America, Our Dark Knight: Watching Batman with Zizek

Rating: 8/10 (13 January 2013)

"In contrast to the simplistic opposition of good guys and bad guys, spy thrillers with artistic pretensions display all the "realistic psychological complexity" of the characters from "our" side. Far from signaling a balanced view, however, this "honest" acknowledgement of our own "dark side" stands for its very opposite, for the hidden assertion of our supremacy: we are "psychologically complex," full of doubts, while the opponents are one dimensional fanatical killing machines." ~ Slavoj Zizek The same could be said of superhero movies with artistic pretensions. Within "The Dark Knight," Batman's psychological complexity and his struggle with the moral ambiguity of his own actions, do not level the playing field between him and the Joker. For the Joker is a self-proclaimed "dog chasing cars." He promotes chaos for chaos' sake. He has no psychological complexity, no internal moral struggle – he is a "fanatical killing machine". He is insane. Batman's inner turmoil signals his supremacy over the forces personified in the Joker.
Zizek's remarks about "our side" refer to the ideology of the liberal democratic West, exemplified in the United States. "The Dark Knight" functions as a spectacular defense of that ideology.
Today, America cannot hold on to heroic pretensions. She is waging illegal wars, breaking UN Charters, and ignoring the World Court. Her innocence has been lost and, even to Americans, her actions are ambiguous. Consequently, her ideology goes like this: aware of the ways in which she will be unjustly vilified, America still shoulders the burden of engaging in necessary violent actions for the sake of others (like fighting to save us from "terror"), even if those others condemn her for those salvific acts.
America has become an anti-hero. She is a vigilante, engaging in actions that others condemn, for the greater good. This movie ennobles this vision of America. Batman represents America, while the Joker represents all the forces of terror that America is fighting. This parallel is clearly exhibited in the film — like when Batman stands at the site of an explosion that looks like "ground zero," or when Batman decides to covertly use communications technology to spy on others (a deplorable but necessary act within a "state of exception") — and in the way the film was marketed. One of the movie posters shows Batman standing below an office building. Some of the windows of the building have been blown out, and a fire is burning inside. The hole resembles both a bat-symbol and the gap created by a plane flying into a building.
Note, then, some of the things that are masked by this ideology, and its defense in "The Dark Knight": (1) Bruce Wayne is portrayed as exorbitantly wealthy. Being presented as a person without needs highlights his altruistic nature. Wayne acts not for his own sake but in defense of others. When Batman represents America, this perpetuates the myth of an altruistic America, acting solely out of her desire to see others living free and democratic lives.
This is a reversal of the reality expressed by Henry Kissinger ("America doesn't have friends. America only has interests"). Like Wayne, America is one of the wealthiest entities out there, but, unlike Wayne, she is not independently wealthy. She is wealthy because she has been plundering other nations, while posing as if she had those nations' best interests in mind.
Therefore, although the altruistic Batman is unjustly reviled, and becomes something of a martyr, we should not draw the same conclusion about America's actions on the world stage.
(2) As America cannot be equated with Batman, so also those who struggle violently against America cannot be equated with the Joker. Zizek is instructive here. He points out the ways in which totalitarian regimes have always presented perfectly sensible opponents as insane. Therefore, Zizek suggests that we attempt to understand why they act in the way that they do. But this is a discussion America does not want to have. Instead, it promotes the view that "terrorists" are insane. The Joker perfectly represents the enemy as America wishes us to perceive her.
But the truth is that most "terrorists" are sane and we should engage in the discussion Zizek recommends. This quickly reveals that some people have understandable reasons for becoming militant— American businesses stole our land, and drove my family into poverty; American planes fire-bombed my village; etc. This is why some people might be drawn towards militant acts, but it is precisely these stories that America represses. Better to represent enemies as mad dogs chasing cars. (3) Note the way in which political acts of deception are justified. Apart from one moment, the film portrays "the people" as always perched on the brink of hopelessness and chaos. Consequently, the people must be presented with a fictional "White Knight" in order to provide them with order-sustaining hope. Paradoxically, as Zizek notes, the only way to sustain Order is by transgressing it (Agamben's state of exception, again). However, the price we pay for this is that the Order which survives is a mockery of itself.
The film offers a noble vision of this. It may not be ideal, but it is presented as the best possible option. This is no different then when Dick Cheney tells us that we have to work the dark side and do things quietly and without discussion.
We, the people, should take offense at such portrayals of us. Populist violence is not self-destructive insanity. Rather, it is a violence that is directed towards those who use lies to cling to power. As such, it is an expression of hope, not hopelessness. This movie would have us believe that we need to be saved from ourselves, but in reality it is the powers-that-be who need to be saved from us. Consequently, they portray themselves as our saviours in order to maintain their rule. But we are not fooled: if we rise up, the only thing we have to lose are our chains.