[Praeglacialis]

Hope this is relevant to the Films category. I find it interesting wondering about the possible interpretations of any given film.

I was watching The Dark Knight Rises the other day and detected a strong anti-revolutionary message in it. It seems to me that Bane and his associates seem to represent a sort of revolutionary communist or anarchist force. Where most other villains or groups of villains might try to take control of Gotham for themselves, Bane is saying, 'Gotham is yours.' It is run in the name of the people. The sentencing by Scare Crow's character seems to reflect the same, where the victim's guilt has been already ruled by the 'people', and they are resigned to choose between exile or death. This is kind of reminiscent of the Stalinist regime I feel. Also, towards the end there is the, perhaps metaphorical reset of the city by a revolutionary who is also a citizen. Reaching a state where everyone is equal. Bane is seen to be a character who is against the division between rich and poor, a socialist if you will. Such as in the stock market where he is told that there wasn't any money to steal. He responds with, 'Really, they why are you here?' Batman somewhat represents the status quo. He's essentially the right hand man of the regular police institution, or at least was. He represents a slight struggle against untoward forces that the police go though but nothing more.

Thoughts?

[Sad Professor]

Bane isn't a revolutionary. He doesn't care about the poor or giving power back to the people. That was all bullish*t! He was a terrorist, pure and simple. He merely passed himself off as a revolutionary in order to carry out his true goal: poisoning the soul of Gotham's citizens before blowing them all to smithereens.

[ReacherCreature]

Originally Posted by a/tel

Dunno has this been raised already here but i wonder what happened the Batpod after Selina Kyle had finished with it.
Did she take it with her as a souvenir????. Or was it left for Blake??.

Now that's zooming in on something that has very little consequence for the whole film!

RE: politics and history I did feel they examined it, but only lightly. These are light night ramblings/musings so forgive inconsistencies.

Bane detonates Gotham's bridges and cuts off any access to the now-beleaguered city. Then the police force is trapped underground thus largely eliminating law-protection. Then Bane releases the prisoners of Blackgate into the city, promising to give Gotham back to the people. Gotham became an unofficial "city state", harking back to the old days of history, such as Rome or Florence, Sparta or Athens.

Bane's promise to relinquish control of Gotham from the rulers, wealthy, and bureaucratic falls flat on its face. Bane kickstarts a revolution but remains largely in control setting up preposterous show trials and his people roam the streets in Batmobiles (or should it be Bane-mobiles?) and they tote a four megaton nuclear bomb around ready to detonate if the rules (paradoxical as the rules don't exist in an anarchic state) are broken. Though, to give credit to the state, Bane isn't totally in control like a dictator would but he's there, operating in the shadows and rooting out those who oppose him, preserving his iron fisted hold on the city while allowing the people to "take back Gotham".

The people haven't received Gotham in a 'peaceful' manner, Bane has turned Gotham into an anarchic yet an autocratic brutal state. People fight, are executed or "exiled", and the people's hope largely diminishes for some months. Bar the Blackgate prisoners, Bane's sidekicks and the baddie himself, the people haven't gotten squat. They rely on aid from the outside world and live in fear. They haven't gotten the city back.

Nolan has done a pretty good job in this regard, we get a feel for the dramatic shift in the standard of life for Gotham's inhabitants and the oppression they feel as well as Bane's initial frightening wave of terror (Stalinesque?). This makes the justice aspect so much more evident and it has risen i.e Batman. But the city state notion is confusing itself and it becomes paradoxical and self-defeating. But maybe that's Bane's intention, create a new method of a city state's ways? A Bane model perhaps?

[senordingdong]

Originally Posted by Mickeroo

I like his voice, the impact on popular culture its made can't be denied, its certainly the most fun film voice to imitate I've come across in a while anyway

I dunno, I think people are laughing at it, and not with it.

[Gamb!t]

Any release date for the Ultimate Edition boxset of the trilogy ?

[Sad Professor]

End of the year sometime, I think.

[Handsome Bob]

Originally Posted by senordingdong

I dunno, I think people are laughing at it, and not with it.

You're wrong.