Tim Burton uses dark lighting to give off allusions of mystery and the unknowns of what is beyond the darkness. Bruce Wayne himself uses the black costume and the dark make-up to hide behind when he goes out as Batman. Tim Burton does this so that there is this mysterious unknown factor that everyone wonders about Batman.
The city of Gotham is always dark. The clouds are always very dark. And Tim Burton shows the sky line of the city quite often to show that the city is a dark and scary place. This is Tim Burton using lighting to set the mood or theme in the movie. Tim Burton also uses the skyline view to show how crowded the city is. This is Tim Burton's use of claustrophobia in the movie. Burton also uses femme fatales through Jack's mistress being very seductive and through Vicky showing her strong woman-ism. He shows this how Vicky slept with Bruce on their first date.
Batman fits into the characteristic of the "anti-emotional" hero in ways by never calling Vicky back and ignoring the fact that she wanted to be in his life. He did this because his one goal was to help the city. This became his goal after he watched his parents get murdered right in front of his face as a child.
In the end of the movie though Batman was emotionally attached to Vicky, but it wasn't the main reason he wanted to kill the Joker. He wanted to kill the Joker out of revenge, from the Joker killing his parents years ago. This showed that Batman wasn't just a hero, he was also human. Heros don't hurt others in revenge, they do it because it is the best for the other citizens. Batman doing it because of his own gain put into our eyes that he is human and he isn't just a hero.
The Joker being the protagonist that was a single man once wounded and he only cares about his own personal gain fits into the noir perfectly. In film noir the anti-hero is sometimes tempted by a woman and then finds a man to take that out on. The Joker fits into this perfectly. The Joker was set up all because of a woman. He then takes out his anger on the guy who set him up and Batman, who dropped him into the chemicals.
I definitely agree with your point about why Batman dresses in all black, and I definitely think that the mysterious and unknown factor makes Batman more imposing to criminals, and most likely the citizens of Gotham as well. You interpretation of the darkness surrounding Gotham and the mood that it evokes was interesting. I also think its funny how, as you pointed out, Tim Burton splits the role of "femme fatale" between Jack’s seductive mistress and the strong womanist vision of Vicky. I liked how you brought up Bruce Wayne as never calling Vicky back as evidence of his "anti-hero" side, and also strengthens your later argument that even though he was emotionally connected to Vicky, the true reason he wanted to kill the Joker was out of revenge. You really emphasize Batman's anti-hero side towards the end of your blog when you talk about how he "wasn't just a hero, he was also human". True heroes are supposed to be selfless with no ulterior motives other than justice, and this obviously isn't what Batman is like. All in all, nice blog. Noah Feltes
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