Last night we went to see The Dark Knight on iMAX. It was fabulous! It could have been the trainwreck that Spiderman 3 was, given a long, strung-out plot and two nemeses; however, it skillfully avoided these pitfalls through its unifying use of a single theme - the hero and the villain are two sides of the same coin. The tension between them creates the continuity that holds the disparate events in a single narrative arc. Really, that was the theme of Batman Begins as well. In the end, Batman is a hero only as long as he trusts the basic goodness of the ordinary person. That commitment led him to oppose the Liam Nissam character in the first movie and to trust the ordinary persons on the boats in the most recent version. (Spoiler Alert) In the end, Harvey is broken because he loses that outlook. (You're safe again) It is interesting to note that the moral centre of the story actually rests on a triumverate of characters - Alfred (guardian of the purpose), Gordon (repository of the goal), and Lucius (moral compass) - who believe that Gotham - and the human race - can not only be saved but deserves to be saved.
On a different note, we have also been watching Dr. Horrible by the incomparable Joss Wedon. We mourned Firefly sincerely - and rewatch it frequently - and it was a delight to see a new creation. It is also, perhaps, a prophet of what may come. This web musical, low budget with fabulous writing and acting, showcases the possibilities the internet provides for talented people to make their creations available without the mediating influence of the large corporate entity. Will those products be different? Yes, both in terms of money and glitz that is possible without corporate investment, and in terms of target audience. These endeavours - it seems to me - can look to a smaller, committed audience, rather than attempting to find a balance point where it will mildly interest and not offend the largest numbers.
Finally, Dr. Horrible led me to The Guild, a delightful web-based series written by and starring the female lead from Dr Horrible, Felicia Day. In it, she chronicles the challenges of the web-game obsessed. However, the core of this piece is the way it realizes that we all struggle to relate to others, find ways to give our lives meaning, and struggle to disentangle fun from avoidance of reality. Find it HERE!
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