IDEOLOGICAL READING OF THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

What does The Dark Knight Rises say ideologically? How is the real world reflected in this story? What ideas do we see in the story?

1. Capitalism (in crisis)

With the beginning of the movie, we find the world of The Dark Knight Rises (TDKR) on the verge of a socioeconomic crisis. Selina says these words to Bruce. “There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better prepare for tough times, because when the storm hits, you'll all be wondering how you lived so abundantly and left so little for the rest of us.”


This message is reinforced by the fact that the orphanage financed by the Wayne Foundation is closed and therefore the children are thrown out on the streets, and Talia, disguised as Miranda Tate, tells Bruce that the world is out of balance. There's economic turmoil, so people are angry. So which people are angry? Of course, not the rich, the capitalist class. Ordinary workers and people with lower income levels, to put it more crudely, the “poor”, are angry. This is where Selina's anger, who lives like a small-scale Robin Hood, comes from.

When we look at the background of the film, we can see the source of inspiration quite clearly. The 2008 economic crisis was the worst crisis experienced by the United States since the Great Depression. This crisis emerged as a result of banks and large companies behaving irresponsibly and taking risky moves [1]. However, while the banks were saved from bankruptcy by spending 700 billion dollars by the state, 9 million Americans lost their jobs (2, 3). This created great anger among a significant segment of the American public. This, of course, was not something that went unnoticed by wealthy filmmakers like Nolan. An event this big was something that attracted the attention of anyone who didn't live in a cave.

1.1. Opportunity Pit

In this regard, the most interesting and powerful symbolism in our story comes from the pit into which Bane, Talia and Bruce were thrown. While talking about this pit, Bane says the following.

“Home. This is where I learned the truth about despair, as you will too. There's a reason this prison is the worst hell on earth... Hope. “Every single person who has fallen here through the centuries has looked at the light and dreamed of climbing to freedom.”


Indeed, we see that what Bane said is true. The beam of light above, the absence of a guard, just an escape route that depends on you climbing… so close that if you try a little harder, move a little further, it's something you can catch. It all just depends on how hard you try! If you can't get out of here, that's your weakness. It's your fault. You weren't strong enough. Yes, this cruel beam of light that whispers softly promises of freedom tells people this. She seduces with her sweet words and her appearance that ignites the fire inside people. But it remains unattainable.

Bane was right. Freedom dangles before your eyes every day, you cannot reach it, and on top of that, you blame yourself for it. You say that you failed because you were not strong enough, and you attribute your failure to get out of this hole to your own weakness. Thus, the pit imprisons you not only physically but also mentally and ideologically. He deceives you with the promise of freedom. There can be no worse torture than this.

What does this have to do with capitalism, you may ask? For this, we look at Bane's speech in front of Blackgate Prison.

“We are taking Gotham from the corrupt, from the rich, from the oppressors who have kept you down with myths of opportunity—and we are giving it back to you, the people.”

Bane's speech parallels the hope here in the pit. On the one hand, capitalism deceives people with promises of opportunity and keeps them down. On the other side, the pit deceives people with promises of freedom and keeps them down.


In other words, people are deceived by promises of moving up to the upper class and becoming rich, it is said. When we consider the pit as a symbol, it is their adoption of this ideology that tortures the lower class the most. Even though they have lived in the lower class all their lives, they still think they can be rich. They still think it's their fault it didn't happen. At this point, there are parallels with the real world. For example, when we look at the USA, we see that socioeconomic mobility, that is, the ability to move up to a higher class, has decreased since 1980 . An important reason for this is the increasing economic inequality . When we look around the world, we see that economic inequality is incredibly high. The richest 1% of the world has twice the wealth of 6.9 billion people combined .

Of course, in the movie, we also know that there is a way out of this hole. Talia and Bruce show this. Only when the fear of death is possessed can the hopelessness and hope of the pit be overcome. But this is not just any fear of death, otherwise anyone in the pit could have done this. After all, unlike when Batman came to the pit, almost all people are afraid of death. No, the fear of death means something else here. Therefore, it is more accurate to say: only a person who is willing to lose everything can get out of this pit. What this might mean is quite open to interpretation. It represents a huge personal transformation. Despite this, we see that both Talia and Bruce paradoxically continue their lives. This brings us to the next topic.

2. Batman's Paradox

He asked me, “What is the most ideologically interesting aspect of TDKR?” If you ask, it would be to say that both the good man and the bad man consist of paradoxes. However, the nature of this paradox varies depending on the character we are considering.

Batman's paradox stems from the fact that he is both progressive and pro-status quo. Batman is a progressive because, unlike Ra's al Gul, Talia al Gul, and the League of Shadows, he believes in restorative justice. He advocates not killing people for their crimes, but giving them a chance to reform themselves. At the same time, he is progressively trying to improve his city and the world. It achieves this through investments such as opening an orphanage and producing green energy. However, despite all this, he never questions the socioeconomic status quo. He does not question why there is a distinction between rich and poor in the world. It does not question how this system was born, why it continues, whether there is an alternative or whether it can be made more equal within itself. For some reason, he's been completely silent about it.

We see this paradox not only in Bruce but also in other aspects of the film. For example, Talia says this to Bruce.

“If you want to bring balance back to the world, you have to invest.”


Here, with a play on words, we are talking about both a material and spiritual investment. At the same time, a myth of balanced time is being created. It's as if the world before 2008 was very good in terms of socioeconomic inequality. On the other hand, Alfred tells Bruce that the money sent to the orphanage has been cut off because the company is no longer profitable and the company needs to make more profit. During all this, not once is it questioned that perhaps these issues should not be left to the whims of the rich, that perhaps economic inequality is a wrong thing. This reminds us from what perspective Nolan writes. After all, this movie is not written by someone from the lower or middle class. An ordinary rich person does not write either. Someone with a net worth of $250 million writes (7). That's why, not once in the movie is the system we exist in that produces inequality questioned. Instead, we see the figure of a rich man who, like a Christ figure, “dedicates himself to the common people” and lays down his life for them. This figure, rather ironically, does not seek to eliminate the inequality that is so damaging. This is Batman's biggest paradox.

3. Bane's Paradox?

When we get to Bane, things get deeper and take on a different tone. Bane, on the surface, seems pretty anti-systematic. The speech he made in front of Blackgate Prison resembles a complete revolutionary. It talks about corrupt rich people and a system that oppresses people. He says it is because of the righteous anger of the people and that the city originally belonged to the people. It reminds us of innocent people imprisoned under a fake law.

On the other hand, when he raids the building representing the Wallstreet Stock Exchange, a stockbroker tells him, "This is the stock market, there is no money to steal here." Bane's response: "Is that so?" Then why are you here?” is happening.

“We come here not as conquerors, but as liberators who will return control of this city to the people,” he says in his speech at the stadium.

When we look at those who work for Bane, we see the anger of this "underclass". Bane's men who infiltrated the stock exchange building disguise themselves as janitor, shoe shiner and worker. Again, a poor-rich distinction is highlighted as a representation.


The established “people's courts” remind us of the French Revolution period (you can read the first article to see other references to the French Revolution). The lynching of the rich also gives the impression of a working class revolution. Examples can be multiplied.

All of this gives Bane the impression of a revolutionary who is on the side of the people. But underneath it all lies a much different truth. Bane has no regard for the people of Gotham. On the contrary, he wants to kill them all. The reason for this is due to the reactionary ideology of the League of Shadows. If we remember from the first movie, the League of Shadows is an organization that has existed for thousands of years. He appears when he thinks the civilization is beginning to degenerate and destroys the places where this corruption is worst. It kills all or a significant portion of the people there. In this respect, with an ideology opposite to Batman, they advocate retributive justice, not remedial justice. But this retributive justice does not occur through some kind of legal system. For example, because there is so much crime in Gotham, they decide to destroy all of Gotham. More than making the world better, moving forward, they are bringing back some kind of “balance” in their minds (balance is their word). In other words, with a reactionary reaction, they do not understand the origin of the concept of crime. For example, they don't care about socioeconomic inequality and how it leads to crime. All they care about is the destruction of individuals and groups who have committed crimes, with a primitive judgmentalism.


Here are some important questions to ask. By what methods does the League of Shadows determine this corruption? For example, two centuries ago, did he consider homosexuality a corruption? Or, how did they view racism, which was normalized in society and had been much more severe until very recently? For example, in times past when racism was incredibly common, did they view it as degenerate for someone from a suppressed race to rebel? Was this how they viewed the United States, which had freed black slaves? Going back even further, when the institution of slavery was quite common, did they view any rebellion by slaves as a corruption? What about women who have begun to receive their legal rights in the last century? So where was the League of Shadows during World War II, when Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperialist Japan were committing some of the most heinous crimes in human history? What about balance?

All these questions remain unanswered because the ideology of the League of Shadows is not very well-understood. Nolan paints a vague picture by avoiding getting into politics on such a political issue. When a civilization becomes corrupt, it is said that its most corrupt side, its symbol, is destroyed. However, we do not see what the criterion of corruption is historically. It is possible that this organization, which looks at the world from such a reactionary perspective, may have seen any progress as corruption in the cases I mentioned above. On the other hand, if they had had more advanced views, they would have destroyed almost all of civilization in the past. After all, an organization that destroys corruption through punishment would have to destroy human civilization if it viewed slavery as evil, because slavery existed everywhere.


All these gaps aside, as far as we see today, they see committing a crime as a corruption. However, even this is an inadequate explanation. According to whom, according to what, according to which law is it a crime?

From this perspective, it seems that what lies beneath Bane's false revolutionism is not just reactionism, but an incredibly empty reactionism. It becomes something that is not ideologically underlined in any way, is prepared in a cursory manner and looks at the world from a single focus. In other words, the dilemma between the League of Shadows and Batman is based solely on the response to crime. This is quite significant in a way because, as I mentioned, Nolan ignores socioeconomic and even political realities. This shows that, although the film has very interesting writing in some respects, it remains superficial in many respects.

Going back to Bane, what I've explained so far creates a two-layer paradox. The first of these is a false paradox. Bane is not actually both a revolutionary and a reactionary. A reactionary pretending to be a revolutionary. But the second paradox is a rather interesting one. Even though Bane's revolutionism, or rather his anti-systemism, is fake, it somehow becomes real with the power of aesthetics. Many people who watch the movie do not forget how primitive Bane actually looks at the world. This isn't the first thing that comes to mind. Before that, there are things like his speech in front of Blackgate Prison, his answer to the stockbroker, his uncontrollability by money, etc. As Alfred said.

“Take a look. His speed, his ferocity, his training. “I see the power of belief.”


In this respect, the aesthetics of anti-system elevate Bane, even though he is the narrative villain and what he really aims for is something bad. This is not as rare as it seems. For example, a common criticism of mafia films is that even a significant portion of works that narratively criticize organized crime life present this criminal life as something to be aspired to aesthetically. On the other hand, there are many characters who are remembered well because of their charisma, even though they are bad guys. But at this point, I think there is another layer to it. That is people's hunger for anti-system characters. Think about it this way. How many good characters are there in big productions like Hollywood who stand out with their opposition to the system? Such characters are almost always written as villains. I think an important reason for this is that the people who write, direct or choose these stories are rich people like Nolan. However, many people have a reaction against the world we live in and the system we live in. So a character that comes along and stands up to him, even if he's a bad guy or just doing it from an aesthetic standpoint, he stays in people's minds. For example, this incident also happened in the Joker movie released in 2019. Even though the Joker was a very sick character, people adopted him because of his anti-system nature and used his make-up in protests.

4. The end

What I have said can be expanded further. For example, Bane's release of notorious criminals from prison under the name of "justice" is another example of how fake his revolutionism is. At the same time, in this way, those who are against the system are once again vilified.

“Think of it this way. In the stories we read, watch or play, the main character is almost always a person who protects the existing system. The person who wants to change this system is evil. Sometimes we can sympathize and empathize with this bad guy and agree with him. However, he is almost never more than a bad guy. After all, preserving the status quo and order is the right and good thing. At least that's how it's coded in our country. “Most things we consume end up with this result.”

On the other hand, Batman's and Bane's ideologies are also reflected in their behavior towards the people in the pit. After escaping from prison, Bane does not release the people there, he becomes the master of the prison. Talia even punishes them. Batman releases them. Relatedly, many of the things said about Bane also apply to Talia. However, one part of the movie that does not fit ideologically is Bane's pure love for Talia. It doesn't fit the reading I've done so far, and at this point, I'm chalking it up to the way the film is written. In order to upset people, the role assigned to Bane is partially transferred to Talia. We can understand this more easily when we look at the comics. For example, when we look at Batman (2016) issue 18, the parallels and differences between Bruce and Bane are presented to us page by page, frame by frame. We see how Bane was born from the so-called worst place on earth and how he became a special person. This isn't unique to Bane in the Rebirth era piece. When we look at his original release, we see that Bane grew up in such an environment. However, in the movie, this role is shared between Talia and Bane. Another proof of this is that while Bane is the child who punishes his father in the comics, it is Talia in the movie.


Before finishing the article, let me state this. My reading of the article does not necessarily state my opinion. For example, I took the pit as a symbol of the impossibility of moving up a grade, but although skipping a grade has become more difficult, it is not impossible. It's also something that varies from country to country. A common function of symbols is to simplify complex issues and tell people something emotionally. On another point, what I am trying to convey is not a message like "Revolution is good." What I want to draw attention to are things like the scarcity of things in the popular media that question the system we live in, how common are films that convey the opposite message, and how much the status of writers affects the works they create.

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