The Light in the Dark Knight

Rating: 10/10 (30 July 2010)

I want to say up front that I am not the sort of religious person that insists that every film reflect my beliefs about God or reality.
I am, however, a Christian. And as I Christian I cannot help but say that I found similar elements in the Dark Knight and the Christian narratives about Jesus.
Batman, like Jesus, is completely human but also plays a god-like role in Gotham. He is constantly more than a human but also very human. In fact he is one of the only superheroes who technically has no superhero powers; in other words, he is entirely human, and in that way limited, or at least contained, but at the same time has no limits. As Bruce Wayne he has a finite amount of influence and power, but as Batman he transcends those boundaries. And yet, even as Batman, he is still exactly a man, unlike Spiderman for example who becomes a new and different species.
Christians claim that Jesus was fully human and fully divine. And not only that, but that being this was exactly what it took in order to bring salvation. So too, Batman holds onto his humanity while also being more than human in order to save Gotham.
He experiences a kind of omniscience at some points and keeps a high commitment to keeping justice even if it comes at the expense of the letter of the law. Jesus can also be seen as a figure who pushed the Jewish laws and kept them at the same time. Batman still upholds the value of authorities, public officials and legislation--as Jesus maintains a high commitment to Judaism--and yet they also both push to reform those models as examples not to copy (neither Batman nor Jesus can be duplicated) but to be inspired by--Bruce even says he wants to inspire goodness.
There is much more here but I don't want to start sounding as if I think this is a "Christian film" when I suspect that was not the filmmakers' intent. It's just that I think it is a really complete and good story as is the Christian story about Jesus.