It also does that trope where it has the revolutionary "villain" fighting to expose the systemic corruption be/act so unhinged and do evil things as to give justification that their critiques are wrong. It's a really well made, entertaining movie, but it's themes are just such weak centrist bs that I couldn't ignore it.
I wrote about it more in-depth here if you're interested: https://letterboxd.com/peytobrock/film/the-batman/
EDIT: this is a write-up by a critic I really like that's even better than what I wrote: https://www.patreon.com/posts/63389248
I’ve noticed a trend in a lot of these comic book movies over the past decade that makes me feel like a tin foil weirdo. It seems like a lot of the villains end up aligned with populist/vaguely anti-capitalist ideas. It’s almost like they want us to think those ideas are bad :shocked-pikachu:
The Riddler posts video on hexbear in this movie
deleted by creator
He doesn't literally, but there's a plot point about how he posts videos on some made up social media website where he has like a bunch of followers and supporters helping him with things like "detonator suggestions"
deleted by creator
The first scene in the movie with Batman is him beating up a bunch of young hooligans playing the knockout game and recording themselves doing so, presumably to post online
Oh dear lord, the director still remembers that story?
I mean, idk if it's a literal reference to that story, but they are young goons, some of them POC, seemingly just going around and attacking people for fun/to imitate a new member, so that's where my mind immediately went to (probably because online left people like Felix joke about it)
deleted by creator
It felt more reactionary aesthetics than "militant leftist" aesthetics tbh.
Riddler is basically the /pol/face meme in this movie but instead of crying over the gays and the minorities, he's crying that bruce wayne got a lollypop while rats were eating babies in his abandoned orphanage.
deleted by creator
Nolan definitely does this, but Marvel villains rarely go beyond power hunger/jealousy motives except for killmonger and Thanos
I've heard secondhand (i think they heard it) from the West Wing Thing that a lot of writers are somewhat leftist so they try to sneak their ideas in where they can, but that would be very stupid for that very reason... So, it's probably true.
traditionally when writing a history the author would represent both sides as having part of their political views and use the speeches to express them.
This is notably what Milton was doing with paradise lost
Manga writers tend to be pretty good at that, for better or worse.
Here is my villain Hiruto X Hans, he does a lengthy speech about Social Darwinism on a war altar of zombified salary men. Am I critiquing neoliberal "meritocracy" or am I celebrating fascism? Who can say, anyway, our hero Battle Suit Makoto refutes his speech by having more fighting spirit
deleted by creator
Art in general trends left, but like everything else, capital subsumes and twists everything it can and overwhelms everything else
deleted by creator
I know it's not great representation, but I can't help but love the gay villains lol
when all lesbians are doomed to tragedy because two girls are literally forbidden to have a happy ending, you may as well root for the badass lesbian girlboss villain who at least doesn't have to go through the pain of having her girlfriend murdered.
Counterpoint: Harley and Ivy