July 28, 2008
"When heroes arise"
Charlene recommends this piece by Andrew Klavan in OpinionJournal, What Bush and Batman Have in Common...
....There seems to me no question that the Batman film "The Dark Knight," currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past.
And like W, Batman understands that there is no moral equivalence between a free society -- in which people sometimes make the wrong choices -- and a criminal sect bent on destruction. The former must be cherished even in its moments of folly; the latter must be hounded to the gates of Hell....
....Leftists frequently complain that right-wing morality is simplistic. Morality is relative, they say; nuanced, complex. They're wrong, of course, even on their own terms.
Left and right, all Americans know that freedom is better than slavery, that love is better than hate, kindness better than cruelty, tolerance better than bigotry. We don't always know how we know these things, and yet mysteriously we know them nonetheless.
The true complexity arises when we must defend these values in a world that does not universally embrace them -- when we reach the place where we must be intolerant in order to defend tolerance, or unkind in order to defend kindness, or hateful in order to defend what we love.
When heroes arise who take those difficult duties on themselves, it is tempting for the rest of us to turn our backs on them, to vilify them in order to protect our own appearance of righteousness. We prosecute and execrate the violent soldier or the cruel interrogator in order to parade ourselves as paragons of the peaceful values they preserve. As Gary Oldman's Commissioner Gordon says of the hated and hunted Batman, "He has to run away -- because we have to chase him."....
Well, she also recommends the film, but so does everybody else. She told me she thought it was the first film that really deals with the War on Terror. My guess is that it's the second; the first being the Lord of the Rings movies. I recollect John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) writing sardonically that Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) didn't even realize he was playing George W Bush...
Posted by John Weidner at July 28, 2008 06:17 AMNot to ignore the substance of your post, but it brings to mind this post from 2002 (as well as this follow-up from 2004, with a picture!), about the former Soviet bloc countries joining NATO. I ran across this video on YouTube just yesterday, in which a campy, funny Finnish band (the Leningrad Cowboys) was performing "Sweet Home Alabama" with the Red Army Choir - official Army choir of the Soviet Union - and as you watch it, the depth of our victory in the Cold War really sets in...
Here's hoping one day Bush's efforts are as respected as Reagan's are coming to be - and that his virulent critics are as thoroughly forgotten in their turn...
The theory is that storytelling evolved as a means of teaching the truths needed for tribal survival. It appears that good storytelling requires teaching traditional values -- keeping your word, the strong protect the weak, self-sacrifice. Nontraditional values get you five-figure box office grosses.
Joss Whedon says he's an atheist, but you'd hardly know it from watching Buffy, with its demons, fanged karma, and Buffy going to an afterlife she can only describe as heaven. You do know he's a good storyteller.
A few years ago, Michael Barone wrote about "soft America" and "hard America." He wondered how people who spent their first 18 years in soft America adapted so well to hard America. My guess is that, while they were living in soft America, they were seeing how you were supposed to live in hard America on TV. Yes, TJ Hooker telling a punk "But that would be too easy!" The father on "Unhappily Ever After" coming out of his basement lair with a riot gun when he thinks his daughter is in danger. Buffy telling Dawn "It needs to be sealed with blood. But it doesn't have to be your blood," and throwing herself into the abyss.
Posted by: Bob Hawkins at July 28, 2008 10:54 AM“Holy W, Batman! You’re like Bush?”
I read the Wall Street Journal’s piece comparing the trials and tribulations of Batman to those of President Bush. Wow! Was that a bat signal in the sky, or the letter “W?” I found the comparison interesting but have my own opinions about heroes and battles against evil.
On the rope of life, heroes climb above their weakest point, putting themselves at risk for the benefit of others. Love, compassion, duty and honor call them forth and they respond. Still, even heroes on a worthwhile quest against evil must search their own hearts for smoldering embers of hate or vengeance that could influence their actions and bring dishonor and disaster. We are only human. Heroes or not, we often fight our deadliest battles against ourselves and the best way to tame our dark, snarling inner desires is to flood those beasts with light.
We live in the real world, one with presidents and CEO’s but no superheroes of fantasy fame. Public awareness and debate about all sides of political and social issues must comprise the beams of light in our darkened skies. And we should all vote according to the signals in which we believe. That “W” stands for “We, the people,” if we let it.
Laurel Anne Hill
Author of “Heroes Arise,” a parable about the necessity and complexity of breaking the cycle of vengeance. (KOMENAR Publishing, October 2007)
No Joss is not an Atheist, a Gnostic, or Pagan maybe; but not a conventional believer. He' a little confused; much like Dan Brown, he thinks that corporations (Serenity)local politicians (Buffy, Angel) are the Devil's spawn. They are not that motivated. Lawyers as emissaries for the Devil (re;Wolfram & Hart) he may be on to something. Although the real W&R would probably be defending Gitmo detainees rather than Halliburton and Weyland/Yutani; "the Company" from Aliens.
Viggo did seem confused at first; he makes it up with a steady stream of BDS commentary. Rhys Davies is right; they keep giving him these Sub Cormanesque bit parts on Scifi Channel
"Chupacabra" and the third "Anaconda film"!
