Yesterday we went to see the final installment of the most recent Batman series. The recent shooting in Colorado has given a different feel to the movie. The horrible reality of so many massacred gives a greater poignancy to watching the mayhem on the screen. That fact will be something which I want to reflect on a bit.
The movie itself was good. If one likes this sort of thing (I do) it is very good. The violence was less graphic than in the previous movies. I want to forgo blowing the story for those who haven't seen it, but the movie does ask (and in a movie sort of way answer) some of the big the questions about duty and society. It is a comic book, so there are a large number of 'unrealities' to it all. It is also a movie, suffering from time constraints, and so the story has to be compressed. Movies always use images and a few spoken words convey the story. The viewer must always fill in the gaps. Always. We plug in our insights and experiences. It is the nature of film and art. And it is something we do automatically.
In Batman I saw a reference to the French Revolution and its aftermath. There is a philosophical reflection on the dangers of nuclear energy. A recurring theme is birth, destiny and choice (three characters are child victims of violence and abandonment, while a fourth has some issues from her past). Mind you, it is an action movie, so the artistic answers are not remarkable and deep. But I think there was a depth there and, the comic book nature of a movie aside, the result concurs with Christian teaching.
One line in particular got my attention. At one point, someone told Batman, trying to convince him to give up on helping the endangered city, "You have given up everything." He simply replies, "Not everything." The Christological faith which motivates me probably caused me to see and hear echoes of Jesus. I heard the scripture "you have not resisted to the point of shedding blood." I was reminded that the ultimate sacrifice is giving one's life. The cross is at the heart of our understanding of Who Jesus is. It is also a truth writ large in our world. It is there for those with eyes to see. Batman wears a mask, he says, so that it is possible that anyone is Batman. While there are differences, in a sense, "putting on Christ" is similar. We wear the "Jesus costume" and in so doing start to become what we pretend/intend to be (CS Lewis writes extensively about this). Heroism in the natural sense understands this, to some extent. The hero dies to him/herself. The hero suffers greatly. The hero rises from the dead (figuratively if not literally). Resurrection is a key feature of the Batman legend. The underground cave is burial. Bruce Wayne gives up himself and goes down. He emerges victorious in power as a new creation. Some may think I am going overboard here. I think not. I think we are in need of understanding how story works and how God's hand has written the world, not just the Bible.
Last night the History Channel did a serious review of the Godfather trilogy. The snippets of movie were voiced over by a narrator who briefly told the story. Some background info was shared. More important to my point, actual Mafi and Law enforcement folks discussed the impact of the movies on real life gangsters. Over and again we heard that it shaped their behaviors. Some Mafia imitated the movie. The "reel life" became "real life." However, the movie (from the book) was also based on real life. Characters were based on real people and inspired by real events. There was circularity. The thing I reflected on was the power of story to impact and influence. Fiction and non-fiction are different, but the real world contains both. That is the rub. We tell stories in a certain way because the world is a certain way.
Back to my initial statement. Watching the last Batman movie has been changed because a real life madman, perhaps imitating the movie madman (The Joker) shot and killed a myriad of people. Some will clamor that the movie caused it. There is a bit of to that. But it is not true that that explains it. Mass murder predates Batman. It predates any movies. Be it the uncountable MILLIONS in Russia, China or Germany or the isolated mass killers like Jack the Ripper and many others centuries ago; evil and killing have long been part of our world. In fact, according to researchers, murder rates were appreciably higher in most times in the past. Humans have been notoriously murderous and societies a tricky balance of abuse and justice. Batman and the Godfather movies resonate because they reflect that reality (with all manner of additional flair) within the constraints of cinema.
The people who knew Jesus and experienced His teaching and miracles were astounded by Him. But not all believed. In fact, it appears there were few who did. Acts identifies 120 gathered in the beginning. We know Jesus was rejected by the crowds and killed. As the story of Jesus was told it resonated with people. The church grew. The beliefs and values of their time and place influenced the telling and hearing. Some were Jews, but most were not. The Gentiles grew up with different stories and other values. This impacted the words and images used. It also impacted how the events were experienced.
If I can find depth and meaning in cinema than certainly I should be able to find greater depth in the story of Jesus. Batman and Godfather are basically about two kinds of men: good guys and bad guys and the thin line which sometimes separates them. We do well to reflect on how story telling works. We do well to reflect on God as the ultimate story teller and Jesus as the ultimate story. Only from that beginning point can we truly understand. The life of Jesus is a filling up (often translated fulfillment) of the OT scriptures, but it is also a filling up of the myths and legends and hopes and dreams of humanity in all times and places. That is why Gentiles could hear and respond as well. It is also the filling up of what "Batman" seeks to be and what the Godfather twisted and got wrong. Jesus is revelation which explains this world in which we live, including art and story. He is not limited to that, but for the most part we are. The Godfather kills and takes to live (though in the end Michael Corleone loses everything, a point made clear in the documentary) and Batman sacrifices himself for the life of others, we see virtue even in the evil man and we see the flaws even in the good men. But what is our hunger to escape the flaws and evil? And what motivates us to yearn for heroes and escape from all this? It is the story, written in our hearts, by a subtle hand, a divine hand, a creator and redeemer. Listen to your heart. Listen to the stories. Seek to understand. Our fear of the Godfather is our fear of fallen humanity and evil. Our hunger for a Batman to save us from the despair is a gift from God. And Jesus fulfills that hunger and desire. He is The One whom Batman dimly reflects.
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