The Dark Knight Rises: Tragedy Looms

It sucks.


Not the movie.


The movie is rad.


It sucks that we live in a world with real-life psychopaths that have access to real-life gas grenades and real-lfe assault rifles. The tragedy in Denver looms over Christopher Nolan's brilliant Batman trilogy as a reminder that no matter how hard we try to escape this world with incredible entertainment, the world will keep creeping back in.

It really ended 12 peoples lives and scarred many more. It's reality and it sucks.


I'm not gonna start some silly gun-control debate cuz lefties will be all "Ban assault rifles!" and righties will be all "Guns don't kill people, Obama's healthcare does!"


Stupid debate.


The reality is that its all much more complicated than yes/no to gun control discussion for pundits and fanatics (Is there a difference? I dunno...).


The reality is that a presumably smart, high-functioning grad student studying neuropsychology flies under the radar as being significantly disturbed and violent. That's way too many radars missing the danger, man.

Wanna know what sucks more? I work in the radar (see: psychologist) business. Kids fly under way too often. Not just in the early grades either. Grad school is a sonovabitch, and well, let's just say I've had professors that could have cared less about what was going on with me or my cohort buddies.


People have got to be checking-in with people. We gotta engage and not isolate one another.


Mental illness is not dangerous. It's actually fascinating and the folks that struggle with it have incredible insights about the human experience. In fact, I believe that more damage is done by ignoring it and pretending that it doesn't exist.


Accept it. Tolerate it. Take time to understand it. Help those that struggle with it.


Dammit! There I go, getting all "pseudo-intellectual" and preachy again!

Sorry...


The new Batman was balls!

Here's what I liked best: (SPOILER ALERT! SORT OF...)



1. Catwoman. I thought she'd bug me cuz Catwoman is a pretty campy villain and Anne Hathaway can be cheesy. Mr. Nolan's Batman trilogy is totally not campy nor cheesy. How did he get over it? He doesn't refer to her as Catwoman! Bam! (Miss Hathaway pretty much knocks it outta the park offering sweet ninja kicks and some welcome humor to such a dark movie.) Not to mention, there is a scene kinda like this iconic image from one of the best Batman comics ever.

2. Bane. Nobody will ever top Heath Ledger's JOkeR. That said, Bane was not a bad follow-up. He's pure evil and matches Batman blow for blow (both physically and strategically).

3. Supporting Cast. Christian Bale is cool and is an excellent Bruce Wayne, (especially in Batman Begins). On top of that, Mr. Nolan scores a bunch of great actors in this one. They all have cool surprises in store.

4. The Bat Jet-Hover-Thing. So effing cool looking.

5. The part when the kids on the school bus say, "It's Batman!" I teared-up. ("Titanic" Jack & Rose territory for me...)

6. This totally happens:

Anyhoo, I really do love these Batman movies. This guy from ESPN's Grantland provides the best explanation about why:

"Christopher Nolan's Batman movies are different. They are not genre exercises disguised as superhero films. They are not even really "about" the exploits of the well-known international brand that is Batman. Nolan makes superhero films that think hard about what superheroes actually are: symbols, mostly; moral quandaries come to life; fallible individuals in masks and suits who police certain arbitrary codes of behavior and who are regularly called upon to debate those codes with villains who have alternate, and perhaps equally valid, codes."

I especially like the "moral quandaries come to life" part. 

There are big questions out there and allegory is an excellent method of exploration. Batman rocks the allegory with a certain coolness and levity that makes it palpable for dudes like me. 

I mean, just check out this moral quandary (Its so important, it has German subtitles):