Saw The Dark Knight and liked it even though it got great reviews (I'm usually not a big fan of summer movies and great reviews --hey, I'm one of the few people who still champions Bug). Heath Ledger was as brilliant as everyone says -- his Joker is a perfect villain for our time. When I taught, I saw traces of him everywhere in our abused, broken generation, a man who by his own estimation isn't a monster, but merely "ahead of the curve." My favorite parts of the movie weren't the big action scenes or the gadgets -- they were when the Joker explained how he got his scars. Each telling is different, but each equally plausible and horrible and funny. Kind of an emotional memoir of his trauma in which the truth is no longer important, but the story matters -- we're listening for an explanation, but there is none or there are several. And really, what's the difference? He's totally fucked.
I once read that some sexual abuse victims consider everything that happens to them as children as their fault while they consider their adult behavior to be beyond their control. This makes sense to me in a deep way. When bad things happen, we distance ourselves from them or get closer to them as a way of controlling them. To recreate the past is to fool ourselves into thinking we can get control over it. And even when we get beyond a painful moment, sometimes we miss the prison and can't help but crawl back inside for a little while, just to remember what it felt like and how much we did or didn't miss the food.
Michelle's Spell of the Day
"Sometimes a man just wants to see the world burn." The Dark Knight
Cocktail Hour
Drinking dvd television suggestion: Sanford and Son
Benedictions and Maledictions
Happy Friday!
9 comments:
I'm going to have to see the Dark Knight. I've just heard too many good things about it.
Michelle,
I've overheard pedophiles say they couldn't help themselves, that they were abused as children. You would think they'd like to break the cycle, that they'd recognize the damage; however, they'd rather ignore it, ignore the pain.
Even Superman can't change the past.--The Dark Knight
"He's totally fucked." I resemble that remark.--Kwame
The scar on my left elbow is from a fastball.--Chico Fernandez
Yeah, I'm the one who called Obama clean. So I plagiarized a little. Those things aren't scars.--J. Biden
I'm with Lana. Need to see it. People are endlessly strange in how they reason, especially when they are damaged. There's very little rationality on earth.
As good as I hear The Dark Knight to be, I think I will wait for the Blu-Ray...I like my popcorn better...
As for the second part, the victim part...Huh, doesn't make sence to me...But, then again, I have only ever been a victim of my own making... I do feel for the lives changed from the start, though. I wonder what these people might have been like had their lives not been so poisoned. Normal? Like me?
dk is on my list, but likely not til on dvd....
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