Hi everyone! The Barefoot Hippie family have progressed on to Delaware, and I have another guest post for you. Lydia is my younger sister. I was 10-1/2 when she was born. I thought she was pretty cool. Now she is all grown up, college educated, and pursuing a film and artist ministry. Look up her blog, and show her some love.
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| Lydia |
Lydia is the Executive Facilitator of FortyOne20
Ministries. She writes, organizes, and edits blog and social
media content for FortyOne20 Ministries. She also lays the groundwork and
oversees all FortyOne20 Ministries’ productions. Her favorite part
is enlisting fellow artists to contribute in their given fields. She is
MOST passionate about following Jesus and reaching and equipping other
artists to do the same, but she also loves reading books, writing,
watching and making movies. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the
University of North Texas where she studied video production and
film theory.
***SPOILER ALERT***: My reviews are
intended to get art-observers to engage with what they have already seen
and heard and may include some spoilers. So if you haven’t seen The
Dark Knight Rises yet, and don’t want to know what happens, you might
not want to read this post.
Redemption and
Revenge:
Thoughts on Christopher Nolan’s Dark
Knight Rises
“[God] wiped out the handwriting of requirements that
was against us, which was contrary to us” (Colossians 2:14).
On
Monday evening, I finally ventured out to see the last chapter in
Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. Despite Mr. Trump’s rave
review, I didn’t think there was anything particularly spectacular about
the cinematography, but I was pleasantly surprised by the array of profound
characters and themes.Bruce Wayne (a.k.a. Batman) and Selina Kyle (a.k.a. Catwoman) are both looking for what is referred to as the “clean slate.” The Dark Knight ends with Batman taking the fall for Harvey Dent’s crimes, and he longs to restore Batman’s good name. Selina Kyle is a cat burglar with a sketchy and poverty-stricken past who just wants to disappear. She notes desperately to Wayne that, “Once you’ve done what you’ve had to do, they won’t let you do what you want to do.”
Throughout the entire movie the “clean slate” motivates them. It’s not just a piece of hardware. He doesn’t really want to be in the superhero business anymore, and she doesn’t want to be in the crime business anymore. The actions they take are intended not to redeem their personas, but to reclaim the lives behind the personas.
Bane’s motives are not immediately clear, except for vengeance on Batman. When accused of being pure evil, he retorts, “I am necessary evil.” He states clearly that he is not trying to torture Batman physically or psychologically, but that he intends to wound Batman’s soul. At the last minute it is revealed that his desire to protect his muse is what really motivates him
Although charming and distinctly feminine, Miranda Tate initially seems to be a weak character. Unlike Selina, she does not take part in battles or really do anything unsavory. Also unlike Selina, her motives are unclear until the very end, when her true character is revealed. She is the self-proclaimed calculating and “slow knife” motivated by vengeance and fulfilling another man’s vision.
I appreciated that although they are flawed individuals, Wayne shows Kyle that nobody is beyond redemption. Kyle believes she is a let down, but Wayne demonstrates that he understands where she is coming from. He trusts her even when she tells him that is a mistake. I also appreciated that they portrayed revenge as a cloudy motive. It appears that Bane is the one seeking revenge, when he is only the puppet of a trusted character.
While Batman Begins focuses on physical warfare (body) and The Dark Knight focuses on psychological warfare (mind), the villain in The Dark Knight Rises attacks on an even deeper level: the soul. Because of this, The Dark Knight Rises is a dark movie. (Although I personally didn’t find it as disturbing as The Dark Knight). I would have liked to see more creative camera work and less computer-generated madness. Despite the darkness and less than artistic approach, I will most likely watch it again because the storyline and characters are refreshing, and I do recommend it for that reason.
Happy watching!
LYDIA
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| This is all the Barefoot Hippie Girl sibs... all of us girls have blogs. I think Nate (stripe shirt) is the only bro who write one. You heard from him last week. |
