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The Dark Knight of America

Written by Mark Van Steenwyk : July 15, 2008

This weekend thousands upon thousands of movie-goers will flock to see the Dark Knight. According to early reviews, the flick has the potential for greatness.

The Dark Knight combines all the dark grittiness of the best crime dramas with all the eye-candy of superhero-flicks, and processes it through the dark macabre vision that has become a hallmark of the best of the Batman films.

In some very important ways, we have Frank Miller to thank for that. Frank Miller’s graphic novels have always been celebrated, but recently they have found their way to film. Strangely, however, his most celebrated graphic novel, The Dark Knight Returns, has never been made into a film, though it is arguably one of the top three graphic novels of all time.

I’d imagine than when Chris Nolan resurrected the Batman franchise, he had a copy of the Dark Knight Returns rolled up in his jacket pocket. This new Batman is dark, psychologically conflicted, realistic, and subversive. This is Batman that way Frank Miller revisioned.

In some ways Batman is THE American superhero. Some would give Superman that honor (though who among us can relate with Superman?). Batman embodies many deeply ingrained American ideals: rugged individualism, the use of redemptive violence, the longing for justice, and a subversive attitude towards governmental authority.

Frank Miller writes, “I’m in love with heroes, not because I think there are that many, or that there is any one individual who could do what Batman does…but because I think we’re at our best when we’re autonomous.” Americans have traditionally valued rugged individualism.  And there is no character more ruggedly individualistic than the Batman is.  In this, he is distinctively American. In comic books the American Hero is portrayed as the lonely individual confronting the forces of evil without support from a cowed or corrupt or impotent community.

Another religious value embodied by the Batman is his utilitarian use of evil and violence.  Miller writes, “We’re not simple creatures.  We all have God and the devil in us.  Batman makes his devils work for the common good.” Miller wrote this long before 9/11…but this sentiment could easily be said of the US government in its response to terrorism.  How else could we justify a preemptive military strike against Iraq  unless we felt that it were for the common good?  Many Americans do unethical things because the “ends justify the means.”  While this sentiment isn’t unique to our nation, it is perhaps prevalent enough to be considered a part of the American ethos.

Part of the American ethos is a healthy distrust of government. It is, after all, part of the USAmerican origin story. Batman typifies this too. The child of privilege, he returns to a corrupt Gotham and vows to clean it up. But in order to do so, he must don the mask of vigilantism. He must subvert the powers, since all of the powers-that-be are corrupted (except for one good cop, Commissioner Gordon).

I am usually the last to admit it, but being “subversive” is very American. Not that you have to be American to be subversive. It is just that if you are an American you are simply more likely to feel free to gripe about those in power than folks from other nations. The one who subverts assumes, in their marginal righteousness, that the powerful need to be displaced so that an age of purity can follow. And this is what Batman does–he decides that the Law is insufficient and, therefore, becomes his own Law.

So, when you rush off to see the Dark Knight (which I am going to see at the IMAX in about a week), keep in mind…almost everything you love about him is deeply embedded in what it means to be USAmerican.

Mark Van Steenwyk is the editor of JesusManifesto.com. He is a Mennonite pastor (Missio Dei in Minneapolis), writer, speaker, and grassroots educator. He lives in South Minneapolis with his wife (Amy), son (Jonas) and some of their friends.


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Comments

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    "Many Americans do unethical things because the “ends justify the means.”

    And that is the epitome of arrogance. We believe that we are better off to take the situation into our own hands and out of the hands of God . That our plan is better than His.

    "...if you are an American you are simply more likely to feel free to gripe about those in power than folks from other nations."

    I'm not so sure that America has a monopoly on this. I have traveled around a bit and I would have to say that most people in most countries gripe a lot about their governments. Some of them just have to be careful who they gripe to.
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    America is far from having a monopoly on this, but point taken.

    By the way, this movie was influenced as much by Alan Moore (The Killing Joke) as Miller. Highly recommend his work as well.
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    I agree, I don't think America is even close to leading in griping about their leaders. Here we're so apathetic and passive that we let all sorts of things happen (eg. losing habeas corpus). In other countries they go out to the streets to let it be known they disapprove. In South Korea they had tens of thousands marching in the streets over beef imports!
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    The key word here is "gripe." I agree that we don't corner the market (at all) in dissent. But here, it seems, we consider it very American to gripe about our leaders. Another sense of this is the way in which it is considered very stylish to be "counter-cultural." That isn't to say that such folks are actually counter-cultural, but in the US entire industries (like teen clothing) capitalize (literally) on subversion.
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    You can by an anarchist T-shirt at Hot Topic. 'Nuff said.
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    Or you could buy one, if you were pathologically annoyed by typos, like I am.
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    Perhaps the subversive quality comes from the fact that we rested our freedom from a superpower. But as Freire says, we are likely to become the oppressor in the process because that's what we learned.
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    True dat, Jonathan. And what does that say for those of us who came out of evangelicalism? I'm noticing that a lot of radical movements have begun recapitulating the sort of methods and assumptions of evangelical ministry.
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    So I'm not the only one...
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    The astonishing thing to me is that few realize the extent to which their imaginations are captivated by 21st Century American Consumerism filtered through Evangelicalism (which, in some ways only worsens the process of commodification in our country, rather than chastening it).
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    I do see it as a 'vision' problem, a lack of imagination. I find myself and others regularly falling back on the cultural defaults that have been ingrained, even when, supposedly, we know better.
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    I wonder if the solution is to instead of responding to a problem, search for the original intent unfiltered from dogma. A response seems like it is tainted to begin with. Original intent allows for new expression and imagination. But then I'm somewhat of a realist and know it's hard to leave our cultural conditioning behind.

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