Alfred: "Some men just wanna watch the world burn..."
Hailed as one of the best comic book movies ever made
and earning a legitimacy the genre 
hadn't previously experienced,
'The Dark Knight' changed the way 
characters were portrayed
what fans expected,
and what the general public would enjoy.
But what was the key to its success?
I'm Neary
And this series takes an in-depth look at films
and the process behind them.
An Oscar winning success from 2008
'The Dark Knight' gave comic fans the most
famous hero and villain combination
in the medium.
But also delivered an exciting
original
and lucrative blockbuster
that captivated the general public.
So now
of course
people try to pick it apart.
Was it the style?
That realism of the character.
Was it the superb performances?
Or the practical effects?
Film stock over digital?
Or any number of other elements.
And the answer
each and every time,
is 'no'.
Nothing in a film works by itself.
It all combines into the whole.
And the best way of creating that cohesion
is through an often vague term:
theme.
What 'The Dark Knight' represents
is a an excellent combination of director's sensibilities
matching the material.
Not known as a comic book "geek",
it surprised many
and still does
that Christopher Nolan would have excelled
with something as "juvenile" as a comic book character.
Especially one like Batman
who was last seen being...
...less than complex.
Batman [George Clooney]: "Good night."
But theme binds a story together.
And from his own preoccupations
Nolan has examined the same elements
throughout his career.
The idea of reality
memory
perception
and, most prominently in this movie,
the theme of identity.
Through the character of Batman
Nolan found a device within the superhero world
he could utilize exclusively
and would take it, and use the hyper-realisitc
melodramatic,
and generally enhanced world of superheroes
to break apart the idea of theme
like never before.
Why Batman?
Superheroes, to fans and general public
are built upon the foundation of identity.
Batman [Michael Keaton]: "I'm Batman"
Wearing a mask
putting on a costume
and changing your name,
are all foundational elements of the genre.
Mask
or no mask
the conceit is always there.
The idea of secrets
the splitting apart of our personality
the very literal change in who we are
and identity is fluid and changing.
We don't act the same in front of our mother
as we do in front of our boss.
We don't make the same jokes with children
that we do with our friends.
But at no point do we ever
stop being ourselves.
So to understand what identity is
we need to except it as 3 different facets
who exchange
combine
and fight for dominance.
There is the version of 
ourselves that we see.
There is the person the world sees.
And there is the version we
wish ourselves to be.
*THUNDER*
Batman's secret identity has been explored
to the point of intense scrutiny,
and in a rather unique way
the comic often discusses who is the real face of the character?
Is Batman something that Bruce Wayne uses...
Bruce: "People need dramatic examples,"
"to shake them out of apathy"
"and I can't do that as Bruce Wayne."
...or did Bruce Wayne die the same night
as his parents?
Forever replaced with the persona
of a vengeful champion
who would eventually create the Batman
and wear the mask of Bruce
to fulfil his goal.
Alfred: "You're getting lost inside this monster of yours."
From such a rich history
we find 'The Dark Knight' to be a film based around
this exploration of identity.
From who we are,
to who we want to be,
to who the world thinks we are.
Joker: "I'm a man of my word...hehaHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH"
Nearly every scene in this film addresses the idea of identity.
of hidden depths,
deception,
and questions about what we see and what lies beneath.
From hidden doors and walls
to mistaken perception,
the film uses identity throughout to bind and define its characters journeys.
The hero wears a mask,
the villain puts on war paint,
and the final danger is literally split in two.
Nolan has touched on identity before...
Teddy: "So you lie to yourself to be happy,"
"there's nothing wrong with that,"
"we all do it."
on what we need to feel like a person,
to the concept of dual identities,
the changing state of who we think we are,
and who we actually are.
But in 'The Dark Knight' (TDK) he reached the best and most comprehensive study he could ever find
thanks, in part, to the range that comic book characters offer.
He took a fundamental element of the genre...
Harvey Dent: "I am the Batman."
and explored it with an intelligent, adult eye,
and it paid off critically and commercially.
Having that unifying element
– theme –
helps a film stand out.
Because now the director isn’t assembling actors,
sets, jokes, and shots,
he’s moving pieces across a larger board
to guide the audience down a path.
He is trying to talk to us.
To say something about the world and people as he sees it.
Alfred: "Endure."
This is not just great storytelling,
this is the very reason we tell stories.
Not to distract ourselves, but to communicate with one another,
to share ideas and speak about 
the universal parts of existence,
or voice what we believe and see.
Theme is the literal difference between a film that has something to say and one that doesn’t.
From scene to scene, moment to moment,
we find that identity
– in its 3 different forms –
is touched on by each aspect in the film.
Rossi: "I'm the brains of the organization!"
These three different concepts of identity
play out on the larger plane of the three main characters,
and within each of the characters themselves.
A bank?
But it’s a mob bank.
A coin?
Harvey: "Heads I go through with it."
But it’s two sided.
A company?
But it’s crooked.
Cops?
Det. Ramirez: "The got me early on, 
my mother's hospital bills."
But they’re corrupt.
Looking for the Batman?
Wertz: "The investigation is 'ongoing'."
( Elvis would be a great Batman.)
And now we start to see that theme is not random,
not something that comes in and out of a movie,
Officer: "Hey, you wait like everybody else pal."
*SHOTGUN BLAST*
but the constant thread of what the film is based on, including the plot.
Let’s look first at Harvey Dent,
the most minor character of the three,
but the one around whom the other two orbit.
Dent’s identity is the same for both men...
Bruce: "I believe in Harvey Dent."
... they both seem him as the best hope for Gotham.
Joker: "I took Gotham's White Knight..."
"...and I brought him down to our level."
The Joker knows that breaking Harvey would crush the city,
Bruce: "You know that day you
once told me about"
"when Gotham would no longer need Batman?"
and Bruce knows Harvey is the best of them but, personally,
if Harvey is successful he can quit being Batman.
Bruce: "Harvey is that hero,"
"he locked up half of the city's criminals"
"and he did it without wearing a mask."
Again, it’s important to note,
that each of these three represent one of the different aspects of identity,
Joker: "I wouldn't know what do do with one
if I caught it!"
so it may seem like they cross-over at times, 
macro and micro,
such is the fluid nature of identity
and the complexity that a good theme can generate.
Harvey is often referred to as the White Knight,
the best of the trio,
and is seen by the outside world as the heroic one,
and Gotham’s best hope.
For the Joker, and Batman,
the city lives or dies by the 
people’s perception of Harvey.
Gordon: "If anybody asks, we got him out."
The film’s climax comes down to the fact
that if Dent is seen as a killer,
the criminals he put away go free
and the city will lose all hope.
If his status is maintained
Gotham has a chance.
Getting to this point we see several factors emerge,
notably how the world sees Harvey is, in part, how he also wants to be seen.
Harvey: "I'll get you your warrants,
but I want your trust."
Gordon: "Oh you don't have to sell me Dent."
"We all know your Gotham's White Knight."
Because the real Harvey isn’t so secure, 
his version of himself isn’t as strong,
Rachel: "Harvey Dent, scourge of the underworld,
scared stiff by the trust fund brigade!"
and he needs others to see him that way
his campaign logo is...
Bruce: “I believe in Harvey Dent? Yeah, nice slogan Harvey.”
but also that the man has a need to be liked
 and seen as trustworthy.
*Clapping*
Harvey: "How do you know what he's thinking?"
When he loses Rachel
we see who he really is,
a man who was charming,
but deceptive.
Brave
but all too aware of his own failings.
Harvey makes many decent choices,
he is trying to fight the good fight,
but when the world isn’t looking 
his true self is dangerous.
And one of the key lines in the film,
which cleverly combines the plot 
with the theme once more
is Harvey’s line...
Harvey: "You either die a hero,"
"Or you live longer enough to
see yourself become the villain."
That he eventually ends up as Two-Face
cements the power of comic books
to visually and evocatively portray ideas and concepts in a very clear and distinct way.
Thomas Wayne: "Don't be afraid..."
He is literally torn in two,
between the man he was,
the man he has become,
and the fact that they can both exist at once...
Two-Face: "Decent men in an indecent time!"
...just like we can have different identities within us depending on the situation.
Harvey is angry,
and guilty,
turning the gun on himself as well,
believing the world to be fair.
Facial recognition,
fingerprints,
spying technology,
the film hits the idea of identity over and over.
Clown: "Hands up pretty boy."
*WHAM*
And with Harvey comes one of the recurring moments
of someone pretending to be 
something that they are not.
We see Jim Gordon pretending to be dead.
Jim Gordon is, despite appearance,
the most superhero-esque of all the characters.
He pretends to be dead...
Mayor Garcia: "Back from the dead?"
putting on a mask, just so he can protect his family.
Gordon: "I couldn't risk my family's safety."
Which is the standard logic for the heroes 
in the comic books,
to protect themselves from the outside world
so that they can protect the people who they most associate with their ‘real’ identity.
Alfred: "To protect those you care about from reprisals?"
Bruce: "You're thinking about Rachel."
Alfred: "Actually sir, I was finkin' of myself."
Robin: "Yeah but you were a loner right?
You didn't have any family?"
Bruce: "There are always people you care about."
Which leads us to the Batman,
the character who’s journey is defined not by a mask for his own protection
but because he wanted to create a symbol.
Ducard: "Then you become something else entirely..."
Bruce: "Which is?"
Ducard: "Legend, Mister Wayne."
Batman is not a real identity,
Bruce is using it to make criminals afraid,
and it is how the world sees the Batman
that matters to him above all else.
Bruce: "Batman has no limits."
He needs to maintain and aura,
because at the beginning of this film it is successfully working.
Crook: "Nah man, I don't like tonight."
Dealer: "What'ryu superstitious?"
"You got more chance of winning the Power Ball
than running into him!"
Harvey: "Then what about that floodlight on the top of MCU?"
Gordon: "If you've got problems with malfunctioning equipment,"
"I suggest you take them up with maintenance."
The police aren’t interested in who he ‘really’ is,
because what he represents,
what the world believes him to be is 
the true power of that role.
Joker: "Wha' happened? Did your balls drop off?"
What that leaves us with is Bruce,
who perceives himself as someone playing a part,
in his mind he sees himself as distinct,
Bruce: "Batman's just a symbol Rachel."
Knowing that Batman’s power is in being incorruptible and unstoppable.
And it’s working...
...up until the world stops seeing him like that.
Maroni: "They're wise to your act,"
"You got rule. The Joker? He's got no rules."
"Nobody's gonna cross him for you."
And this fall begins right at the beginning of the movie,
Batman: "Him again."
when Bruce doesn’t grasp in one man
the exact image he has created with the Batman.
Gordon: "What about this Joker guy?"
Batman: "One man or the entire mob?"
Instead of going after the Joker,
he decides to attack the mob
perhaps to move him closer to retirement
because he fails to recognize the persona of the Joker like the rest of the world does.
He only sees the man,
and not the symbol he represents.
Brian: "We don't have to be afraid of scum like you."
Joker: "Yeah...you do Brian..."
"You REALLY do."
This is the dynamic that sets off the whole film,
the tug of war at play between who we are,
who we are seen as,
and who we want to be seen to be.
Joker’s influence on Batman
swings throughout these 3 points of view..
Joker: "Very poor choice of words."
...crushing Batman’s spirit in all it’s forms.
The actions the Joker takes are lavish,
impressive,
original,
and performed perfectly by Heath Ledger,
Joker: 'TA-DA!!!"
But the underlying reasons are why it works so well.
Bruce needs Batman to be a symbol 
in order to be effective,
to rationalize what he’s doing.
But in his efforts to clean up Gotham
he fails to see the Joker as that same symbol.
He latches onto what he sees Harvey as...
Bruce: "Gotham needs a hero with a face."
...and believes he can clean up Gotham like Batman never could.
But the Joker first attacks the secret identity of Batman,
wanting him to reveal himself.
Joker: "Batman must take off his mask,"
"and turn himself in."
Joker: "You just take of your little mask and show us all who you really are."
He wants it more than anything,
even though he proclaims he’s doing it for...
Joker: "Half"
We’ll get to this later, but anyone watching knows that the Joker is never what anyone thinks he is.
Joker: "No, I'm not."
And despite others trying to prove they're just
like Batman,
in fact, attacking his identity in a different way...
Brian: "What give you the right?
What's the difference between you and me?"
Batman is ultimately left reeling by the attack 
not on his persona but on the man.
Joker (V.O): "I thought you really were Dent,
the way you threw yourself after her."
Joker eradicates the concept of Batman
 by attacking in broad daylight,
putting himself on camera,
creating a clear symbol of danger for Gotham,
a focal point just like The Batman persona
and far more effective than the vague threat of a criminal mob.
Joker: "HAEHAHEEHAHAHA"
What Bruce is faced with is destroying the Batman symbol in the eyes of the public,
so that he can maintain the image of someone who does the right thing.
Batman: "No one else will die because of me."
"Gotham's in your hands now."
Even though he knows the right thing is to not give up,
Dent: "You can't give in!"
he cannot accept the Batman persona
being associated with people’s deaths...
Bruce: "People are dying Alfred, 
what would you have me do?"
And he is moments away from surrendering.
Harvey: "Take the Batman into custody."
In fact the scene in which he chooses to do so,
Harvey: "I am the Batman"
shows how quickly the idea of what we see ourselves
and what the world sees us as,
can change very quickly
– even for the audience.
Alfred: "Perhaps both Bruce and Mister Dent,"
"believe that the Batman stands for something more important."
Harvey Dent is suddenly revealed to be quite violent 
and almost twisted.
Schiff: "I don't know anything!"
"DON'T!"
Dent: "You're not playing the odds friend"
Batman: "You're the symbol of hope I can never be,"
Because as Batman says, even if the coin is later shown to be a double
(another false identity)
if anyone sees Harvey doing this
his reputation is ruined.
Batman: "Everything would be undone."
Harvey’s personality does not align with how the public view him
and Batman knows it’s more important than reality.
An important lesson in his steps toward the finish.
In the scenes following
(when the coin is revealed)
and more true identities come to light
Joker: "Assuming of course they are still 'your' people"
appearances are shown to be false
(except for the nice Joker touch of making a literal 'fire-truck')
and the Joker is set on getting the Batman’s identity...
but it is this moment that shows the pivot point in his attention.
From here on out,
Joker doesn’t care about Batman’s secret identity.
And this is,
Joker: "HAHAH!"
for all intents and purposes,
the end of the movie...
Joker: "You have nothing"
"Nothing to threaten me with."
"Nothing to do with all your strength."
This is where the Joker wins.
Batman was a symbol of fear,
a character Bruce created to clean up the streets,
but in his failure to respect the Joker as a similar symbol
Joker: "You're just a freak...like me!"
Bruce: "Criminals aren't complicated Alfred,"
The Joker is able to wipe out how the outside world sees Batman.
Criminals no longer fear him,
Maroni: "Nobody's gonna tell you nuthin'"
and the cops no longer want him on their side,
Officer: "No more dead cops!"
*CHEERING*
And when we reach this critical scene,
the climax of the journey
Bruce Wayne’s entire plan, his goal
is destroyed by this one man,
this symbol confronting him on a whole new level.
At 90 minutes in, the usual runtime of a normal movie
the Batman is dead.
He has nothing left.
Criminals don’t fear him.
Cops don’t trust him.
The Joker cannot be overcome by anything he had traditionally used
And here...
we see another shift.
This is Bruce putting the chair under the door,
because the aspect of his identity
that was concerned with how the world saw him,
in this case the police and Gordon,
is something he can no longer maintain.
Gordon: "He’s in control."
He has to sacrifice that part of himself
because how he sees himself takes over.
Joker: "Does Harvey know about you and his little Bubeh?"
*SLAM*
One quick point:
about the Joker giving the wrong address,
Joker: "He's at 250 52nd Street..."
is the idea he might have gotten inside Batman’s head,
and know that that inner persona
is more concerned with Rachel.
Gordon: "Which one are you going after?"
Batman: "Rachel!"
But it’s just as important to remember
that the Joker doesn’t have a specific plan,
he improvises constantly
Joker: "Excuse me, I wanna drive."
with great intelligence yes
but if Harvey had of been killed
he would have been just as happy,
or both of them.
He isn’t after anything in particular besides crushing Batman at this point.
That's why he's his direct opposite
he's malleable where Batman is rigid.
Joker: "HAHHAHAAHAH!"
"You have NOTHING!"
"Nothing to threaten me with."
"Nothing to do with all your strength."
So
with this concept of Batman dead,
and the movie finished,
let's switch to the Joker.
The most notoriously difficult of characters to understand.
It’s said that he has no past,
that he doesn’t know where he came from,
that in his mind he creates new origins all the time,
and new personalities,
so the idea of, inner, outer and external might not even apply to him.
But in Nolan’s universe
he has made sure there are sides to each part of the Joker
just like the others.
Identity for the Joker is absolutely crucial to the story.
He wears war-paint but then a mask.
He is a blank slate. (I think I said 'sate' :/)
Gordon: "No matches on prints,"
"...DNA...dental...clothing is custom, no labels"
"Nothing in his pockets but knives and lint."
No one knows who he is.
"No name,"
Not the cops or the criminals,
"No other alias."
not even Batman.
He is an agent of chaos,
sprung from nowhere to wreck havoc
 on the hero and his city.
But Nolan knew a blind and vague threat is useless
and there are snippets of a real man behind the mask,
clues to his mind.
Joker: "I like that."
This man is well aware of imagery,
of identity and its power,
and the reason is that he is totally focused on what the world sees him as.
He takes great pleasure in being without rules,
without control,
doing as he wants.
But what he wants changes because of the Batman
Joker: "Come on, come on"
"I want you to do it. I want you to do it. Come on."
"Hit me. Hit me."
"Come on, hit me!"
Batman: "ARHHH!"
Joker: "HIT ME!!"
*SKIDDING*
It’s no surprise that in many interpretations
there is a bond between Joker and his Batman
a type of perverse love the character holds,
Joker [Michael Emerson]: "Batman..."
"....darling...."
In that he helped create him,
setting him free,
Joker: "You complete me."
and in the endless joy he gets challenging him
and pushing him to the edge.
Joker: "I think you and I are destined to do
this forever."
Whoever he originally was,
perhaps a soldier given his exceptional ability to create plans on the fly
and have contingencies ready to go,
Joker: "Ok, rack 'em up. Rack 'em up, rack 'em up."
as well as organize large groups quickly
plus this often mentioned line...
Joker: "Or a truck load of soldiers will be blown up..."
"...nobody panics."
"Because it's all part of the 'plan'."
The person he is now is the Joker.
*CLAPPING*
A man who wears a mask just like Batman,
in this case make-up.
This itself shows some idea to the inner and outer versions of the character.
To the world at large it’s a gimmick,
an intimidation tactic,
something that paints him as a freak,
Clown: "Make-up?"
Clown 2: "Yeah, to scare people. Y'know? War-paint."
and all of those perceptions he uses to his advantage,
just like Batman’s aura of fear and power allows him to affect those who see him that way.
Cop: "What'ya want?!"
Joker: "I just want my phone call."
But unlike Nicholson’s Joker,
or Hamill’s, or the comic,
this Joker isn’t actually smiling.
His laughs sometimes feel forced,
Joker: "Woo-hah-ha- HAHA!"
and his very first one is funny precisely because he’s faking it.
Joker: "Oh, hee, hee, a-ha, ooh, he he haaa."
The actual man,
the real face,
is scarred, but he’s twisted that into a smile.
Joker: "Now I'm always smiling!"
His stories of the past are all about the scars,
Joker: "Speaking of which, do you know I got these scars?"
because he knows,
that even with the smiling red make-up,
that’s what the world sees.
Joker: "She can't stand the sight of me."
His inner self is aware of these scars,
they matter to him too, he owns them but they are still a part of himself.
Joker: "Why so serious?"
The make-up is for others,
but also,
like any mask on some level,
to hide himself, or at least a part of himself.
And while the world,
in this case the mob,
see him as a symbol of a new type of criminal,
a weapon to use against the police’s weapon
Chechen: "Have to fix real problem."
"Batman."
His outer motivation is that of a man out for money and power.
He wants to bring down the Batman,
but in this scene...
his mind shifts...
Joker: "HIT ME!"
his idea of who he,
and who Batman is,
has changed.
He no longer wants to see under the mask,
he doesn’t care,
Joker: "I've had a change of heart,"
"I don't want Mister Reese spoiling everything."
He realizes this man is just like him,
more than just one personality,
someone who exists beyond the normal idea of identity
Joker: "Don't talk like one of them, you're not."
and someone who is incorruptible
Joker: "You truly are incorruptible."
regardless of how the outside world sees him.
And that’s the Joker,
they call him a terrorist,
*BOOM*
but he’s not.
They call him crazy,
but he’s not,
Joker: "So, in a way,"
"I knew your friends better than you ever did."
"Would you like to know which of them were cowards?"
and they thinks he’s got a plan,
Joker: "Do I really look like a guy with a plan?"
The Joker is not pure evil,
what he appears to be for most of the film is someone totally okay with himself,
Joker: "I like this job, I like it."
and happy to manipulate what others see
to get what he wants.
He doesn’t need validation.
He doesn’t care what anyone thinks.
So when we return to the idea 
that the Batman persona is dead,
these three figures come together.
Now, the new villain is Harvey in this ‘second’ film.
We see his origin,
and his motivation, and we go from there.
*BOOOOOM*
The Joker becomes a larger threat,
in essence becoming what the Batman was at the start of the film,
a large presence that terrorizes people through his very mention and existence.
He's never seen, he becomes only a voice.
Meanwhile Batman has,
in a way,
switched over in his identities,
all of them.
Rachel is gone,
Harvey is gone,
and the city is falling away.
He sits, mask off, in the daylight for the very first time,
everything blurring,
all the identities smashed together and not sure which is which.
And his idea of who he is,
Bruce: "She was going to wait for me Alfred."
And who Rachel is,
is a false aspect.
Alfred: "It can wait."
Now Alfred, in this moment,
is doing what Bruce did to Harvey.
*Coin Flip*
because the film is starting to reflect its stories.
Batman: "If anyone saw this, everything would be undone."
Alfred: "Which is why, for now, they're going to have
to make do with you."
Batman: "You're the symbol of hope I can never be."
Alfred knows that people need to believe 
certain things to go on,
that the outside perspective is vital to our inner view of ourselves at times.
And this guilt,
this idea of what is expected of us from the outside,
and what we really think, is highlighted through Jim Gordon.
Gordon: "We have to save Dent!"
"I have to save Dent!"
Even as Dent becomes a killer.
Gordon: "I'm sorry."
To follow all the strands of the theme properly
you have to see the overall story,
so let us examine the finish,
which takes all of these concepts and creates a layered and satisfying ending.
The Joker wanted, in the beginning,
to reveal who Batman really is.
Joker: "...take off his mask"
And Harvey stated that:
Harvey: "...or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
By the end of the movie,
the Batman apparently takes this prophecy to its conclusion,
and he becomes the villain,
taking responsibility for the murders,
Batman: "I killed those people."
insuring Harvey’s reputation at the expense of his own.
Does this mean the Joker won?
Joker wanted to show that anyone could be driven mad,
and that the city would fall.
And in showing that Harvey could be,
Dent: "You die..."
he shows that he was right,
Joker: "Now we're talking."
but Batman’s actions mean the city doesn’t fall.
There is one identity,
what we want the world to see
and what the world actually sees.
The external view that Harvey is a hero.
In which sense,
the Joker failed.
But why did he fail?
Because the Joker and the Batman
traded perspectives and roles.
After the Batman persona is killed
it is at this moment...
that the Joker reveals his true self,
his inner self,
someone who needs the world to not make sense.
Like Harvey,
they both feel the world is unfair,
that it is chaotic and there are no plans,
and only chance rules the day.
Two-Face: "It's not about what I want,"
"It's about what's FAIR!"
This is their inner justification for the outside world that they cannot control.
But in the finale,
Bruce realizes that his view of what Batman was,
Batman: "I have one rule."
Bruce: "That's why it's so important,"
"It separates us from them."
so dependent on the outside world’s view,
and what he saw it as,
a force for good,
do no match because of his inner self’s perception of the world.
Gordon: "No, no, you can't, you're not!"
Batman: "I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be."
To put it simply,
the entire film’s theme
is played out in a story between three characters
dealing with the exact same situation.
When the world isn’t fair,
how do you see yourself,
and how do you make your choices?
The Joker and Harvey have a view,
they see the world as a place that should be fair,
that owed them something that should be better than what they got.
The identity of the world in their eyes was wrong,
and when they were forced to confront what is underneath that identity,
the true face of life,
they cracked,
and couldn’t handle it.
And so their personalities,
their inner selves shifted,
and they choose to lash out at this perceived deception.
It is an incredibly understandable position,
and one that almost works for the Joker.
And for us who think he’s right on a lot of points.
Joker: "Well then everyone loses their minds!"
So how does the film manage to end with him seemingly victorious,
but also Batman succesful?
Because identity is more than one thing,
and at the most important level,
the personal level,
it is all about choice.
*CLICK*
Bruce Wayne is just as damaged.
He also saw heartache and a cruel world.
Earlier in his life he believed that it is isn’t who you are but what you do that defines you.
But in TDK,
Nolan has the time to really expand this theory,
and why it applies to the idea of good and evil,
morality and choice,
and who we are
and who we choose to be.
Because The Batman, unlike the others,
doesn’t succumb to the world around him,
Bruce: "No."
because he realizes that who you are is always going to be your choice.
That doing the right thing isn’t about 
what other people think,
or if they even see it,
it will always be the right thing,
and the choice is always in your own hands.
*CAR SMASH* *BREAKING GLASS*
*SCREECHING*
(that poor Lamborghini)
At one time he thought it is what you do that defines you,
and that is still true,
but midway through the film
he is challenged by the reality that his definition was based on what other people think.
If they don’t see me that way then maybe I’m not a hero,
maybe I’m not effective,
creating his identity crisis.
But in the finale,
he knows that he is the good one,
his view of himself and how the world views him doesn’t matter.
In a reversal of roles,
Batman has done what the Joker had been doing previously
he is being true to himself.
In this film, the underlying flaw in the villain,
both of them,
is that they fail to accept that you cannot blame the world for how you act,
you make the choice for your own personality,
you make the choice for your own actions.
And after his persona is killed,
Batman is reinvented.
The Joker has become the external vague threat.
And it is Batman who begins embracing his true self,
who no longer cares what the outside external view of him is,
he knows it’s far more important to be a hero to himself,
to make the choice he knows to be right and not based on what the world perceives him to be.
This isn’t fair,
but he doesn’t have a false sense of himself,
he doesn’t think he’s owed anything,
and he takes responsibility for who he is.
Batman: "So point it, at the people responsible."
At the finale,
Gordon: "We bet it all on him."
Harvey hasn’t lived long enough to see himself become the villain,
he’s still viewed as having died a hero,
and Batman has lived long enough to become a villain,
but he has broken the trend to actually live on as a hero.
The Dark Knight is a film I’m not sure Nolan planned a sequel for,
*CRACKING SPINE*
and one that seems to have resolved his fascination with identity
it was so well executed on this most unique of superhero canvas.
Because The Dark Knight is so complete,
that the next one, though ambitious, doesn’t add anything to this underlying story.
This film, thematically,
and in the challenges it presented the hero,
is creating his darkest night,
his lowest point where he loses the chance to step away from the Batman persona,
when he loses his last pure connection with his innocent childhood,
and his identity of Bruce Wayne,
and takes on the mantle of the Bat in the first genuine and true way he has ever done.
Batman: "Call it in."
The Batman has saved Gotham,
retaining its symbolic power in the eyes of the people,
but now tainted and twisted
by choice to be what it 
really was underneath it all
– a force to help the people of Gotham.
*Loud rushing noises*
*Screeching bats*
*Crying*
*music rises*
Batman did the right thing
even if no one would ever know
because...
Batman: "It's not who I am underneath,"
"but what I do, that defines me."
And for identities we see them merging so closely,
that it is only on this distinct point,
this flaw in the Joker’s character,
and Harvey’s,
that separate a hero and villain.
Joker: "You won't kill me,"
The idea of choosing who you are.
By the end the Joker isn’t a symbol
Joker: "You gotta do everything yourself."
He’s betrayed by the mob,
he’s alone,
and his view of the world isn’t true.
Batman (V.O): "This city..."
"...just showed you, that it's full of people..."
"...ready to believe in good."
By the end,
Batman’s death at the hands of the Joker
revealed who he really was and needed to be.
And but for the smallest of differences,
Joker: *laughing*
The identities of these two most iconic of arch enemies are indistinguishable:
Years ago one was hurt,
left with something he was afraid of,
and instead of running from that fear,
he embraced it,
One made himself more than a man in the eyes of his opponents,
hated by cops and criminals alike;
a strange, twisted, man
who held to his internal view of the world with an unshakeable belief in what was fair.
This is the story of the Batman.
This is the story of the Joker.
The film, through its merging of theme with content,
completes the journey of Bruce as a man not sure of who he is,
thinking he must be seen to be decent,
to someone who knows that doing the right thing is a choice we make
regardless of how much we stand to lose.
We cannot change the true face of the world,
but the fact is it has no true face.
The world has no identity except what we give it.
We have the choice to live as we want,
and act as we want,
and be how we want to be.
Secrets.
Identities.
It’s not who you are underneath...
...it’s what you do that defines you.
This...
...is The Dark Knight.
It's time to say thanks
and I really mean it!
Thanks for watching guys, (girls, and any one on any spectrum or choice)
I hope you enjoyed this video,
if you've got any ideas on what you think the theme was,
or if I might have missed out on something
leave it in the comments below.
Thanks for your likes
your dislikes
your shares
your comments and everything else you do.
But mostly
as always,
thanks for watching.
Have a great day!
Bruce: "Accomplice?!"
"I'm going to tell them the whole thing was your idea."
