posted by Guest Writer on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 7:00am
Please enjoy this guest post by Jared Bauer, looking at the literary and metaphysical origins of The Dark Knight. Like it? Then tell us in the comments!
Let’s assume for a second that everything the Joker says is nonsense. After all, he is the Joker. And what does the Joker do? Well, joke, of course. But why does he joke? Part of the reason that The Dark Knight has raised the bar for its genre is because, unlike its contemporaries, it dares to answer this question. Why did Jack Nicholson joke? Because the acid accident made him crazy. Why did Doc Ock go on a rampage to destroy New York? Because the mechanical tentacles made him crazy. Up until The Dark Knight, it generally just stopped there.
posted by Guest Writer on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 6:30am
Today, guest overthinking correspondent Mike Litzenberg (Mike from LA to podcast listeners) sends this first report from his visit to the E3 conference. (While we’re on the subject: We would love to improve our coverage of videogames. Do you overthink while you overplay? Give us a shout.) This first post collects some observation; we’ll post his overthinking later in the week.
Though not by any stretch of the imagination what you would call a Gamer, I had the great fortune of spending the day at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3)—the video game industry’s largest annual trade show—and thought that I ought to attempt some overthoughts on my experiences there.
34° 2' 31.9" N, 118° 15' 59.76"
So with the day’s level eleven sensory overload piping hot fresh in my mind, and my fingers doing the nervous bagel bite-sized laps caused by a day on one’s feet in a place where off-brand energy chemicals are a promotional gratuity but water runs you four dollars a bottle, I will endeavor to sort it all out for your edulightentainment.
My close associates and I arrived at the Los Angeles Convention Center at 10a on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009. Theoretically, the convention is by invitation only: it is free to industry professionals but several hundred dollars for everyone else. The truth of the matter is that what qualifies as industry when applying for a pass is decidedly quite liberal; the “industry” apparently includes my friends David, a professional extra, and Vince at a risk management firm. Thus, the glimmerings of inferiority found in an entry level professional at a VIP event were thankfully erased from my mind, my group and a couple thousand guys from across the Kevin Smith look-alike spectrum waited two hours for the convention doors to actually open.
This radio show, made famous for its true-life storytelling on subjects ranging from building superintendents to summer camp, occasionally dabbles in the world of fiction. Very occasionally, they dabble in the world of superhero fan fiction. They’ve done so on at least 2 different occasions, both with stories by writer Jonathan Goldstein:
Episode 198: “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” A sad-sack man tells what it’s like to date Lois Lane after her break-up with Superman… while also serving as Superman’s ineffectual sidekick. It’s not easy being Superman’s sidekick, especially when he starts hitting on your girlfriend. Luckily, he finds a comforting soul in Clark Kent.
Episode 241: “20 Acts in 60 Minutes.” The Penguin and Mary Poppins compare notes on umbrella flight techniques only to find they have little in common. To make matters worse, Mary loses interest in the Penguin and strikes up a conversation with Bruce Wayne about controlled jumps off of buildings.
Note that we have at least two violations of Mlawski’s rules on good fanfic: both stray far from the mood and style of their original sources, and the second one crosses over two different fictional universes. Fortunately, these rules aren’t hard and fast; besides, more conventional fanfic wouldn’t really work in the context of, you know, NPR.
Readers: what are some other unlikely sources of fanfic, superhero or otherwise, that you’ve found?
posted by lee on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 at 7:56am
Happy Thanksgiving from Overthinking It! We know, there’s plenty of popular culture to be thankful for, but in the spirit of Overthinking It, I though I’d put a slightly different spin on giving thanks. Let’s take a look at the latest trends in popular culture that we should be thankful for, but now just accept as the norm. Dig in for a three-course Overthinking It Thanksgiving Feast after the jump (warning: Synecdoche, New York spoiler follows).
posted by Matthew Belinkie on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at 10:19am
Our society’s institutions are collapsing, and we have lost confidence in our leaders to save us. Wait, didn’t someone make a summer blockbuster about this?
Where do we turn in this time of crisis? Here’s what the Joker thinks about President Bush’s economic bailout.
In a world beset by corruption, only one man, playboy by day and above-the-law action hero with access to unbelievable riches and technology by night, can take on a massive criminal syndicate, despite the misgivings of an older, better actor, to avenge a woman he loved and lost.
Sound familiar? Oh yeah, it’s The Dark Knight almost exactly (though this time, the older, better actor is a woman).
The incredible financial success of The Dark Knight has virtually guaranteed that we’re going to be seeing a lot more of this phenomenon — which I’m going to call Batmanization (either that or Nolanization; haven’t decided yet): a pervasive darkness in mood and tone, moody, inscrutable heroes that, even when they are state-sponsored, come off as vigilantes, and, judging by this trailer anyway, very little emphasis on sex, which I find shocking in a Bond film.
posted by stokes on Tuesday, August 12th, 2008 at 5:00am
Or: Holy plaisire du texte, Barthes-Man!
The plot of The Dark Knight, like that of Batman Begins, is honestly kind of shapeless and waffle-y. And yet, as Memento proves, Nolan is capable of writing narratives that are drum-taught and mongoose-agile. Why is he churning out these behemoths? Why, despite the wafflage, are they so dang good?
To answer this, I’d like to take a minute to consider Batman as a piece of storytelling, to consider the properties of the tale as it’s told. You’re probably taking it as given that there are spoilers for The Dark Knight ahead. But I should warn you that there are also spoilers for Batman Begins, Citizen Kane, The Godfather, Forrest Gump, the Superman comic books, and The Hunt For Red October. Be warned.
In his famous – for a certain value of “fame” – book S/Z, Roland Barthes strip-mines Balzac’s Sarrasine, wringing every scrap of meaning out of the text and classifying his findings into five narrative codes: Hermeneutic, Semic, Proairetic, Symbolic, and Cultural. The wikipedia definitions of these codes are pretty solid as of this writing (I mean, they could be “Taco! Taco! Taco!” by tomorrow), but they’re easier to understand when you see them in action. Like after the jump! Convenience!
posted by mlawski on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 at 7:00am
Well, it’s official. According to A.O. Scott, one of the main film critics of the New York Times, superheroes are SO OVER. Well. I guess there won’t be anymore superhero movies, then.
Okay, so we all know that’s not going to happen. But I kind of have to agree with Scott on some level. The Dark Knight may have been so good that it ended a certain type of superhero movie thread. This is the thread that Scott describes in his article: the one where the superhero runs after the villain for the first two-thirds of the movie, then they finally have a showdown in which the villain and superhero are revealed to be “not so different,” and then the superhero kicks the villain’s ass. I agree with Scott that the ass-kicking part is the least interesting part of this kind of film.
So where does this leave superhero movies? Are they so over? If not, what kind of superhero film will replace the Dark Knight model? If so, what will take their place? My ideas are below the fold…
