Document Type
Article
Abstract
Christopher Nolan's Batman film The Dark Knight was viewed by a wide range of commentators as a depiction of contemporary terrorism, pivoting on iconic villain The Joker. Perhaps surprisingly, a mainstream superhero movie has made an accidental (?) intervention in the ongoing discussion of counterterrorism and its ethical restraints. A close reading of various scenes in the movie reveals an upfront debate over means and ends, civil society and the state. Moreover, the moral discourse in The Dark Knight suggests a response to timeless ethical considerations rather than the more historically specific reference points of its recent admirers.
Repository Citation
Wopperer, Barbara. "'I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you...stranger': Discourses of terrorism and counter-terrorism in The Dark Knight." Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture vol. 11, no. 4, 2011, pp. 1–14. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/reconstruction/vol11/iss4/19