An analysis of how Batman - The Dark Knight fits into different narrative theories

1. Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight Trilogy’

2.  In Film Studies, it is important to tell the difference between
the narrative and story
 Story = a sequence of events, known correctly as the plot (What
actually happens e.g. The teacher taught the class about
narrative and then they left
 Narrative = the way those events are put together to be
presented to an audience e.g. The teacher dismissed the class,
then there was a series of flashback s of the lesson.
 Therefore, when analysing a narrative we analyse the
construction of the story ie the way it has been put together,
not the story itself. You also need to consider what the story is
about in its most basic terms, ie the theme (eg Love, war,
winning).

3.  Simply put, narrative is basically the order something is put in and
there is always a reason for this.
 For example, directors often use flashbacks, voiceovers or
montages to show previous stories or show a passing of time.
 Genre ,Character, Form and Time help us make sense of a
narrative and also about what to expect.
 You must consider whether there is one narrative going on. For
example, Pulp Fiction has various stories with different characters
going on. We call this a MULTI-STRAND NARRATIVE
 There are a number of different narrative theories which
propose ways in which stories (including films) are commonly
put together

4.  Linear narratives are the ‘classic’ and simple
beginning, middle and end stories.
 This will follow the rule of situation-disruption-
resolution, in that order.
 In other words, the story will flow
chronologically (in time order) through one
story, from beginning to end.

5.  Of Christopher Nolan’s
films, few have a truly
linear narrative, except
perhaps ‘The Dark Knight’
 In simple terms, Batman
is controlling crime in the
city, The Joker turns up
which disrupts this,
Batman defeats The Joker
and returns order to the
city.

6.  Non-Linear Narrative is where the narrative
does nor follow a regular beginning-middle-end
pattern.
 The storytellers will play with the order of
events.
 For example, some films will choose to show
the ending at the beginning (Fight Club,
Forrest Gump, Inception etc.)

7.  Unlike The Dark Knight,
Batman Begins tends to
follow a non-linear
narrative (at least for the
first half)
 The action jumps between
time periods, from Bruce
was a boy, to when he was
an young adult, to a
mature adult, to back to a
boy, back to a mature
adult, to a young adult, etc.
etc. as we will see…

8.  There is another of Nolan’s
films called ‘Memento’, the
main trait of which is it’s
unusual non-linear narrative
structure
 The story is told in reverse
order, interspersed with
extracts from a scene set
right at the beginning of the
film. The ending is shown in
reverse at the beginning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=cifPv4QWTH0

9.  Now this is a theory that can be applied
to many texts but can also serve you
well if you want to disprove it.
 Adverts employ this technique e.g. Nice
clean carpet, spill wine, vanish saves the
day and gets rid of the stain.
 Todorov believed that texts are made
up of fives stage of narrative.
 This structure could be applied to both
fictional and non-fictional texts.

10.  Equilibrium
 A disruption of this equilibrium by an event
 A realisation that a disruption has occurred
 An attempt to repair the damage of the
disruption
 A restoration of equilibrium or- A NEW
EQUILIBRIUM (everything goes back to normal
but maybe with some changes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDkltIaiQf
w&list=PL606555723F99DD88

12.  Equilibrium – Bruce Wayne is helping Inspector
Gordon to clean up Gotham City of crime, as
Harvey Dent leads the legal assault on the crime
syndicates
 Disruption of Equilibrium – The Joker offers to kill
Batman in return for half of the crime proceeds of
all the gangs
 Realisation of Disruption – Inspector Gordon and
Batman realise the need to team up to defeat The
Joker after Commissioner Lowe’s death, but
Gordon is shot
 Attempt to repair Disruption – Most of the film –
Batman attempts to restore the equilibrium in
Gotham by getting rid of The Joker, despite Dent
becoming corrupted
 New Equilibrium – Peace and justice restored in
Gotham, although it will never be the same, and
neither will Bruce Wayne or Batman (no spoilers)

13. Vladimir Propp
Narrative theories

14.  Propp was a Russian critic who published his
Morphology of the Folk Tale in 1928
 Propp analysed over 100 Folk Tales
 He established that all of these tales followed
a strict Narrative structure, based around 8
stock characters

15. Hero
Villain
Princess
Donor
Helper
Father
Dispatcher
False Hero

17. •The Hero often seeks something e.g. A
quest, money or to save the life of a
Princess
•The Hero, according to Propp, is often the
protagonist, who drives the narrative
forward. There are two types of Hero:
•“The Seeker”- who aids the victims of the
villain
•“The Victim Hero”- who is the centre of the
villains plans
•Batman effectively plays both of these
roles
•In fairy tales, this role is often adopted by
the Prince

18. • The Villain often serves to cause disruption
to the general social order e.g. The Wicked
Witch in Snow White
• In the film the Joker terrorises Gotham
City, killing and damaging the city in acts of
wanton destruction
• He does this because he wants to challenge
the role of the hero. For instance, he even
kidnaps Batman’s love interest, Rachel
Dawes
The Villain is also usually
deformed, evil or mythical
e.g. The witch in Hansel and
Gretel

19. •The Princess is often the reward for the hero
and is often the reason for the hero’s quest
e.g. when Prince Charming saves Sleeping
Beauty
•Due to this fact, the Princess is often a
target for the villain. In the film, the Joker
kidnaps Rachel and kills her (which goes
against usual conventions of a fairy tale
ending)
• Often seen as a damsel in distress
However...
•Although she needs Batman to save her she
is a strong woman and to some degree, in her
role as a lawyer, a heroine herself

20. • The Donor helps the Hero along their way,
often by giving them an item with mystical
powers
• In this case, Lucius Fox provides Bruce Wayne
with such items as a utility belt, gadgets and a
Bat mobile
•Such gadgets in today's society are
seen as somewhat magical in the respect
that they are extremely ahead of their
time and in many respects, impossible to
conceive, like that of magic

21. •Commissioner Gordon fulfils two character roles in
The Dark Knight, that of :
The Helper- Aids the hero, sometimes a
sidekick e.g. The fairy godmother in
Cinderella
The Dispatcher- Often sends the hero
on his way/ quest. This character also
frequently alerts our hero to a problem

22. • Batman believes that Harvey
Dent can become the “White
Knight” of Gotham City !
•Harvey Dent is seen as the real
Hero of Gotham, due to his crime
fighting in the courtroom. Batman
believes that he can retire and
leave Gotham city safely in his
hands
However...
•When Rachel is killed by the Joker
and Harvey Dent is left horribly
disfigured, his Hero status is lost.
He instead becomes the Villain
Known as Two- Face. He is what
Propp refers to as “The False Hero”

23. •The Father role according to that of Propp
is often usually that of the father of the
princess, not of the Hero.
•For example, the king may reward the
Hero for saving his daughter (A Princess)
from a dragon. However, in The Dark
Knight, the Princess is murdered by the
Villain.
•The Father is therefore not a literal
character, but the completion of the Hero’s
mission, to rid Gotham of crime. If he
succeeds, Rachel (at the beginning of the
film) has promised to be with him.
•Alfred does however fulfil the role of the
Helper.

24.  Levi-Strauss saw the world as full of
binary oppositions e.g. Fat Vs skinny,
rich Vs poor. This has transferred into
media texts also.
 In a narrative we often see these binary
oppositions played off against each
other.
 In film, perhaps the most fundamental
binary opposition is good vs. evil. This is
explored by Nolan.

25.  The Dark Knight works on the
principle of The Joker and
Batman being binary opposites
 The Joker is an advocate of
chaos and destruction, Batman
of order and justice
 Each dresses and behaves in
opposite ways
 “This is what happens when an
unstoppable force meets an
immoveable object”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=SDbINMm-d60

26.  Barthes was interested in concepts such
as negotiated reading. This basically
meant the relationship between the
institution and the audience.
 He established that even though texts
may imprint meaning into a text we
produce new meaning for ourselves,
that the media has no control over.
 This is called cultural consumption. The
way we view a text is influenced by our
cultural, social and political views as well
as our viewing of other texts.

27.  The most well known of Barthes theories was the idea
of the ‘Enigma code’
 In its simplest form it is the hook or mystery to be
resolved for an audience.
 This keeps the viewers engaged and makes them
more likely to watch the film after seeing a trailer or
tune in for the next episode. It is classically used in
trailers in order to hook an audience:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPKhWXhiMSw