Is Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight Rises" an Ode to Occupy Wall Street?
For comic book fans, next summer promises to be pure nirvana, as three high-profile superhero films -- Disney's (DIS) The Avengers, Sony's (SNE) The Amazing Spider-Man, and Warner Bros' (TWX) The Dark Knight Rises -- will finally debut on the big screen.
Yesterday, Batman fans got a sneak preview of The Dark Knight Rises when the first full trailer for the movie was posted onto the web. Besides glimpses into new cast members Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cortillard and Joseph Gordon Levitt, it seems that the trailer also revealed a possible theme of the movie: the battle of the 1% versus the 99%.
Yes, just three months since the protests began, it seems like Occupy Wall Street has entrenched itself into pop culture. In a scene in the trailer, a sultry Anne Hathaway, taking on the role of Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman), seems to be channeling the Occupy movement protestors when she asks, "You think this can last?"
Then, slow dancing with Christian Bale's billionaire playboy, Bruce Wayne (Batman and also, a member of the 1% club), she whispers to him, "There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne… when it hits, you're all going to wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us."
The trailer then cuts a ragtag of people with guns held high up, breaking free from a barricade – an interpretation of Zuccotti Park Occupiers, perhaps?
Adding fuel to this theory is the fact that parts of the The Dark Knight Rises was even shot near Wall Street in New York, even if the film's makers ultimately discarded the idea of incorporating real-life protestors into the movie.
Of course, if this theory were true, then director Christopher Nolan's message must be that the 1% wins ultimately, since presumably 1%-er Batman will emerge triumphant at the end. Back when Nolan's monster 2008 hit The Dark Knight was released, the blogosphere also got into a heated debate on whether the movie was a conservative justification for the War on Terror, so clearly, such a class warfare ideological interpretation of the trailer is not without logical grounds.
Whatever it is, what we can be sure of is that, given the quality of his previous two Batman films, Nolan will release a summer popcorn movie that will deliver both high-octane action, and gripping, cerebral drama.
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