The Lily-White World of “The Dark Knight Rises” vs. Black/Brown Crime in Our World
25th June 2012
In short, 95.1 percent of all murder victims and 95.9 percent of all shooting victims in New York City are black or Hispanic. And 90.2 percent of those arrested for murder and 96.7 percent of those arrested for shooting someone are black and Hispanic. I don’t even know where to begin to describe the horror I still feel looking at those numbers. But the word “hunted” comes to mind.
What’s this got to do with The Dark Knight? Well might you ask.
Unlike most major American cities, where Black people engaged in a war of attrition to drive whites out and take political power (though, as Detroit, Memphis, Birmingham, Atlanta, Baltimore, and Philadelphia shows, this does not correlate to economic power), Nolan’s Gotham City is one that appears to be 80 percent or more white.
In the world of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises, the villains are white men like mob boss leader Carmine Falcone, The Scarecrow, The Joker, The League of Shadow’s leader Ra’s Al Ghul, Harvey Dent/ Two-Face, and Bane; men of extraordinary intelligence, motivated by very different reasons to bring Gotham City to its knees.
June 25th, 2012 at 05:43
In the original comics, all the victims and perpetrators were white. In all the years reading them–and I was an avid fan–I don’t think I ever once saw a person of color appear on any page.
So, which do you want–a story that is true to the original, or one which reflects current reality? If the latter, then why bother to go see a super crime-fighter in black tights at all? Where does, or ever could, such a character exist in the modern world?
June 25th, 2012 at 10:26
I suppose it would be really, really non-PC to point out that dark faces don’t show up well in the dark alley’s where Batman hangs out.
June 25th, 2012 at 12:56
Oh, dude…you didn’t go there, did you?
June 25th, 2012 at 16:24
Someone had to do it.
I did avoid mentioning “eyeballs and teeth”.
Well, mostly…