Pascal’s God-shaped hole working its way into literature and film

“An old saying goes, in order to experience Easter you must go through Good Friday first. According to The Dark Knight Rises, the third instalment in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, even superheroes aren’t immune to this tenet. The film provides a thorough examination of the themes of sacrifice and resurrection, two of the fundamental principles of the Christian life.”

The previous instalment of the Dark Knight trilogy, The Dark Knight, was the story of Batman as suffering servant. At its climax, Harvey Dent becomes Batman’s Judas as Batman decides to take responsibility for Dent’s crimes so that those sins could be forgiven and the people of Gotham saved. As a result, in The Dark Knight Rises “we meet Bruce Wayne, beaten and battered, hidden, in isolation from the world and all relationships. He has seemingly lost everything, his health, his reputation, and the love of his life. All has been lost for the sake of the people of Gotham.”

The villain of the latest film, Bane, “throws Batman into a prison described as a literal hell on earth where the suffering is not physical, but the hopelessness sprouting in the hearts of its inmates when they look up at the sky, knowing that escape is impossible. From this, our Dark Knight is resurrected, conquering “death” and then later conquering the Enemy, bringing freedom.”

“Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy is a retelling of the real Messiah-hero story.” What is the significance of the story of Easter being retold in the garb of Batman?

Firstly, it shows us the continuing resonance of the Easter story. It is a real story; “real stories are ones that reflect true things about life, human nature, and the world we live in.” Secondly, it shows us that “people, whether they realize it or not, long for the gospel. There is something in the story that resonates with us, even if we are resistant to the message on a conscious level. We’re wired for it. Maybe it’s Pascal’s God-shaped hole working its way into literature and film.”

As we celebrate Eastertide together, we can reflect that the real Messiah-hero story continues to impact on the lives and imaginations of many in our world even when transposed into other stories and mediums. This Eastertide, may we come to know the real Messiah-hero deeper ourselves and step into his story of death and resurrection for ourselves.

(This post is based on material from http://www.patheos.com/blogs/schaeffersghost/2012/08/the-dark-knight-resurrects/, http://www.patheos.com/blogs/schaeffersghost/2012/07/dark-knight-rex/, http://www.patheos.com/blogs/schaeffersghost/2012/07/the-rocks-cry-out-finding-the-gospel-in-very-unexpected-places/, http://bustedhalo.com/features/a-light-in-the-dark-knight, http://thatfilmchannel.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/batman-must-die-an-analysis-of-the-dark-knight-trilogy/).

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Brice Randall Bickford - Pictures of Adolf Again (Bill Fay)

The Dark Knight Rises

Having watched The Dark Knight I commented that it was the theme of sacrifice and substitution, which runs throughout the film, that set up the possibility of a sequel and may become the most interesting development emerging from the film. Having seen The Dark Knight Rises tonight that is unquestionably the case as, like Harry Potter, with its conclusion the series becomes an imaginative retelling of the 'Greatest Story Ever Told.' Alfred plays Judas to Bruce Wayne's Jesus while Peter's denial features both in Foley's reluctance to commit to the resistance and also in the use made by Bane of Commissioner Gordon's confession speech. To cap it all there is even a resurrection appearance included. Why is that stories of those who make the ultimate sacrifice for others retain their power and fascination even in what often seems to be a cynical, sceptical and selfish age?

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Extreme - Peacemaker Die.

The Dark Knight

Philip French's review of The Dark Knight in yesterday's Observer, for me, captured the disturbing issues raised by the film.

French notes that the Joker's:

"objective isn't to aggrandise himself financially or socially. It is to undermine society, to destroy all concepts of conventional morality. He plays people off against each other. He creates social situations (a public choice between blowing up a boatload of convicts or a ship of ordinary citizens, a private one of a man choosing between the death of a son or a wife) that make a mockery of altruism."

By contrast, "the upholders of law and order are a dour collection" and "the film is unquestionably dominated by the Joker." As a result, the jury is out on whether the film's resolution is consistent with what has preceded it and whether the movie is able "to bear the increasing moral weight imposed on it." The sense is of the overwhelming power of evil and its effect on the upholders of law and order as, to confront this menace, "Batman is reduced to torture of the sort Dick Cheney and the CIA have embraced and to a massive extension of public surveillance."

What French does not comment on though is the theme of sacrifice and substitution that runs throughout the film. It is this theme that sets up the possibility of a sequel and which may become the most interesting development emerging from The Dark Knight.

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Evanesence - My Immortal.