Question

[lemonbella]

I was reading a couple of other reviews of The Dark Knight, and some of them seemed to suggest a very different take on a pivotal scene than the one I have. I'm quite confident in my Batman canon and have a very strong version of Batman in my head, However, I'm slightly curious as to whether there are people who really view Batman in a different way to me.

So, in the scene when Batman and Gordon are racing to save Dent and Rachel, my interpretation is that Batman deliberately goes to save Dent. To me this is obvious because that's who Batman is. He saves who Gotham needs him to save, rather than who Bruce would like to save. This also fits with the previous discussion about Dent being the guy who Gotham needs. It also feels disingenuous to me if that discussion between Dent and Rachel is only there to set up the surprise, rather than to illustrate that Batman is the Dark Knight not the Knight in Shining Armour.

However, these other reviews appear to suggest that Batman ends up in the wrong place because the Joker tricked him: so he thought he was going to save Rachel but ended up saving Dent.

I'm not sure how I'm going to feel if other people suggest the second interpretation is correct. It might ruin the film!

Comments

[lemonbella.livejournal.com]

A couple of other people have said that. I thought Batman instructed Gordon to go after Rachel. I do remember it's one of the bits where it's almost impossible to hear the voice. I'm going to see it again tomorrow to check.

If it's supposed to be that Batman was tricked and intended to rescue Rachel, then I have to revise my opinion of the film and say I now detest it. It's a complete and utter misreading of Batman.

a thought on batman

[laceymcbain.livejournal.com]

If it's supposed to be that Batman was tricked and intended to rescue Rachel, then I have to revise my opinion of the film and say I now detest it. It's a complete and utter misreading of Batman.

While I'm certainly not going to argue a point about someone's right to love or despise a film, I'm wondering if it helps to look at the film as a bit of an anomaly from the comics. They created Rachel as a love interest - she doesn't exist in canon - and that right away has changed this character in some way. I'm not saying he wouldn't choose to do the right thing over the girl - I think he would, and maybe the writers made a mistake here - but I think they're also working within a canon they've partially created, one where he's met someone he can love and the part of him that wants a normal life simply reacts when she's in danger. He does it in the first film too with taking her back to the cave and giving her the antidote, even though perhaps he should let her die and deal with the more important task of stopping the villains.

Just something to think about.