gullybogan

Flickr photo by Archangeli.

Dear Reader,

Princess and me went to see the dead Heath Ledger acting like a crazed psychopath on Saturday night.

In life, before his apotheosis, he was always a bit of an arrogant prick, so it was refreshing to see him as someone with a little psychological depth for a change. Even if he was only play acting.

The dead Heath Ledger was all right, and he delivered his part pretty well, for an actor in a Hollywood© blockbuster, that is. Everyone’s having a sort of filmgasm over his performance, cos it’s a double guilty pleasure: not only are we trying to convince ourselves and each other that he’s giving a brilliant performance within the context of franchise trash, but we’re also trying to convince ourselves and each other that it’s not really creepy to be watching someone whose face – so haunting in those close-ups with its mouldring make-up – is right now mouldring in the grave.

The rest of the film was ok, too. I mean, The Dark Knight was no Elektra, but it was good.

Well, good enough.

My main problem, while watching the movie, was that there’s all this unusual depth to the text – it’s drawn from the patented ‘darker’ era of comic book heroes, with all the studied angst that accompanies that provenance – and yet i couldn’t help translating in my head all the profoundly symbolist scenes into Lego™ playsets or Happy Meal toy-with-purchase combos.

The fact that you could buy a ‘commemorative’ cap by spending a little more on your pop corn didn’t help the literary cred pretensions of the whole shebang.

After the fillum, we hit Bar Bosh for a turkish pizza. The folks at the table next to us had been in the session, too, and they were deconstructing the text all the way through their tapas and tagines, analysing its ramifications, and its deliberations on the human condition.

Guys. It’s a live action cartoon, all right?

Yes, good needs its evil counterpart. Yes, chaos complements control. Yes, a faceless hero is not a hero at all.

Sheesh!

Get over it.

The thing i liked best was this: when i was a little bogan, about eight years old, i figured out that all the bad things that befell Gotham could be directly attributed to Super Villains trying to destroy Batman. If he just left Gotham, the city would be safe.

And Bruce Wayne finally figured that out, too.

About time, genius.

Yours,
Gullybogan