How did the system of Gotham fail the people? Together with Batman, the cops captured the Joker, and were kicking the mob's ass.
The people of Gotham failed. They went from impersonating Batman at the beginning, to calling for his head to save their skins. They were reduced to p*ssies by a little danger. It took a criminal with the sack to do the right thing on the ferry.
I'm trying to keep separate my views of the real world with my views of the movie, but it's difficult. I think people in America are nearly as whimsical and weak when it comes to, for instance, fighting terrorism. We blame the government so quickly when something happens to us like 9/11 ("government failed us!"), and yet we call for government's "head" when we disapprove of their response to terrorism. We want them to save us, but then complain about the way they do it. If the government misleads us, is there any wonder as to why it is necessary?
Ok, back to the movie . . . do you think Batman's choice was wrong? Should he have told the truth to these people who were about to blow each other up? Sometimes protecting the people also involves protecting them from themselves . . . especially when this means protecting them from mob behavior induced by widespread panic.
I don't know if you're talking about the movie, or your own opinions of our government. When did the "system" make the people of Gotham dependent upon itself by drawing them in with "necessary illusions?" The only time this happened was at the end. The people were dependent upon Gotham's police and Batman long before this illusion. And they were dependent because they were weak.Lord Mhoram wrote: You say that the people are "dependent" upon the system. If they are, it's because the "system" has drawn them in with what propagandists call "necessary illusions" like the outright lie that Dent died a saint so that people would continue to have faith in the governance of Gotham. If you really want to glean people off the government, stop lying to them to increase their dependency.
This isn't a criticism of them. Lots of people ARE weak, and they can't help it. Not everyone can be a superhero, or even a regular hero. However, because some people are weak in terms of physical ability, they allow this to translate into "spiritual" weakness, too. In other words, they allow their physical limitations to cause them to be unable to face unattractive truths . . . namely, the necessity of physical might. Because they lack it, they try to pretend that it's not necessary. And so they lie to themselves that everything they want/need can be accomplished merely by being "a good guy." But when the chips are down (e.g. on the ferry), they don't even have the strength to be a "good guy." No, they decide to blow each other up (but don't even have the balls to do that). It's the "bad guy," who ends up doing the right thing on the ferry.
So, what do you do with a bunch of people who are ready to throw their hero under the bus, who are ready to blow each other up to save their own skins, who are easily unhinged when their self-imposed illusions crumble (that illusion: being a "good guy" is all you need, not fighting dirty or sheer might)??? What do you do with these people? Well, you lie to them. Because their physical weakness is merely impotence, but their spiritual or mental weakness can be downright dangerous to society. They'll either blow up each other, or try to cut the balls off the very people who are protecting their weak asses.
No, I vehemently disagree. The dependency upon the system (either Gotham's government or our own government) comes from people voluntarily giving up their power to the system by not being strong enough to face unattractive truths such as: 1) the need for increased self-sufficiency, as well as 2) the need to step out of the way and let government do its job when you aren't sufficient (or willing) to do it yourself. The "necessary illusion" comes from a refusal to acknowledge 1 and 2. It is a reaction to dependency, not a cause of it.
Whether or not you agree with that in the real world (I'm betting you don't
), I believe that's the only interpretation that fits The Dark Knight. The illusion came at the end, in response to the weakness (both physical and "spiritual") of the people of Gotham, NOT as a means to make them dependent upon Batman or Gotham police.
