Symbolism in The Dark Knight

I want to elaborate on some of the semiotics aka symbolic significances of THE DARK KNIGHT. Before I do that let's go back to the first film BATMAN BEGINS.

Both films show an image of the bat symbol at the beginning. One thing I try to keep in mind when watching a Christopher Nolan is that he tends to hint things before they begin to take fold and mess around with the chronological time frame, obvisouly like MEMENTO and even with his latest film INCEPTION. In the case of the opening sequence of BATMAN BEGINS the image of the bat encompasses the entire notion of the film, which is the theme of 'fear'. What is shown is of a yellowy, amber sunset and a horde of bats flying around to form the image of the Batman. There is a concept that colour emit certain emotions like red being a striving colour or blue giving of a calm vibe. The colour or shade resembling that of yellow is commonly or conventionally used cowardice or fear. The colour yellow is used all over this film and is highly incorporated with the Batman, but doesn't necessarily 'mean' Batman, it's just 'fear' because that's what he is trying to spread to his enemies. To bring fear to those who prey on the fearful. The next time you watch BATMAN BEGINS, look at how much the colour amber is used in this film and more importantly, 'when' do you see this colour!

Now, as for THE DARK KNIGHT, the beginning has an image of blue fire, and then the symbol of the Batman sweeps this blue flame into completedarkness. What does this mean? Well, like BATMAN BEGINS it encompasses an important aspect of the film's plot. The opening image of BATMAN BEGINS basically means that Bruce Wayne is using his fear of bats and making it his symbol.
To understand this blue fire I want to draw my attention to the character of the Joker. . Now, if Batman is incorporated with justice and order then what does the Joker stand for? Well he actually says it in the film, an "Agent of Chaos"! What is chaos? It is destruction, disorder, confusion, anarchism, everything opposite that the Batman stands for. Through is usage of fear Batman established himself as a symbol of hope for Gotham against crime and corruption. To cinematically support Batman the colour amber is ever present throughout BATMAN BEGINS. In THE DARK KNIGHT however, the colour blue is more present. Is it used more conventionally as a calm colour? How can that be when the Joker is lurking around plotting his next chaotic move. There is nothing but tension.

Back to the blue fire, the image itself is rather chaotic; confusing, out of the ordinary. Put aside the scientific fact that blue means really really hot and just look at what it is. Fire is not commonly blue, it's yellow, reddish, and orangey. It is in a way an incorrect image. The image itself is very destructive, but also chaotic. Slowly, the image of the Batman creeps towards the camera making the entire screen dark. What does this mean? To put simply, the Joker is creating Chaos in Gotham City and the Batman, an incorruptible symbol, will create order. The Batman will succeed, in stopping the Joker that is, but in a very morbid way. The image of the Batman stands for justice, order, & clarity and it literally wipes away this blue fire of chaos.

Now the next time you watch these films, watch those colours! The one part I really loved that had these colours is when the Joker cuts Gambles face and says the line, "WHY SO SERIOUS?" Why I like this scene? Well again I looked at the background of the room. This scene's cinematography is very similar to that of BATMAN BEGINS, that being covered in the colour amber, the concept of fear. What this scene can emphasize is that the Joker can be scary too!
Right after this scene is the segment of Batman in China. The colour blue is all over this scene! Why? Because the Batman can create chaos too.

I loved this movie, and I loved it even more when I dug into it! Well I hope you got something out of this note if you read it all and I hope you see and understand how powerful the medium of film can be! I've only tackled a small part of this movie. I hope to dig even deeper in the near future

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Face your problems, not repress.

Based off the classic tale by Maurice Sendak, director Spike Jonze brings it to life with beauty and tension. We follow the little boy Max( played by Max Records ) who at the beginning of the film deals with neglected problems with his sister, his divorced mother and uneasiness about the future. In school his teacher explains how the Sun is going to die out and engulf the Earth, but before that happens human existence may cease to exist. A little 'end of the world' tension perhaps?
One night his mother brings home a date, which Max does not approve of at all. He causes a ruckus and his mother tries to restrain him, but Max retaliates by biting her and then running away. Upon a shore he finds a boat and sails to an island full of "WILD THINGS" all with childish personalities. After careful persuasion the Wild Things make him their ruler.
There are a lot of themes about repression and growing up or really the refusal of growing up. Along with this repression comes in some serious pseudo-Freudian aspects. As in any Oedipus complex scenario, Max displays some pretty strict ownership actions towards his mother, particularly when he gets upset with his mother's visitor. He stands up on the counter looking down at her and calls her 'Woman'.
As one of the key lines in the film that creeps in ever so, "Will You Hide Away The Sadness?" connects strongly with the thematic aspects of the primitive refusal of growing up. Instead of dealing with his problems Max runs away, to hide away his problems into a place of immaturity and primitiveness all of which are physically embodied in the Wild Things. As with any Freudian terms, Max represses his reality and ventures into a land of Wild Things. In Freudian terms, it is when one represses certain aspects of their lives and it shows up in their dreams. Max is a psychoanalytical story of anger. His anger is something he must conquer when he comes across the Wild Things!
Each Wild Thing, I may be reading too much into this, can relate to one of the cardinal sins/seven deadly sins, since there are seven of them. The main Wild Thing that Max hangs out with, Carol resembles and connects with strongly can be Wrath, since Max is mostly angry with his mother, while Carol has some tension with another 'female "Wild Thing" under the abbreviation K.W. and Carol is perhaps the most barbaric of the seven. Like Max, Carol is dealing with an overwhelming dilemma of sadness and loneliness due to K.W. For Max it is with his mother.
There are several references to the 'baby teeth' motif. Have you ever had the dream where your teeth fall out? In dreams these symbolize that one is moving unto maturity, both physically and mentally. Literally your baby teeth fall out so that your new teeth can grow in. This concept helps embellish this growing up motif ever further with Max.
Though it has some dark overtones and some frightening scenes, but not half as scary as CORALINE, it is quite difficult to distinguish the target audience of this film. It does not exactly feel like a kids film, nor does it feel adult film, including teens. However, such a notion can reflect the state of mind of Max. In a way he is sort of in a state of being in limbo. He is clearly growing up but refuses to do the more grown up action. He has to face his problems, not repress them with primitive beasts.
What is interesting enough, to being taking aback more into primitiveness, is that the Wild Things creatures are a careful blend between CGI and costumes. Their facial expressions are neatly created through computer animation while their bodies remain intact. Like CORALINE, we are perhaps dwelling a little too much into virtual creativity and it's nice to go back into seeing real physical things. It's a nuisance when it is obviously a computer generated image in a live-action film, like a close-up of Peter Parker's face in Spider-Man 3. In 'Where The Wild Things Are' these creatures are breathtaking to look at. Overall, a charismatic and intriguing film that is an enlightening journey in dealing with ones inner demons.

Grade: A-