July 22, 2012
The Dark Knight Rises;
Jesus Rose
A Look at the Christian
Symbolism in the new Bat-film
By Angelo Palma
SPOILER ALERT: Do not read this if you
have not already viewed the film The Dark Knight Rises.
The big names
behind the new Batman film are its director and lead actor, Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale. Both have “Christ” or
even “Christian” in their names. In the role of Bane is Tom Hardy, whose first name is that of the disciple Thomas, called "Doubting Thomas" because his spiritual shell was 'hard' to crack. In the role of Catwoman is Anne Hathaway, and you could say that God
Hath MADE A Way. Michael Caine has the first name of the archangel Michael, found in
the book of Daniel and in the symbolic Revelation. One can look at Gary Oldman’s last name and consider Paul’s teaching that Christians have put off the ‘old man.’ One can look at Morgan Freeman’s last name and think on the verse, "For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord's freedman. Likewise he who is called as a free man is Christ's slave" (1 Cor. 7:22).
We could go on
all day, but these ideas are certainly a stretch.
However, in the
plot of The Dark Knight Rises, we
find much Christian symbolism that is not so much of a stretch (though just for
fun, I might throw in some ‘stretches.’)
First and
foremost, we look at the Batman character, and more than ever he is depicted as
a Christ-type figure. He longs to save the people. In Batman’s case, those
people are the people of Gotham City. One almost has to question why Batman
cares so much for these people. Gotham is, to be blunt, a pretty awful city,
containing many not-so-great people. It is not filled with the type of people
that are easy to love. “Callous,
cruel, corrupt and downright cold blooded might be some of the more positive
descriptions for the object of Batman’s loyalty. Night after night he flies
into a place that more resembles a nightmare gone twisted than a thriving
metropolis, thinking that he can somehow make that rat hole better.”[1] And yet, Batman
cares deeply for the city. He believes there is something good behind all the
grime and sewage, and he is willing to give all to save its inhabitants. (Throughout
the film he even emphasizes his “No Kill” policy toward thugs and villains.)
We see Batman’s
selfless, others-first mentality most in the climaxing scene of the film.
(SPOILER ALERT) People may have various interpretations on the ending, but the
point is clear: A bomb is going to go off, and it will demolish Gotham City and
kill everyone in it. Batman is willing to and does give his life for these
people. There is no other way. He takes the bomb that was meant for the people of Gotham, and endures
by Himself, publicly, the explosion that they all were certainly more deserving
of. He dies so that others may live – again, others that are not your great,
lovable people. In fact, many of those people who he dies for were against him.
Certainly, all of the criminals and imprisoned mob affiliates. But even more
than that, the entire police squad – those men and women considered good and honorable -
was after him, making him out to be the enemy! While all along, it was his
intention to do what had to be done to keep them alive.
As Batman flies
off with the bomb attached to his new flying vehicle The Bat, it is as though
he were following forth in the messianic passage, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his
mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). It’s as though
the onlookers were watching this Christ-figure pick up his own cross and
embrace his crucifixion. As Christ was ‘lifted up’ on the cross, so Batman
flies up and away with the nuclear reactor. A following scene in which Alfred,
Batman’s beloved friend and confidant, weeps over Bruce Wayne’s grave, stirs to
mind the disciples such as John and Peter weeping for their Master and Friend
during his crucifixion, and perhaps even at his tomb when Jesus’ body was
placed in it, if they did not go immediately into hiding. (We know that Peter
took off during Jesus’ trials - abandoning Him as Alfred abandoned Batman; as for John, it is unknown whether or not he
followed the body of Christ to its burial site. We do know that both men come
to visit the tomb on Easter morning, expecting to weep over it at that time.)
To Alfred, Batman is dead. And yet,
on a trip to Florence some time later, Alfred looks over across the way and
sees his master Bruce Wayne enjoying an outing with Selina Kyle. He’s alive!
For Alfred, and also for the movie viewers – this is Easter morning! The Dark
Knight (or, at least Bruce Wayne) Rises - from the dead! And is now in a state
of glory, as he is free to go forward pursuing a new life. Of course, we
conclude that Bruce never actually died; he had fixed the autopilot on The Bat
and was able to escape prior to the bomb’s detonation. Yet, the idea remains
that Batman is gone. Representing
the Christian's salvation, Bruce has died to his old man; “he is a new creation. The
old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17).
And yet, the self-sacrificing Batman
is not the only Christian parallel to be found. Take Selina Kyle, for instance,
a perfect picture of Mary Magdalene. She was caught in a lifestyle of sin; she
was playing on the wrong team. And yet, Bruce did not hate her, or treat her
terribly, or condemn her. Instead, he treated her kindly, even defended her when a group of men wanted to kill her, and as a result of
his interactions with her, she had a heart change herself, joining the fight
for good. And as Mary Magdalene was the first to see the resurrected Jesus,
Selina is the first person revealed as seeing Bruce alive. (Followed by Alfred.
Again, a parallel, as Mary and the women saw Jesus first, and then Peter and
John.)
How about the character of Bane? The
definition of the word “bane” includes the following: a person or thing that ruins
or spoils; death; destruction; ruin; that which causes death or destroys life.
If that doesn’t make you think of Satan and sin, I do not know what will. Bane
not only plans destruction, but as a symbolic Satan, plans to give the people a
false hope before bringing about his demolition. It is evil beyond evil, to say
the least. And as Bane wanted to wipe out Gotham City, so Satan desires to
destroy the whole world with sin.
Of course, in Batman, everything is
about physical life and physical death, while with Jesus, we are talking
spiritual life and spiritual death. There are much higher stakes here.
To continue, there is even symbolic
meaning to the character of John Blake (aka Robin). When Batman departs from
Gotham City, he does not leave without leaving behind a continuing legacy.
Though Batman is going away, his work is not finished. It must be continued. John
Blake is that man, representing all Christian believers who are to continue
Christ’s work on earth. Jesus declared to the Father, “They are not of the
world, even as I am not of it….As you sent me into
the world, I have sent them
into the world” (John 17:18). Blake embodies this, as he will no longer be of
the world, but will take on the mission and purposes of the Batman. Believers
in Jesus should be evermore inspired by their
leader to give their life to His great cause.
What else is there to say? Is the
prison known as “The Pit” that Batman spends much time in supposed to represent
hell? Perhaps, yet that is a stretch, almost as much as a stretch to state
firmly that Jesus descended into hell after his crucifixion, when the Scripture
passages cited are ambiguous and not direct. And of course, we cannot tie every
little plot detail of the movie to the events found in Gospels, nor can we tie
every action and characteristic of Batman/Bruce Wayne to Jesus (we see in
Bruce’s fornication that he clearly does not hold to Christ’s sinless
morality). Still, it is fun to ponder the matter.
Nevertheless, I pray that readers can
see a film of high quality and caliber such as this, and see the Christology to
be found in it. Whether or not this symbolism was actually intended by
Christopher Nolan is unknown, yet it shows that Jesus’ story truly is The
Greatest Story Ever Told, and one worthy of repeating and recycling in art and
media throughout the ages. When you hear the title The Dark Knight Rises, you can evermore remember the One who really
did rise.
