Justice vs. Terrorism “The Dark Knight,” a movie directed and produced by Christopher Nolan, depicts the way a system of justice deals with terrorism. If an archetype is defined as a symbol that exists instinctively in the collective consciousness of the human race, the terrorism in Batman The Dark Knight represents an archetype through the violence, murder of the innocent, mayhem and mass destruction. Governments often lay down laws and procedures for a country to function, and to avoid anarchy. The laws promote wellness, equality, and justice, but sometimes even these entities of justice are forced to break the law for a greater good.
In contemporary U. S. history, President Barack Obama, the head of one of the most powerful countries in the world, decided to introduce a select team of individuals into Pakistan, in an illegal manner, in order to kill Osama bin Laden, the head of an international Islamic terrorist group known as al-Qaeda. In the movie these two sides of justice are represented by two “knights. ” On one side, Batman, who is constantly referred to as the dark knight and on the other Harvey Dent, who is referred to as the white knight.
The words “white” and “dark” have two specific connotations, one which brings to mind the concept of light, an archetype that symbolizes purity, justice, hope, and clarity. The other invokes into mind the concept of darkness, an archetype which embodies fear, ignorance, despair, and the unknown. The use of this archetypical antithesis throughout the whole movie is an allusion to the two sides of justice: the “white side” and the “dark side. ” Terrorism is represented by the criminal mastermind known as “The Joker,” a cynical clown that is very similar to Islamic terrorists, an archetype of the devil figure.
The most prevalent real life terrorist in current world news is Osama bin Laden, the head of al Qaeda. He plans and orders attacks onto specific targets through suicide bombings, representing the notion of mass destruction. Islamic fanatics and “The Joker” are similar in the way they strike fear into masses by acts of colossal destruction to get what they want. The antithetical concept of the black and white knights serves to represent how the two sides of justice interact for the same purpose, much like Batman and Harvey Dent. Both aim to eliminate violence in the movie.
Batman the Dark Knight is an allegory to the battle against terrorism. Harvey Dent, the “White knight,” is the representation of the law. This character is the side of justice that everyone sees. He is the embodiment of all that is just and good, because this is what a society believes is the right thing to do. In the movie, Harvey Dent is the new District Attorney of Gotham city. Much like in the real world, Harvey is a law abiding citizen, just how a real world District Attorney should be. He has locked up most of the mob solely through the process of the law.
The many accomplishments of Harvey, the “White knight,” have come to the eyes of many, and has not gone unnoticed. This is comparable to Mexico’s capture of a major drug lord on September 27, 2012. The Mexican navy captured this man and has been reported by newspapers in different parts of the world. Batman describes Harvey’s “stand against organized crime [as] the first legitimate ray of light in Gotham in decades”(Christopher Nolan). The reference of Harvey being a “ray of light” indicates that he has been the only hope in Gotham.
It intertwines him with the positive connotation the light archetype denotes. Harvey’s actions are the allusion of the daily actions the arm of justice takes, the ones everyone acknowledges, the ones at broad day light, the ones that bring hope to humanity. These are the actions that purify the daily lives of many by capturing criminals, just like Harvey Dent purified Gotham city by the incarceration of many unwanted felons that reside in the city. Furthermore the “Dark knight” is the other side of justice. He alludes the drastic and harsh measures that sometimes have to be taken.
These are the actions that are done in the “dark,” the ones nobody acknowledges, the ones ignored by the everyday law abiding citizen. Contemporarily the termination of Osama bin Laden’s reign of terror at the top al Qaeda is one of these actions. The United States sent a handpicked group of soldiers, the navy SEALs and the U. S. special operation force, into Pakistan, a country at war due to conflict of internal groups that rule the country. The attack happened at night, and it was an oversea operation that lasted minutes in which a three floor house was raided and bin Laden was killed.
If killing is “bad” and it is against the law, then why was bin Laden killed? Certainly this was the necessary action that had to be taken. “The ends justify the means,” it would be for the greater good (Prince Machiavelli). This situation is an innuendo to a part in the movie in which Lau, the accountant for the mob groups in Gotham, flees to Hong Kong in order to escape the jurisdiction of the Gotham’s justice system. Lau was right in his move, he was out of Gotham city officials’ jurisdiction, however he forgot about Batman.
In the movie, Lau is talking over the phone up high in his hundred story building when the lights go out. At this moment Batman starts his raid on the building, which is an analogy to the raid done by the Navy SEALs to bin Laden’s hideout, he defeats Lau’s protectors, he nullifies all of the building’s security and successfully extracts Lau from his hideout, but in this case he is alive and is taken to Gotham city to be put into custody. Just like the SEALs, the dark knight, the archetypical counterpart of Harvey Dent the white knight, accomplished his mission and captured the criminal in his overseas refuge.
Osama bin Laden ignored what the U. S. could do in order to impose justice, just like Lau forgot about the dark knight, they have no limits. This dark entity works in the dark and his actions are not acknowledged, “because sometimes truth is not good enough,” as said by Bruce Wayne in the movie. Sometimes actions need to remain a secret, they have to continue to lie in the dark. Just like Batman’s actions, he needs no recognition because his actions lie on the side of justice that must remain hidden in the darkness, hidden until the time is right.
Terrorism, this criminal senseless act, is depicted in the movie by the Joker. This sardonic clown signifies in specific ways with Islamic terrorists. The Joker and Islamic terrorists have four things in common, and these are that he attacks innocent people, he blows up buildings, he disdains material things and he craves death. Very similar to the terrorists who hijacked planes and crashed them into the twin towers. These men, driven by their faith were willing to perish for their ideals in order to enter an Islamic heaven full of erotic pleasures; these men were more than happy to die.
The joker in the movie also wants to die, he wants it and it’s most clearly shown when he shouts at Batman “Come on, I want you to do it, I want you to do it. Come on, hit me. Hit me! ” He shouts this while Batman is charging at him on an immense motorcycle. Another example is in when the misanthropic clown known as the joker, kills innocent cops and announces how each day that the Batman doesn’t turn himself in he would kill more innocent people, a reference to the devilish figure archetype.
Islamic terrorists do not necessarily want material things, especially money and allusively the Joker, who burns a pile of money that is as high as a one and a half story building, represents this belief in the movie. Last and especially not least, in comparison to the destruction of the Twin Towers during the event we now call 9/11, The Joker also destroys buildings, he solely crumbled a whole hospital out of a belief that chaos is the way to go because as he said “[he is] an agent of terror. Thus, the allegory is a representation of an Islamic terrorist that believes he is an agent of God and that he has to destroy the United States by sacrificing his life in order to go to heaven. “White” and “dark,” present an antithesis that is vivid throughout “The Dark Knight” giving unity to the movie. The Joker is the one man that terrorizes a whole city, much like al Qaeda that managed to terrorize a whole country with the dreadful acts of the 9/11. The actions done by Harvey Dent, the white knight, become the light of Gotham.
This is a reference to the light archetype and symbol of the visible side of justice that tries to combat terrorism through the “right way,” the legal way. And last but not least, Batman, the dark knight is the quintessence of the “dark side” of justice, and the representation of the dark archetype. He acts as a foil, a foil like the ones put under jewelry to make the jewel shinier, he makes the white knight shine even more. Both “knights” portray the antithetical archetype throughout the movie of light vs. dark. Conclusively, these events reiterate the concept that this movie illustrates the battle against terrorism.
