OK, let's talk about that
Jul. 20th, 2008 10:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
phoenix64I don't think much of anybody is READING this (yes, I know, I'm in a whiny place), but if you are, and if you want to, yes, let's talk about Rachel Dawes.
Did Rachel get stuffed into a refrigerator? Yeah, she kinda did. Even before she was killed she was practically Refrigerator Stuffing In Waiting over the course of both movies. At best Rachel was a Chorus providing the extra exposition that Nolan wanted to make sure that the audience understood the parts that Bruce cut out of himself to be Batman.
But you know what? I think she was a pretty damned good Chorus. I think there are better ways to tell a story than using a Chorus, but I also think there are worse ways. I think it's a fact of life that our culture puts women in the place of being the keepers of emotional intimacy, and if you want that to be part of your story you're probably going to have to use a woman to do it. We can call it a lazy shortcut but effective storytelling usually requires at least a few lazy shortcuts. You know, like that whole Hero's Journey business. Rachel Dawes was not the only lazy shortcut in Batman Begins or The Dark Knight and she's not necessarily the one that deserves the most criticism, but she's the one that's going to get the most attention.
Mostly though I think that Christopher Nolan told one hell of a story. I think it was such a good story that it supersedes the weakness of Rachel Dawes. I think it was such a good story that I'm not anywhere near being done talking about it. But I think I may be forced to accept that those who are going to insist that anyone who doesn't think the problems with Rachel Dawes trump everything else is stupid and/or unenlightened and/or misogynist are going to be too much of a distraction. Again. Wearing my patience with that crown even thinner.
Did Rachel get stuffed into a refrigerator? Yeah, she kinda did. Even before she was killed she was practically Refrigerator Stuffing In Waiting over the course of both movies. At best Rachel was a Chorus providing the extra exposition that Nolan wanted to make sure that the audience understood the parts that Bruce cut out of himself to be Batman.
But you know what? I think she was a pretty damned good Chorus. I think there are better ways to tell a story than using a Chorus, but I also think there are worse ways. I think it's a fact of life that our culture puts women in the place of being the keepers of emotional intimacy, and if you want that to be part of your story you're probably going to have to use a woman to do it. We can call it a lazy shortcut but effective storytelling usually requires at least a few lazy shortcuts. You know, like that whole Hero's Journey business. Rachel Dawes was not the only lazy shortcut in Batman Begins or The Dark Knight and she's not necessarily the one that deserves the most criticism, but she's the one that's going to get the most attention.
Mostly though I think that Christopher Nolan told one hell of a story. I think it was such a good story that it supersedes the weakness of Rachel Dawes. I think it was such a good story that I'm not anywhere near being done talking about it. But I think I may be forced to accept that those who are going to insist that anyone who doesn't think the problems with Rachel Dawes trump everything else is stupid and/or unenlightened and/or misogynist are going to be too much of a distraction. Again. Wearing my patience with that crown even thinner.
