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Karl Prewo

Phillips

Cultural Media Literacy Honors

20 May 2018

Class Critique of​ The Dark Knight ​Trilogy

In Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, consisting of ​Batman Begins​, ​The Dark Knight​,

and ​The Dark Knight Rises​, Nolan carefully manipulates stereotypical qualities regarding the

lower and working classes linking them to violence and corruption, yet also contests these

parallels by showing that generalizations do not always hold truth. This can be observed in the

changes Bruce Wayne undergoes regarding his sentiments towards class, justice, and his city.

In the first film, ​Batman Begins, ​Bruce loses his parents at the hands of mugger Joe Chill,

a stereotypical example of someone clearly within the lower class. Orphaned and distraught,

Bruce himself attempts to murder his parents killer fourteen years later after he is freed in

exchange for testifying against Gotham’s mob boss. Bruce wasn’t able to get to Chill in time,

and he ends up being killed by one of the mob bosses assassins (Nolan). Already, developing

stereotypes around lower classes and violence can be seen, and its subsequent impact on Bruce.

He is drawn into the violence, and deeply resented himself for almost perpetrating an act that

would make him no better than his parents murderer. Confused as to his place in the world and

his city, Bruce leaves to travel the world and confront injustice, and embarks on a journey in

which he no longer is a member of the upper class. He ends up arrested and in a prison for

burglary, again conveying the parallels seen between a lower class and inevitable crime. It is
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here that he is approached by the leader of a secret organization known only as the League of

Shadows (Nolan).

After training with the League and realizing these stereotypical fears manifested, Bruce

changes and understands the peril when these stereotypes are fully embraced. This group, led by

idealist Ra's al Ghul, is bent on the destruction of the destitute and supposed crime and

corruption they create, and the League chooses to end the “borrowed time” (Nolan) Gotham is

residing on. This is where a change in Bruce is first observed, and with the fate of his city in

mind, he burns the League’s headquarters. Thus, after embracing these stereotypes originally and

even falling prey to them, Bruce changes internally, revolting against the truest injustice, the full

embrace of stereotyping lower classes as all corrupt and criminal, without regard for those who

are innocent “​Batman does not seek such power — that he serves anonymously, and vanishes in

times of peace” (Douthat).

Moreover, within ​The Dark Knight, ​more complex typage of the lower class can be

observed, as well as changes within Bruce and those within his city that again contest the

acceptance of such stereotypes. The arrival of the Joker prompts Bruce to come back as Batman

after previously thinking he could be succeeded by Harvey Dent, the new morally crusading

district attorney. Harvey sides with Bruce, and doesn’t see all members of lower class as

inherently corrupt and immoral, and accordingly allies himself with Batman. However,

ultimately Harvey is corrupted by the Joker and offers contest to the traditional typage seen thus

far, showing that even a member of a higher social class can become corrupted and sinister. This

clearly shows that actions and morality are not restricted with class, something that can also be

observed within Wayne.

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Near the end of the film, the Joker hatches his final plan, a real life experiment of the

truthfulness is class stereotypes (almost a scale reincarnation of the League of Shadows plan of

destruction), attempting to prove that prisoners (of a lower social class) would decide to end the

lives of normal citizens going about their day. This situation is even made more intricate in its

reciprocity, in that the citizens also have control over the fate of the prisoners. Providing a

perfect application of the stereotypes, Nolan chooses to take and contrast the thus far typage.

Neither side decides to eliminate the other, and while anecdotal, it shows further contest lower

class representations as criminal, showing that stereotypes are not restrictive to class.

In the third and final film, ​The Dark Knight Rises​, more associations of lower class and

criminal behavior are seen. After defeating Joker, Wayne has been retired from the Batman for

eight years, but must resurge again when a revolutionary takes control of Gotham. The so called

Bane, claims to be “Gotham's reckoning” who has come to “end the borrowed time you [they] all

have been living on” (Nolan). Bane has come to complete the work of the League of Shadows,

and destroy the supposed city run astary by the stereotyped actions of the lower class “​He is, as

his name implies, a curse, in this case the curse of class warfare” (Bowyer)​.

Before Bane revolts and takes control of the city, he builds up an army mainly consisting

of young and destitute orphans. Within the film, an orphan describes motivation for going into

the sewers “there's work down there” (Nolan). This again shows a strong linkage between the

lower class and criminal or immoral behavior. Even further, after Bane rises to power, he lets all

the prisoners out of Blackgate prison, in order to allow them “reclaim their city” (Nolan). In turn,

the city descends into chaos and the streets are run by criminals released from prison, more

evidence surrounding the negative typage with lower classes​ “​Police are hesitant to deal with the
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problem partly based on class warfare complaints” (Bowyer)​. Even more interesting is the

pseudo justice system imposed by Bane to those he deems to be guilty, and they face a singular

judge with the only determining factor in who is guilty is the defendants class “​ their guilt is

already determined based on their class” (Bowyer).​. Thus here again, the actions and content of a

person are reduced to the stereotypes associated with their societal class, as judged by a crazed

revolutionary intent on watching Gotham spiral into decay.

Once again to confront this injustice, Bruce is placed in a foreign land and class, after

being kidnapped and transported by Bane to a remote prison. Again in the midst of lower class

criminals, Bruce reclaims his sense of righteousness, realizing not all members of lower class

exude these immoral characteristics. Bruce escapes the prison with the help of these lower class

members and returns to his city to save the innocent from Bane and the city’s self proclaimed

“liberators”.

Ultimately, throughout this trilogy class distinctions are clearly made, and certain

characteristics associated with these distinctions. For the most part, the lower classes within

Gotham are associated with crime and corruption (being the reason for the League of Shadows

and Bane’s intent to destroy it), yet through many trials Bruce is able to rise above these

stereotypes, putting his life on the line to protect the innocents overlooked by Gothams enemies.

Within these stereotypes about the lower class, those who are innocent and do not fall within

such mass generalizations suffer, and by experiencing the lives of the lower classes, Wayne is

able to realize the danger his city faces, and overcome negative class values to become the hero

Gotham deserves.
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Works Cited

Bowyer, Jerry. “Why Batman's ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Is An Instant Conservative Classic.”

Forbes​, Forbes Magazine, 10 Aug. 2012,

www.forbes.com/sites/jerrybowyer/2012/07/26/why-batmans-the-dark-knight-rises-is-an-

instant-conservative-classic/#4b071bc22bd0​.

Douthat, Ross. “The Politics of ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’” ​The New York Times​, The New York

Times, 23 July 2012,

https://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/the-politics-of-the-dark-knight-rises/

Nolan, Christopher, et al. ​Batman Begins​. Warner Brothers, 2005.

Nolan, Christopher. ​The Dark Knight​. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2008.

Nolan, Christopher, et al. ​The Dark Knight Rises​. Warner Bros., 2012.