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I’ve just read the most retarded debate about an intellectual topic, whether or not they’ll bring Harvey Dent back for the third Batman film. I use my terms very carefully, and I couldn’t come up with a more fitting word than “retarded’ to describe what I just read. Let me tell you why. |
The argument from the people who are opposed to bringing the Harvey Dent character back for the third film is this. Dent shouldn’t return because he fell off a building that would’ve surely killed any man. Additionally, the purpose of the ending was to illustrate that the citizens of Gotham need a fallen hero, rather than an alive villain, hence Dent’s quote, “you either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” The base argument for the people who are opposed to seeing Dent return is: it’s unrealistic. Additionally, one person is complaining that they weren’t able to suspend disbelief when seeing Two-Face’s make-up, because it would never look like that in real life.
IT’S A COMIC BOOK-BASED MOVIE! It’s based on characters and storylines that aren’t supposed to be realistic! Christopher Nolan decided to make a Batman franchise with the philosphy of it being a current age REALISTIC adaptation of the comic series. Nolan’s philosophy has severely opened up a rift between the comic book traditionalists who enjoy the out-of-this-world science fiction and classic film aficionados who don’t buy into anything that wouldn’t happen in real life. The more we fight over which one of us is right, the more wider Nolan’s grin gets, as that’s more time we’re spending thinking about his film rather than Iron Man or Star Wars or any other blockbuster films being released this year. We’re marketing Nolan’s Batman series by thinking about it intellectually, coming up with arguments to debate against the other party. Because we’re the ones that are going to buy the Blu-Ray and pre-order the next movie’s tickets, and some of us are going to get sucked into the comic book and action figure lines.
I find it to be absolutely ridiculous that someone went to the theatres to see a Batman who can fly and take immense amounts of pain with a few scars/bruises to show for it, complaining about not being able to suspend disbelief because Two-Face’s make-up was unrealistic. I find it to be absolutely ridiculous that people who went to the theatres to see an evil clown best an entire police force and their superhero detective, complaining about Dent returning to the next film because it would never happen in real life. I realize that Nolan has decided to place a realistic touch on his adaptation of the Batman series, but the viewers complaining about unrealism, although fully in their right, need to realize that the Batman comics, which this film is an adaptation of, were unrealistic. Comic books in general are unrealistic. The films that were made out of comic books weren’t for the purpose of making them realistic, but rather to make money. And why did the original writers including Bob Kane choose this approach? Because some of us enjoy reality-based stories, and some of us enjoy fantasy-based stories. Comic books are predominantly fantasy, and that’s what makes them fun to the people that follow them.
Will Harvey Dent return to the next film? Only Nolan or someone else involved with the film knows that answer. There are rumours that Aaron Eckhart, the actor who portrayed Dent in The Dark Knight, has said he would accept the role in a second if offered to him. But nonetheless, it would be beyond ridiculous if certain people boycotted seeing the third film because it would be unrealistic. It’s unfortunate that some people aren’t able to suspend disbelief, as every film they walk into, they would need to do this in order to enjoy the film. Otherwise, they’d be critiquing the lighting effects, how well they mixed the audio, the contrast compared to the brightness, etc. And if that’s what they walk into a film prepared to do, then what’s the point of watching a film?
Reality is fantasy,
~ Ricky Leone
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