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Toying Around With The Dark Knight
With huge fanfare
the latest Batman tale is flying into theaters, and audiences are responding in
true record numbers. The Dark Knight has made its way into box office
legend with the biggest three day weekend opening in cinematic history with a
whopping $158 million windfall. Remember, that's just three days. There's
undoubtedly more to come.
I reviewed the film
for
ParentPreviews.com, and must say it's an
artistically strong film -- especially Heath Ledger's posthumous debut as
Batman's classic enemy, The Joker. However, great performances on the screen
rarely equal family fun in the audience, yet merchandising moguls in the
entertainment industry won't give up on trying to sell trinkets and food from a
very adult film to even the youngest kids.
According to the
Chicago-Sun Times, "Mattel Inc., which has a
standing relationship with Warner Bros. [the studio with rights to create
Batman movies] and DC Comics, is among the companies offering products based
on the movie, aimed at both fans of the film and those too young to get in due
to the PG-13 rating."
Then Sun-Times
writer Denise I. O'Neal quotes Brad Woods, Mattel's senior director of marketing
for the Batman products, who says, "The intent of our products is to bring the
movie experience to all kids."
I've got to give
Brad credit -- he doesn't even try to hide his plans to evangelize a movie to
"all kids" that features an antagonist who, in The Dark Knight, provides
highly detailed verbal descriptions of his abused childhood.
Without giving away
major plot details, The Joker, in two scenes while holding a knife at his
victim's throat, tells how his own face was scarred. The horrid details,
combined with Ledger's almost too convincing performance, were enough to bother
a jaded film critic like me. I wonder how a nine-year-old would interpret this
same message?
Or how would a
seven-year-old girl view the many acts of violence toward women in this movie,
where men hold ultimate control? One of The Joker's victims is a woman, who he
nearly chokes to death before pushing her through the window of a high-rise
building, leaving her to fall to her demise.
In another scene, a
bank is being robbed and many innocent people -- including women and children --
are seen huddling on the floor while The Joker selects who might be used as a
pawn. Eventually he selects a man who he has shot in the leg. Tying his hands,
he places a live grenade in his mouth and leaves him.
Even our hero is
not averse to using torturous techniques. In one scene Batman pushes a man from
a low-rise building, explaining that he didn't want to kill him, but instead
wanted to hurt him. We clearly hear the cracking of his bones as he hits the
ground.
The two-and-a-half
hour film features dozens of highly violent scenes, featuring on-screen
shootings and intense person-to-person conflicts. It is rated PG-13 (another
point I will touch upon in an upcoming article), but has the intensity and
serious tone of many R-rated movies.
I have no idea how
much information corporations are provided when deciding to license merchandise
for a particular movie. Obviously these deals are struck long before a film
opens in theaters, and I doubt executives have the opportunity to see the
finished product. But why are we marketing toys and food that are obviously
intended for the very youngest audiences, that feature characters who, in my
opinion, no child should see?
We spend millions
of dollars trying to create "bully proof" schools, trying to teach our children
proper socialization habits and ways to deal with conflict in their lives. Is it
too much to ask Corporate America to help parents out in this regard?
If I must pay for a
toy in my cereal, next time give Kit Kittredge a try.
Rod Gustafson
Besides writing this column for the Parents Television Council, Rod Gustafson authors Parent Previews® - a newspaper and Internet column (published in association with movies.com) that reviews movies from a parent's perspective. He's also the film critic for a major Canadian TV station, various radio stations and serves on the executive of the Alberta Association for Media Awareness. Finally, his most important role is being the father to four wonderful children and husband to his beautiful wife (and co-worker) Donna.
Parenting
and the Media by Rod Gustafson
The Parents
Television Council -
www.parentstv.org
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