Trailer for "The Dark Knight" courtesy of XxjalaldevilxX
Brutal, excecuted with cinematic skill, and obscene in the violence of intimidation that it infers, the message of "The Dark Night" sobers the soul.
As critics already have raved, Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker is worth an Oscar nomination. As an actor, Ledger traveled to an unseen realm to achieve a form of artistic expression that reveals the twisted, thirsty and never-satisfied place of evil.
The Joker exists with no rules, no honor. He names himself an "agent of chaos" to the grieving, angry, and maimed Harvey Dent character, skillfully played by Aaron Eckhart. Bereft of his love interest, his handsome face cruelly deformed by fire, Dent is the character that followers of Jesus should study.
On the surface, Dent seems to descend from righteous prosecutor to reckless vilgilante because of the loss of his girlfriend, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who was killed while he survived. His descent began earlier in the film, when he could not rest because Batman (Christian Bale), had a close, and enviable, relationship with police officer Jim Gordon (Gary Oldham). Dent also delighted in the humiliation of his enemies -- the criminals he sent to jail -- an always dangerous path to tread.
By the time the Joker informs Dent that he is an agent of chaos who stirs the fears of people, the Joker doesn't seem just like the neighborhood wacko killer. His intentions are methodically satantic as he probes the inquity in Dent, along with the simmering anger, control issues, and flawed sense of justice squirming beneath the surface of the Dudley Do-Right prosecutor image.
Satan, like the Joker, wants us to settle for surface change in our lives. Surface righteousness is an open doorway for Satan to generate destruction as an agent of chaos.
More tomorrow.
Judy Howard Ellis
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