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Harvey Dent is Batman's Lois Lane
Mar. 7th, 2008 01:31 am SUPERMAN
(beat)
That's something I've been dwelling on
since I came back. And I think I've come
to a truth that I've never wanted to face
before...
(steels himself)
Yes, I do it all for the multitude. But
when I save lives, or fight for the weak,
I'm saving one life, fighting for one
person -- again, and again, and again.
(beat)
It's her -- don't you see? She represents
all of them -- their hopes, their
fragility, their passion. And if I ever
feel like no matter how much I do, it's
not enough, I think of Lois. And then,
I'm off, faster than a speeding bullet to
be Earth's champion... but always hers
first.
- from Kevin Smith's unused Superman Lives script, ignoring the fact that after this Superman seriously says "It's not about what's up here" (taps head) "it's about what's in here" (touches heart). Like, c'mon, what is this, an afterschool special?
When you think about it, most superheroes protect an absurd segment of humanity. Batman protects Gotham City, Superman protects Metropolis (and, by extension, the world), and the Green Lantern Corps has been known to protect the entire multiverse. Daredevil is comparatively modest with only protecting a portion of New York, and since M-Day the X-Men are only protecting about 198 mutants (possibly leaving out the bad guys, of course, and including themselves)... of course, they rarely have these kind of symbolic acquaintances. There's no one Storm knows in her civilian identity to protect, for instance... and if anyone says T'Challa, they get the taste slapped out of their mouths.
With that many people to protect, they stop being people and start being statistics. So, to cope, the superhuman psyche substitutes symbols. People who represent all that is worth fighting for. Superman has the Daily Planet staff, Spider-Man has Mary-Jane (oh, wait...), and Batman has people like Gordon, Dick, Barbara, Alfred, Lucius... and Harvey Dent.
Which is why Harvey turning into Two-Face must be even more of a knife in the gut to him. Bruce wants to believe that Gotham is a good city, a place that can be saved. Even if he never voices that hope, it underlies his actions. Otherwise, he'd just be the Punisher... flat, uninteresting, two-dimensional (you can argue this, but most of the time the Punisher is only interesting when contrasted against others). So having someone who represents the good people of Gotham turn out to be a supervillain perfectly highlights his quandary. What if Gotham is bad? What if people are bad? What if the world doesn't want to be saved?
This is why I really wish there were a way to go back and digitally replace Katie Holmes with Harvey Dent in Batman Begins (where's George Lucas when you need him, eh?). Because aside from a boring will-they-or-won't-they-but-who-cares-because-she's-not-Catwoman relationship, Rachel Dawes adds nothing that wouldn't be better served with Harvey Dent there. And as awesome as TDK is going to be, it could get a little cramped (although with neither Batman or Joker's origin stories to tell, apparently, that hopefully won't get an issue). Having Harvey established as Bruce's friend from the beginning, like they tried to do with Billy Dee Williams in Batman '89 (and man, how weird would it have been to go see Batman Forever and see Lando as an evil, scarred psychopath?), would just lend so much more room for storytelling. I'm so worried there's going to be a rushed, awkward "why, what do you mean you've never met my good friend Harvey Dent? We've been best friends for ages! Bruce and Harv, together again! Best buds! Us against the world! Harv? HARV! OH NO, YOUR FACE IS SCARRED WITH ACID! YOU'RE TRULY HIDE--hey, nice make-up."
(beat)
That's something I've been dwelling on
since I came back. And I think I've come
to a truth that I've never wanted to face
before...
(steels himself)
Yes, I do it all for the multitude. But
when I save lives, or fight for the weak,
I'm saving one life, fighting for one
person -- again, and again, and again.
(beat)
It's her -- don't you see? She represents
all of them -- their hopes, their
fragility, their passion. And if I ever
feel like no matter how much I do, it's
not enough, I think of Lois. And then,
I'm off, faster than a speeding bullet to
be Earth's champion... but always hers
first.
- from Kevin Smith's unused Superman Lives script, ignoring the fact that after this Superman seriously says "It's not about what's up here" (taps head) "it's about what's in here" (touches heart). Like, c'mon, what is this, an afterschool special?
When you think about it, most superheroes protect an absurd segment of humanity. Batman protects Gotham City, Superman protects Metropolis (and, by extension, the world), and the Green Lantern Corps has been known to protect the entire multiverse. Daredevil is comparatively modest with only protecting a portion of New York, and since M-Day the X-Men are only protecting about 198 mutants (possibly leaving out the bad guys, of course, and including themselves)... of course, they rarely have these kind of symbolic acquaintances. There's no one Storm knows in her civilian identity to protect, for instance... and if anyone says T'Challa, they get the taste slapped out of their mouths.
With that many people to protect, they stop being people and start being statistics. So, to cope, the superhuman psyche substitutes symbols. People who represent all that is worth fighting for. Superman has the Daily Planet staff, Spider-Man has Mary-Jane (oh, wait...), and Batman has people like Gordon, Dick, Barbara, Alfred, Lucius... and Harvey Dent.
Which is why Harvey turning into Two-Face must be even more of a knife in the gut to him. Bruce wants to believe that Gotham is a good city, a place that can be saved. Even if he never voices that hope, it underlies his actions. Otherwise, he'd just be the Punisher... flat, uninteresting, two-dimensional (you can argue this, but most of the time the Punisher is only interesting when contrasted against others). So having someone who represents the good people of Gotham turn out to be a supervillain perfectly highlights his quandary. What if Gotham is bad? What if people are bad? What if the world doesn't want to be saved?
This is why I really wish there were a way to go back and digitally replace Katie Holmes with Harvey Dent in Batman Begins (where's George Lucas when you need him, eh?). Because aside from a boring will-they-or-won't-they-but-who-cares-because-she's-not-Catwoman relationship, Rachel Dawes adds nothing that wouldn't be better served with Harvey Dent there. And as awesome as TDK is going to be, it could get a little cramped (although with neither Batman or Joker's origin stories to tell, apparently, that hopefully won't get an issue). Having Harvey established as Bruce's friend from the beginning, like they tried to do with Billy Dee Williams in Batman '89 (and man, how weird would it have been to go see Batman Forever and see Lando as an evil, scarred psychopath?), would just lend so much more room for storytelling. I'm so worried there's going to be a rushed, awkward "why, what do you mean you've never met my good friend Harvey Dent? We've been best friends for ages! Bruce and Harv, together again! Best buds! Us against the world! Harv? HARV! OH NO, YOUR FACE IS SCARRED WITH ACID! YOU'RE TRULY HIDE--hey, nice make-up."
