An ongoing exploration of the dark and gritty reboot
Toward the finale of the 2016 election, Mike Huckabee took to Fox News to give a defense of Donald Trump that I’ve been mulling over in my head ever since. I see Trump as Capt Quint (Robert Shaw) on the boat, Orca, in the movie "Jaws." He's salty, drunk and says incorrect things. He spits …
For the past several weeks, this blog has investigated which Batman character has the most in common with presidential candidate Donald Trump. We have considered five Batman villains thus far: Oswald "the Penguin" Cobblepot, Dr. Jonathan "the Scarecrow" Crane, Harvey "Two-Face" Dent, legendary villain the Joker, and the most recent of prominent Batman villains, Bane. …
Continue reading Which Batman Character Does Trump Resemble Most? Part 6: The Conclusion
"Do you feel in charge?" It is with these words that the power shifts from one man to another in the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises, as the terrorist and demagogue Bane rests a hand on the shoulder of corrupt, scheming businessman John Daggett. This is Daggett's last moment alive, realizing that he staked …
Continue reading Is Bane the Batman Character Who Trump Resembles Most?
This is the second installment in an ongoing series of articles exploring which Batman character Donald Trump resembles most. You can read the first installment here, in which I explain the impetus for this series and compare Donald Trump to Oswald "the Penguin" Cobblepot. Or if you're interested in reading D. F. Lovett’s fiction, you …
Continue reading Is the Scarecrow the Batman Villain Who Trump Resembles Most?
Or, "Stop Calling Them Gunmen and Start Calling Them Terrorists" One of the most notable elements of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy is that, despite being made by a British writer and director and set in the fictional Gotham City, the films capture the zeitgeist of the post-9/11 America in a frightening, realistic way. But there’s …
Continue reading What We Failed to Learn About Terrorism from The Dark Knight
If you haven't heard, the latest complete failure at the box office was the flaccid reboot Pan, an attempt to create a franchise out of the Peter Pan story by starting with Mr. Pan's origin as a young boy on an adventure to Neverland. In which the villain is Hugh Jackman as Blackbeard and Peter's best …
People like to predict that Ben Affleck will fail as the Batfleck. But what this blog post presupposes is, maybe he won't? The fact is, Ben Affleck is a good actor who is actually positioned better than any of his predecessors in terms of his ability to play Batman. Here are some of the reasons …
Continue reading Why Ben Affleck could be the best Batman ever
You may have seen a sad news story about Lenny B. Robinson, a Maryland man who impersonated Batman to bring joy into the lives of children. Many referred to him as "The Route 29 Batman," as he could often be seeing driving his Batmobile down this road, including when the police pulled him over and …
Continue reading A Hero Can Be Anyone: Reflections on the Loss of a Batman
During the last presidential election, Rick Santorum famously told the media that he felt like "this campaign is like an episode of ‘Survivor.’ It’s just a matter of staying in there and doing well." It's hard to disagree with Santorum, especially when the field is this crowded and complicated, stuffed with minor characters and distractions. …
Remember The Dark Knight? Who can forget Harvey Dent's tragic line, the one which foreshadowed both his own downfall and the character arcs of so many of those around him: you either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. The question I have often come back to is whether Harvey could …