While watching ESPN the immortal Lou Holtz, former Notre Dame coach, blurted out,
"The only difference between CHAMP and CHUMP.....is U".
Think about it.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
On Choice
DONT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE DARK KNIGHT, GO SEE THE MOVIE THEN READ
"You know.... I just do, things." The painted madman confesses to the district attorney he has just disfigured. Here, in the evacuated hospital he has threatened to blow up, the Joker explains to Harvey Dent his rationale for committing the many horrors he has throughout the movie. He has none.
In the new movie The Dark Knight the audience is confronted with the issue of choice. Why do we do the things we do? What are the principles and axioms that lead us to make the important decisions in our lives? In the movie all of the major characters have choices to make in their lives that are informed by their worldview.
Batman, the movie's hero, begins the movie by choosing to become the savior the city has asked him to be. He foils Scarecrow's plans and beats up some Russians in the process (we hope their Russians, not Georgians). He helps Lt. Gordon find Lau in Hong Kong and take down the mob. Batman is the knight in shining armour for the city. However, his principled choice of becoming the superhero comes at a cost. He knows that he can never be with the woman he loves, Rachel Dawes, while he is saving the city as the Batman. He also knows that although the city is grateful for his efforts he can and does become vilified as a hired gun.
Harvey Dent also begins the movie by making the right choices based upon his view of justice. He is the new star in Gotham ready to clean up the streets. Distrusting of the corrupt system he works with Batman to arrest Lau and the mobsters that have run rampant throughout the city. Dent is the moral backbone of the city with his coin of two heads always knowing that it will land on the side of justice.
Even the criminals act on a logical level. They know that their ultimate goal is monetary gain. The criminal mastermind, Lau, understands this when he collects the money of the mob bosses when he gets wind of the police raid. The mobsters understand this as they band together in a back room to game plan their actions.
But the Joker has no such framework on which to function. This is what makes him so dangerous. Most choice is based upon your core principles and values. Even if those core principles are flawed, as in the case of the mob, they are still comprehensible. Actions flow from first principles. What happens when there are no first principles? What happen, as the Joker says, when you add a little "anarchy" into your thought process? Chaos.
The Joker attempts to introduce into an orderly world choices that pit people of good will against each other. He begins to kill until the Batman shows his face. Now, Batman must choose between revealing his identity (and thus his ability to be a superhero) or live with the knowledge people are dying. Ultimately, the Batman bests the Joker through the realization that people will not go against their first principles. People will make the moral choice given the opportunity.
Harvey Dent is not so lucky. His downfall is the real tragedy of this action movie. Although he is the bulwark of law and order he contains within him the all too human characteristics of vengeance and mistrust. When the Joker kills Rachel Dawes through a sadistic game of choice he is spiritually as well as physically disfigured. He feels betrayed by a life based on the first principles of justice and love. He abandons his values. Choices are now made arbitrarily with the flip of a coin.
Harvey's descent into evil is ultimately hidden from Gotham as Batman becomes "the hero that Gotham deserves, not the hero it needs, that was Harvey Dent". But has Gotham been done a disservice through this cover up? Should we have pristine heroes to idolize? Or should we know that men are fallible, even the best men, and be ever reminded that even the best men can be corrupted?
"You know.... I just do, things." The painted madman confesses to the district attorney he has just disfigured. Here, in the evacuated hospital he has threatened to blow up, the Joker explains to Harvey Dent his rationale for committing the many horrors he has throughout the movie. He has none.
In the new movie The Dark Knight the audience is confronted with the issue of choice. Why do we do the things we do? What are the principles and axioms that lead us to make the important decisions in our lives? In the movie all of the major characters have choices to make in their lives that are informed by their worldview.
Batman, the movie's hero, begins the movie by choosing to become the savior the city has asked him to be. He foils Scarecrow's plans and beats up some Russians in the process (we hope their Russians, not Georgians). He helps Lt. Gordon find Lau in Hong Kong and take down the mob. Batman is the knight in shining armour for the city. However, his principled choice of becoming the superhero comes at a cost. He knows that he can never be with the woman he loves, Rachel Dawes, while he is saving the city as the Batman. He also knows that although the city is grateful for his efforts he can and does become vilified as a hired gun.
Harvey Dent also begins the movie by making the right choices based upon his view of justice. He is the new star in Gotham ready to clean up the streets. Distrusting of the corrupt system he works with Batman to arrest Lau and the mobsters that have run rampant throughout the city. Dent is the moral backbone of the city with his coin of two heads always knowing that it will land on the side of justice.
Even the criminals act on a logical level. They know that their ultimate goal is monetary gain. The criminal mastermind, Lau, understands this when he collects the money of the mob bosses when he gets wind of the police raid. The mobsters understand this as they band together in a back room to game plan their actions.
But the Joker has no such framework on which to function. This is what makes him so dangerous. Most choice is based upon your core principles and values. Even if those core principles are flawed, as in the case of the mob, they are still comprehensible. Actions flow from first principles. What happens when there are no first principles? What happen, as the Joker says, when you add a little "anarchy" into your thought process? Chaos.
The Joker attempts to introduce into an orderly world choices that pit people of good will against each other. He begins to kill until the Batman shows his face. Now, Batman must choose between revealing his identity (and thus his ability to be a superhero) or live with the knowledge people are dying. Ultimately, the Batman bests the Joker through the realization that people will not go against their first principles. People will make the moral choice given the opportunity.
Harvey Dent is not so lucky. His downfall is the real tragedy of this action movie. Although he is the bulwark of law and order he contains within him the all too human characteristics of vengeance and mistrust. When the Joker kills Rachel Dawes through a sadistic game of choice he is spiritually as well as physically disfigured. He feels betrayed by a life based on the first principles of justice and love. He abandons his values. Choices are now made arbitrarily with the flip of a coin.
Harvey's descent into evil is ultimately hidden from Gotham as Batman becomes "the hero that Gotham deserves, not the hero it needs, that was Harvey Dent". But has Gotham been done a disservice through this cover up? Should we have pristine heroes to idolize? Or should we know that men are fallible, even the best men, and be ever reminded that even the best men can be corrupted?
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