Heath Ledger as The Joker

The Dark Knight, the latest Batman movie, is darkly wonderful and once again makes me wish I had read comic books as a kid. In my opinion it does to the George Clooney and Michale Keaton Batman movies what those movies did to the “Batman” television series: makes them seem airy and almost comical.

Various critics reviewed the movie and discussed the depth of The Dark Knight and how it presents themes of good versus evil; anarchy versus order; freedom versus rules. I believe this movie also reminds us that Batman is first a man of sensitivity and depth. We have always known this for the tragedy of his youth is what ultimately drove him to become Batman: He did not let it go, stuff it away, or let it slide off his back - it effected him tremendously. But his work as a “superhero” may make us forget his humanity. Alfred, though, understands his frailties. Alfred knows Bruce “better than anyone else.” So when the woman whom Bruce has loved for years writes a letter effectively spurning him and obliterating any hope Batman may have of their getting together, Alfred burns the written weapon to protect the profoundly sensitive Batman. We see the brave and strong superhero is ultimately a human with weaknesses not so atypical.

And as we have read, Heath Ledger gave a tremendous performance. I thought he was completely unrecognizable. I took note of the line in which he essentially compliments Batman during a battle with the words “we can do this forever.” I say it is a compliment because as a villain, The Joker thinks he is quite skilled, so to say to another that their fight can continue “forever” is admitting to a state of equality. A compliment. From one anarchist to another.

Will the young Gordon boy become a villain or crime-fighter after witnessing the psychological brutality of his family at the hands of Two-faced? What about the girl who also faces the same situation but with the added hurt of being outed as the less-loved child?

And the cameo of Cillian Murphy - Scarecrow - makes me hope that he will come back big-time in the next sequel. I almost forgot about the beautiful Cillian…

Curious Readers Ask Questions

Question: So are you a law school drop out yet?

Long Answer: Admittedly, I was finding it difficult to justify the costs of the education with my likely prospects if and when I graduate. I need to face it: I will not be an eager, un-jaded, 24-year old walking into interviews with a Yale law degree pinned to my chest.

But…

I just received an offer of an assistantship - paid tuition and stipend.

Very exciting news and I feel re-invigorated. Still not exactly eager to begin a new year with all that case reading and briefing, but much less demoralized about my constantly-increasing debt to Sallie Mae with this new news.

All those years of studying programming books and working in web development paid off as my assistantship is in web development. I will be working with the .NET framework.

Perhaps Internet Law may be an avenue for me to explore.

What’s a lanai?

I received a message from a concerned reader wondering if I had any intentions of writing a few words “in tribute” of the recently passed Ms. Estelle Getty. I do not believe I am the proper person to write these eulogizing words, especially when my first thoughts after hearing of her death were not externally-focused feelings of sympathy amd empathy, but rather internally concentrated thoughts of woe-is-me and I-pity-my-plight. I couldn’t help but feel this was yet another reminder of the aging process and that as one ages, the people we know or recognize or relate to on some level will die more frequently and what feels shocking and tragic in youth becomes expected and accepted and with a nod of the head we turn the page…

In the past few weeks both the Smashing Pumpkins (a former musical group) and the original Die Hard movie experienced 20th anniversaries. Are these constant reminders necessary in our highly age-ist society - are not the arteries clogging, the organs failing, the skin loosening, the girth growing, the face falling, the mind blanking enough to keep us alert to the fact that youth and immortality cannot be bought -no matter what the 90210 surgeons taunt with a smirk of the lips and scalpel in hand? Why can’t I safely peruse the Internet without reading comments trashing Cameron Diaz as being too “haggardly” to play the lead character opposite Ashton Kutcher? Or how 30 is too old to appear on So You Think You Can Dance (this season is so very weak - dance class recital goes national) or how a new and younger crops of actors and singers have replaced the “older” Hillary Duffs (not quite 21) and Jessica Simpsons (28 ) - damn you High School Musical.

But back to the topic of Ms. Estelle Getty. I shall briefly open up the comment section before the spamm- ing bots infuse the blog with their self-serving “p’s”: porn, poker and penile enhancement related website URLs. No, thanks. Google satisfies my needs just fine.

(Is it really 6 AM?? Between blogging and Nancy Drew computer gaming time is surely sucked from my very own private lifetime movie. Carson Kressley - come on now, who really does look good naked?)
CP, if you will…

Hello everyone,

I designed my own page! Please take a look.

In a few weeks I am going into second grade!

Yours Truly,

MFB

A few weeks ago I heard some critics complaining that Barack Obama comes across as pretentious.

Now this is pretension. Knowing full well many people will not understand the satire and yet, still, publish the image during times when opinions are still being formed and decisions continue to be weighed.
(Article from New Yorker which prompted to above controversy: Making It How Chicago shaped Obama.)

Note: I agree with the comment from that lengthy article”

“Perhaps the greatest misconception about Barack Obama is that he is some sort of anti-establishment revolutionary. Rather, every stage of his political career has been marked by an eagerness to accommodate himself to existing institutions rather than tear them down or replace them.”

I think he is intelligent, aware, ambitious, and careful - a strategist. If he was my friend and he went a job interview I would NEVER doubt his being made an offer. Underestimating his abilities would equal a loss at the expense of the one making the faulty assumption.

I was thinking that affiliation (student, graduate, professor) with the U of C and pretentiousness sort of go hand in hand, but many view pretension as a negative trait, therefore, that would be a judgmental statement. However, a look at the definition of pretentious from dictionary.com:

pre·ten·tious
/pr??t?n??s/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[pri-ten-shuhs] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective
1. full of pretense or pretension.
2. characterized by assumption of dignity or importance.

As mentioned previously, self-help authors, inspirational speakers, and Oprah repeatedly tell us that we need to think of ourselves as worthy and important individuals. So it must be desired and proper behavior, yes?

Quick Quiz

Name the source of the quote.