Batman, Joker, the Depravity of Man, and the Imputation of Christ

Spoiler Alert. This post will/may contain major plot points in an effort to make a point.

I just finished watching The Dark Knight, part 2 of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy to be concluded next summer. In this movie, Batman finishes up a few loose ends from the first movie, while facing a new foe in that of Heath Ledger's Joker. I always enjoyed Tim Burton's Batman movies, and Nolan's are quite similar, with the exception that I believe Nolan's are even darker. The Joker plots to have the citizens of Gotham bare the darkest recesses of their souls. We saw this to some extent with the Scarecrow and the League of Shadows in the first movie and the release of the toxin into the air. People's darkest fears realized.

In this movie, the Joker's character is so depraved that he plays with the emotions of the people of Gotham in order to get them to be like him. His desire is for anarchy to occur. It almost works, except for the fact that he overestimates the good in people. Like Satan, he preys on people's fears and on their depravity. He seeks to force their depravity to the service. This is not a perfect illustration, but we must see that what God promised, as a result of the fall, is true. People do have the knowledge of good and evil. They do see right from wrong.

Batman, on the other hand, battles Joker, and makes him see that his plan fails. He takes out Harvey Dent, the only person in the movie for which the Joker's plan seemed to have work, turning him into what comic book fans know as Two-Face. Harvey has always only believed in chance, apparently, always flipping a "lucky coin" to make decisions. It's no different as Two-Face, apparently a nickname from his police days, as he decides who should live and who should die. He believes morality is best left up to chance. This is the attitude that seems to becoming more and more popular here in America and has been in Europe. You decide what's right for you.

Despite all that, Batman chooses to not let Gotham see Dent for what he became, instead taking all of the Joker's and Dent's crimes on himself, to become the hunted. What a picture of the Gospel of Christ. Christ became sin for us, so that we would not have to die. He committed no wrong, broke no laws, was sinless. Now, one cannot say that Batman is sinless, but the picture of what he did is found in the Gospel. All of our sins are imputed to Christ. When God looks at those who trust Christ as Lord and Savior, He does not see our sin. He sees the perfect, holy Son of Jesus Christ, our Messiah. He, who knew no sin, became sin. I am curious to see how the Batman trilogy finishes out, but I can say that I know how the Gospel turns out. We dwell with Christ forever, because of his death and resurrection.