One day my co-workers and I were talking about movies. This has happened several times and usually derails us for some time. A month or so back the topic was movies we hadn’t seen yet. I mentioned that I hadn’t seen Batman Begins yet, even though I’ve intended to and have heard it’s a great movie. I was assured that yes, it’s a good movie and yes, I need to watch it. I made note of it but still never bothered to rent it. Then The Dark Knight came out in theaters. Well, before it ever came out there was the hype. I can’t remember the last movie that had this much hype, if any. I wanted to know if the movie really was up to the hype. (Sue me, I have a rather strong curious streak.) There was, however, a problem. The Dark Knight is a sequel. What fun is watching a sequel before you’ve ever seen the movie that came before it?
So Thursday night we rented Batman Begins. And I really enjoyed it. The movie was very visually appealing. The villains were well portrayed, Scarecrow in particular. I’m not familiar with all of the ins and outs of Batman lore but Scarecrow was, well, scary. Mind you, I usually can’t abide any type of horror or overly suspenseful movie. I should also say that when Ducard was first introduced I kept thinking “Where do I know that voice from? What else has he been in?” because I didn’t recognize his face. I resisted the urge to look it up until after the movie and wasn’t very surprised to learn that the familiarity was due to that character being played by Liam Neeson, the voice of Aslan in the most recent Narnia movies. Batman and his gadgets were impressive as expected. Bruce Wayne is a billionaire, after all. I did find it amusing how Batman disguised his voice to keep from being recognized.
Renting the movie was, of course, a ploy to get Michael to go see The Dark Knight with me. So we did just that Friday evening. I’m not going to write a full blown review; you can find countless reviews online. My first thought when entering the theater (we were a tad late so the previews were already over) was that it was entirely too loud. I know, I know: If it’s too loud, you’re too old. Whatever; I felt that the volume was actually distracting from the movie itself. Also distracting were the occupants of the row behind us. When we sat down I knew that there were small children behind us. And, as small children do, they talked. At some point (it may or may not have been the people directly behind us), someone’s cell phone kept going off. Added to the chatter it became really annoying.
What was most annoying was knowing that these children who were probably around 6 and 10, if not younger, had been brought to see this movie by a ‘responsible adult’ or two. The Joker’s appearance alone is rather frightful, not to mention his maniacal and sadistic behavior and countless violent acts. So many people are shot, blown up, or knifed to death. Don’t get me started on the disappearing pencil trick. All of this doesn’t even touch the violence performed by other characters, including Batman himself. What were these people thinking? That a PG-13 movie is going to be equivalent to the Batman cartoons shown on TV and so is suitable for a 6 year old? That it really doesn’t matter if their child sees a man who has had half his face burned off, exposing bone and muscle? That what these children see in the theater isn’t going to affect them in any way whatsoever?
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not part of the crowd that will blame movies and video games for every act of violence done by kids. My point is that kids don’t always know the difference between fantasy and reality. Until they have the ability to recognize that difference and to know that it is “just a movie” they shouldn’t be allowed to watch things like this. But I can’t blame the kids. They couldn’t drive themselves to the theater and buy the ticket. One might be tempted to blame the media; I really don’t agree with trailers for PG-13 movies being shown on kid-oriented channels. However, I don’t think the full blame lies there. It is the parent (or guardian) who I blame. They are ultimately in charge of what their children see. It all starts at home.
Was The Dark Knight a good movie? Yes. Maybe a bit too violent for my taste, but still good. I actually wouldn’t mind seeing both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight a second time. Do I recommend taking children to see this movie? Absolutely not. I wrote this post earlier today and have been thinking about it for a while. My opinion hasn’t changed. I’ve thought before that the lines of what is age appropriate have been moving in the wrong direction. I would expound further but I’ll save that for another day.