Reading Paradise Lost for a (very late) English assignment. When you read through Miltons epic, you start seeing how other stories based on it really tapped from the well, and which stories drank deepest from this Purital tale. For example: both Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Batman: The Dark Knight were based on Paradise Lost (according to the directors of those films, Nicholas Meyer and Christopher Nolan respectively). Once youve read Miltons version of the Genesis account, everything in the plots of those films clicks and takes on new depth. In Star Trek II: Kirk is God, presiding over creation (the Genesis torpedo, which also serves as a stand-in for the Apple). Khan is Lucifer, the fallen one cast down to a paradise world that was ruined as punishment for his rebellion (as seen in the classic Star Trek: The Original Series episode Space Seed) against Kirk (God) who rises against Kirk once again. Spock is Jesus; he dies so others might live, and in doing so he is resurrected (see Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) and, for a time, he redeems creation (the Genesis planet is formed). The analogy isnt perfect, of course--Im still trying to figure out which character represents Adam (both Kirk and his son David share that role at times), who represents Eve (best candidate for that is Carol Marcus, the creator of the Genesis torpedo, the Mother of All That Lives, so to speak), who represents Uriel, et cetera, et cetera. Its also why, upon further analysis, Star Trek: Into Darkness--while a decent film--doesnt work for me. Its great how the film borrows elements of Star Trek II and even subverts some of those elements in a creative fashion, but when you remove the story from the original source--Miltons Paradise Lost--so far that the story can no longer be recognized, it removes the spark of brilliance in the story for me. (Same for removing the elements of Moby Dick; both Star Trek II and Star Trek First Contact work so well because they borrowed from that novel.) In The Dark Knight, the ties to Paradise Lost are easier to see: Jim Gordon is God; he presides over Gotham City in a very real way, as he is made Commissioner of the police (the leader of the angels, so to speak; this is typically Michael the Archangel--who is, in Catholic theology, the patron saint of police officers--but God is Michaels superior). The Joker is the Devil; Christopher Nolan revealed that in interviews before. Alfred is Uriel (gender-swapped; in Paradise Lost, Uriel is female, but in the film, Alfred is obviously male, as he is in the comics): he offers counsel to Bruce the same way Uriel--the representation of the Holy Spirit in Paradise Lost--offers counsel and inspiration to Milton. I also note Alfreds burning of Rachels letter to Bruce at the same time we hear Bruces voice-over about how people sometimes need their faith to be rewarded. The Jokers persona was based not only on Paradise Losts interpretation of the Devil, but also on the version from the Tarot. Harvey Dent is Adam; he was Gothams white knight, the perfect man, the representation of all of Gotham who fell into sin and, in punishment, earned death (literal, naturally; this would make Rachel Dawes the Eve of the story, as her kidnapping lured Harvey to his fall and demise, just as Eve lured Adam to his fall). Batman is Jesus; at the end, Gordon (God) notes all the terrible things Harvey has done, how nothing can redeem his legacy, and how news of Harveys terrible crimes will plunge all of Gotham into darkness (just as Adams sin plunged all of Creation into the spiral of death). Batman steps forward and tells Gordon to blame him for all of Gothams crimes, just as Jesus immediately offers to die for Adams sin in Miltons Paradise Lost. (For those of you who wondered why they never blamed Harveys crimes on the Joker: this is why. To do so would be to ruin the metaphors from Paradise Lost hidden in the film. Batman is Jesus: he had to take the sins of fallen Adam--dead Harvey--upon himself in order to redeem Harveys legacy, the way Christ redeems all of mankind.) Harveys two-sided coin is the Apple; in Paradise Lost, the Apple seemingly offers either infinite God-like knowledge or potential minor punishment (according to the serpent), but it only really gives one outcome: death and misery. The coin is two-sided, like all coins--offering either heads or tails--but its a trick: the coin has two heads, one on each side, offering the same result no matter how many times you flip it. The two heads also represent the two-fold nature of humanity: we are, thanks to Adams fall, all of us beings of light and darkness, good and evil, forever struggling for dominance, just as Two-Face constantly battles with his lighter and darker selves. I think way too much about this stuff sometimes.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 03:19:37 +0000
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