[I’ll tell you when the spoilers come.  You’re good for now.]
I’ve been incredibly impressed with these Batman movies.  I wasn’t a real avid comic reader as a kid, but they were part of my literacy experience.  Comics aren’t just stuff for kids and nerds, but the hieroglyphics of our age.  They’re fantastic stories with words and images that speak of the human condition.  Maybe a thousand years from now people will think Comic Con was a pilgrimage to worship American gods.  Ironically, though no sane adult would claim to believe these worlds are real, we do let them affect them as reality too often.  Fiction and fantasy.  Fun and fear.  It can inspire.  It can also reflect some of the worst in us.

The film is about revolution, about the livelihood of a city, a community, about the investments people make in a community, about the consequences of our decisions, or our lack of decisions.  It’s about what happens when we hide the truth, when we hide behind masks, hide underground, hide in our money, our castles.  It’s about punishment.  It’s about redemption.  About rising.

Continue reading →