http://www.dccomics.com/dcu/comics/?cm=10136

While I agree that some of the monologues (of which there were FAR too many) were borderline groan-inducing, I believe The Dark Knight did a great job of portraying the real world scenarios in which you realize that right and wrong aren’t always so different after all.

It’s interesting to read all the political interpretations of movies like Iron Man and TDK. I don’t get how Iron Man would be jingoistic at all – Stark is hard core pro-military and corporation at the beginning, but the whole point of the movie is that the military fails at getting the bad guys and the corporation ends up corrupt, so Stark ends up taking matters into his own hands.

And really, taking offense at using villains who share the nationality of some real life villains? Personally, I’m tired of the years of nothing but british villains because nobody had the balls to have bad guys with any ethnicity out of fear of offending people. The original Iron Man had the origin story set in the vietnam war, updating to afghanistan is just going from period piece to present day.

The Joker, Alfred, and Harvey Dent stand out to me in that regards. Yes, they all have their vague assertations of grand-scale comic-book philosophies (“The only sensible way to live in this world…”, “…He’s not being a hero, he’s being something more”, “…And I promise you, the dawn is coming!” – respectively).

And then they make very personal (i.e. it feels like the characters sharing their views with us, not the filmmakers) comments. The Joker’s “All according to plan” bit in the Hospital rung especially clear on this note – especially the reference to soldiers.

Alfred reminisces about a time when he worked for an imperial government to bribe tribal leaders (his words, not mine) – and very sharply equates someone wanting to thwart those bribing attempts with incomprehensible, anarchastic impulses. Meanwhile, later in the film, the Joker’s invitation to “upset the established order” feels almost like a direct response to those sentiments.

(It’s also interesting to note that Alfred accuses the Joker of wanting to “watch the world burn” – but what was Alfred’s solution back in Burma? Tie that into the Joker’s commentary things going according to plan – “Even if the plan is horrying!”)

Dent, while a far more complex “white knight” than I’d expected, has an interesting political bent that shines when he defends Batman at the dinner. (“Suspend democracy” is a particularly interesting choice of words.) Rachel calls this out specifically, too.

(I also thought Dent’s acceptance of an extravagant, unnecessary fundraiser from a personal friend – when remembering that Dent made a name for himself fighting corruption – particularly awkward, character-wise. But I chalk that event to plot necessity, not character commentary, and that I read too deep into that.)

Punchline: I thought THE DARK KNIGHT was very “political,” and that its success in toeing that line isn’t owed to dodging politics entirely, but including them intelligently (rather than an elphant-in-the-room situation, à la IRON MAN and Iraq).

Jonh, anyone – thoughts?

I can’t believe I’m going to bother with this, but… there are numerous reports of Murphy on the set already on the internet, SAG rules would NEVER allow the film to credit Murphy as an actor if he were not in the film, and for what it’s worth, he looked and sounded like himself to me (and I’ve never heard anyone else, except you, say otherwise).

Moreover, why bother? You seriously think Nolan couldn’t get Murphy? Or couldn’t afford him? Or Murphy is too busy starring in…. uh… something else?

That’s my 2 cents. Now believe what you want.

p.s. That’s not Cillian Murphy playing the Scarecrow. He’s a lookalike.