The Dark Knight Sensation
What is it that is so compelling to moviegoers about this film? I saw it last night and remain with images of a demented scar-faced Joker, a shiny idealist District Attorney and a tormented Batman. This is a film where justice kind of prevails, but not really, where he doesn’t get the girl, and where the lines between good and evil aren’t so clear.
No easy answers in this one – kind of like life. While we may long for simplicity and clarity, the world we live in is full of contradictions. As we engage this world we can come to embody the contradictions that surround us. Perhaps this is the genius of Dark Knight: lawmen who fervently enforce laws and yet are on the take; a rich-beyond-belief superhero who is loved and loathed and who is compelled in his super-hero-ness and yet longs to fit in and have a regular life – and a protagonist who commits evil in order to engage and eradicate evil.
The ending isn’t necessarily a happy or redeeming one. Each character ends up more complex, having gone on a personal version of the hero’s journey – one that they were compelled to take and yet if they had the foresight to know what would transpire, they may never have set out in the first place. And yet, they did embark and emerged different and changed. How they will integrate the experience and make use of it is anyone’s guess. Time, reflection, dialogue and deep soul searching will help them to make sense of it and incorporate it into the fabric of who they are and what they stand for.
Leadership Reflections from Dark Knight
Be aware of your inner workings – unexamined they may cause you to act in ways directly opposed to values you hold dear
All that glitters may not be gold – spend time exploring the implications of important decisions as there will be blessings and curses as things unfold
