The Aesthetic behind Batman: The Dark Knight?

Question

What are your ideas and observations about the aesthetic in Batman? What symbolisms did you find? Did you find your self supporting the Joker, who is the embodiment of evil; or, did you find your self associating with Batman who is the embodiment of a savior (of goodness). What do you think that reflects about your character?

Answer 1

The Joker. I don't think he was the embodiment of evil really. Just chaos. I think his point was that there is no good or bad.  There is no wholly good person that can't be broken. So, as crazy as he was, I found myself agreeing with him most of the time.

*edit*

I wasn't under the impression there was a "right" answer.

Answer 2

This is interesting.  After reading your question, I find myself looking at the movie negatively.

Examine what the Joker did.  He turned to cops to do his bidding resulting in the death of Rachel.

He turned Harvey Dent with the death of Rachel and his accident.

Even Batman, during the interragation, block the door and beat the Joker, showing his dark side.

He cause the public to become assassins to kill the person who was going to expose Batman.

In the end the Joker proved himself right.  Everybody, with the right enticement, will turn evil.

Answer 3

While I agree with your add-ins for the most part, I disagree with a couple elements.

1. You inaccurately depicted "protagonist" as meaning "good," and "antagonist" as "bad."  The protagonist is by definition the central character of a story or event trying to accomplish a goal.  Te antagonist is the object or being trying to stop the protagonist from reaching that goal.  If you changed your perspective a tad, the Joker can be seen as the protagonist and Batman is HIS antagonist.  It depends on the point of view.

2. Bearing this in mind, I don't think the movie was a concept of Good vs. Evil, but a right vs. wrong.  The Joker was not entirely evil.  Psychotic, certainly,  Incorrect in his ideas, ABSOLUTELY.  But ultimate destruction of mankind was NOT his aim.  Ending the world and killing people was not his purpose, as befits one bearing the title of "evil."  The Joker had a theory on right and wrong that centralized around chaos and chance.  He didn't WANT people to die for the sake of death.  He was trying to prove HIS point of how the current system was flawed.  Was he wrong?  You bet he was.  But he was not an evil character.

You can find a similar issue in the musical/story/movie Les Miserables.  The alleged protagonist is Jean Val Jean, a thief who served twenty years in prison and broke parole in order to start a whole new life of good, to start over.  The alleged ANTAGONIST is Javert, the law-abiding parole officer attempting to capture Jean Val Jean and send him back to prison for dodging parole.  Javert is painted as the bad guy, or "evil" person, as he's attempting to stop the protagonist and alleged "good guy" from accomplishing a goal.  So who's REALLY wrong?  Yes Val Jean broke the law and his parole, but he used that crime to become mayor of a city and give THOUSANDS of people jobs and income to support themselves.  Javert, technically speaking, is the good guy, as he is just a cop doing his duty.  Val Jean is not an EVIL person by any means, JUST WRONG.  What he did by breaking the law was WRONG.  But does that classify him as evil?

That's my theory on the movie anyway.  Neither were evil characters, just both the protagonist and antagonist to each other.  The Joker was WRONG in his beliefs, but not evil.