and society need to stop trying to put ALL the blame on movies and other media. Step up and accept responsibility for what your child learns! It starts in the homes!
Parents definitely should step up as the last person suggests. But I agree with the second that parents need some guidance, from priests or otherwise. Because many kids will not understand why they can see other PG-13 movies but not see the biggest blockbuster (potentially of them all, financially-speaking) with an equal rating. But this movie is too sophisticated, morally ambivalent, and violent to be appropriate for most children. But how will parents know that it is a far-cry from the also PG-13 The Mummy Returns for example. As far as villains go, most kids are not ready to understand the Joker. For that matter, as an adult, I'm not sure I'm ready to understand the joker. So, please, priests and other public figures, help parents out.
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