Yesterday I saw Batman The Dark Night for the third time. It is definitely one of the most amazing movies I have ever seen. The storyline was brilliantly written, with a great and suspenseful plot, and even some subtle moments of humor from an amazingly played Joker from actor Heath Ledger. The thing that impressed me the most, however, was how deep two of the 3 main characters really were…Harvey Dent (two face), and Batman. We can learn some important lessons about life from these two men…

Harvey Dent was at one point Gotham’s “White Knight”. He did whatever he could to clean up crime in Gotham and wouldn’t let anyone stop him from doing just that. He said numerous times that he wasn’t afraid of the mob, gangsters, politicians, journalists, or anyone else. He was an amazing leader who stood up for what was good and just. Batman loved Harvey Dent because Harvey was the person that Batman could never be. Harvey, as Gotham’s DA, could attack crime and protect the city without having to hide in the shadows like Batman has to. Batman knew Gotham needed a hero that didn’t have to hide, and he was so excited when he saw Harvey Dent could be that hero. However, at one point when Harvey’s girlfriend was killed, Harvey went very wrong. He was a wreck because the woman he loved so dearly and was going to marry died so suddenly and tragically. The joker took full advantage of this and turned Gotham’s hero and “White Knight” into the evil Two Face. I dont know if I’ve ever seen such an amazing hero turn so evil so tragically. Harvey gave up on the good and just that he previously fought for and took a much more pesimistic view on life. He thought the world was unfair and completely gave up on trying to fight for the good and just that he prevously did.

Harvey Dent is not the kind of leader we want to be. He gave up and stopped fighting when times got hard. We cannot do that if we want to really be a leader and make a difference in the world. We have to keep fighting throught the hard times or we will never accomplish anything. It really is a shame that Harvey Dent was so weak because he really could have made an amazing difference in the city of Gotham. Remember that…if you really want to make a difference you have to be a leader and fight throught the hard times. If you give up when times get hard nothing will be accomplished.

Unlike Harvey Dent, Batman is an amazing hero and role model. He spends a great deal of his time totally selflessly helping out Gotham City by cleaning up crime. Since Batman is a vigilante, he receives absolutely nothing for doing this…no money, position in government…nothing at all, but he does it anyway and to the best of his ability. In this movie, Batman also shows us that he is a man of moral principles, who will do what he believes is right no matter what other people think or how difficult it may be. In the movie, most of the people in Gotham City want Batman arrested for being a vigilante, but that doesn’t stop Batman from doing what he knows is right…protecting the innocent people from the harsh crime of Gotham City. In addition to that, we notice in the movie that Batman passed on a number of opportunities he had to kill the Joker. This would have ended a great deal of his problems and made Gotham a lot safer. However, Batman has a set of moral rules he refuses to break no matter what. Regardless of what good would have come out of killing the Joker Batman knew it was wrong to kill and wouldn’t break that rule. The Joker tried repeatedly to get Batman to break his rules, as the Joker “lives in a world without rules”, but the Batman always stayed strong and stood up for what he knew was right.  He really is an amazing person.

The lessons we have to learn from the character of Batman are simple…always do what we know is right, regardless of how difficult it may be or what obstacles might be in our way. We can also learn that our moral rules must not be broken, no matter how good the consequences of an immoral action may be. We also see that we should take an optimistic view on life. Unlike Harvey Dent, who saw the world as cruel, wrong, and downright unfair and gave up because of it, Batman always stayed optimistic and worked hard so that things might improve.

I hope you all enjoyed this amazing movie and learned a little something from these two very deep characters.