Saying that darkness is meaningless might be a little over-the-top. Maybe nonsensical would be a better word. This would explain why I prefer dark comedies like Fight Club and They Live over dark dramas like The Dark Knight and The Mist (although the ending to The Mist was really powerful). I’m okay with wringing comedy out of the nonsensical ugliness of humanity, but trying to say that the dark, nonsensical side of humanity is somehow important and meaningful does not work for me.
I think that’s enough about darkness for now. I feel like I’m going into crazy, opinionated Ayn Rand territory with this.
Hey Ryan. Great job on this one. I haven’t really commented on the inkwash because everyone else has kind of already said it, but I like it. Especially the way you depicted the light in panel 4. And this strip is funny too boot. Funny and existential. My favorite combination. Besides peppers and pineapple.
Thanks, ofloda!
Green peppers and pineapple, Bobby? That actually sounds pretty good.
Banana peppers, actually. And yes, it IS good.
I don’t get what you’re saying. Perhaps this is because “darkness” is such a broad term. For instance, the comic seemed to define “dark” as “unknown”. But if can also mean “evil” or “depressing”, which are distinct concepts.
So you believe that The Dark Knight carries a message that “the dark, nonsensical side of humanity is somehow important and meaningful”? What do you mean, exactly? I think in this context you meant “dark” as “evil”.
Certainly the film acknowledges that the dark side of humanity *exists*. But that acknowledgement is ok, sn’t it? It would be silly to ignore the existence of darkness. As Miyazaki once said (paraphrased), “We depict the disease in order that we may find and celebrate the cure”. The Dark Knight depicts a dark side of humanity, but it doesn’t *praise* that darkness. In fact it depicts us rising above that darkness, and it celebrates that idea. There’s a critical scene where common people are tempted to kill each other in order to save their own lives, but ultimately they refuse.
Putting it another way, you could say that the movie’s message is “Our ability to rise above darkness is good and meaningful”